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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Painting by Rev. Joel Osborne

USS LCI(M)-630
ex
 USS LCI(G)-630 (1944 - 1945)
 USS LCI(L)-630 (1944)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Papa - Kilo - Whiskey
 NPKW
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 19-26 Feb 1945, Iwo Jima) - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Medal (with Asia clasp)

USS LCI(M)-630 was transferred to China
LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large):
  • Laid down, 12 May 1944, at New Jersey Ship Building Corp. Barber, N.J.
  • Launched, 7 June 1944
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-630, 15 June 1944, LTjg. J. J. Gasiorek USNR in command
  • Reclassified Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-630, 31 December 1944
  • Reclassified Landing Craft Infantry (Mortar) LCI(M)-630, 30 April 1945
  • During World War II USS LCI(L)-630 / LCI(G)-630 / LCI(M)-630 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LCI Flotilla Twenty-One, CDR. L. B. Balliere, USNR;
     LCI Group Sixty-One, (flagship) LCDR. W. T. Dom, USNR;
     LCI Division One Hundred Twenty-One and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 to 26 February 1945
    as USS LCI(G)-630
    		 Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto
    26 March to 14 June 1945 as USS LCI(G)-630 and USS LCI(M)-630)

  • Following World War II USS LCI(M)-630 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    23 October to 11 December 194513 December 1945 to 25 June 1946

  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • USS LCI(L)-630 earned two battle stars, one as USS LCI(G)-630 and one as USS LCI(M)-630 for World War II Service
  • Transferred to China, 7 February 1948
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 246 t.(light), 264 t. (landing), 419 t. (loaded)
    Length 158' 5½"
    Beam 23' 3"
    Draft
    Light, 3'1½" mean
    Landing, 2' 8" forward, 4' 10" aft
    Loaded, 5' 4" forward, 5' 11" aft
    Speed
    16 kts (max.)
    14 kts maximum continuous
    LCI(L) Complement
    4 Officers
    24 Enlisted
    LCI(G) Complement
    5 Officers
    65 Enlisted
    LCI(M) Complement
    4 Officers
    49 Enlisted
    LCI(L) Troop Capacity
    6 Officers
    182 Enlisted
    LCI(L) Cargo Capacity 75 tons
    Armor 2" plastic splinter protection on gun turrets, conning tower and pilot house
    Endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts, loaded, 500 miles at 15 kts; and 110 tons of fuel
    LCI(L) Armament
    five single 20mm guns, one bow mounted, one each port and starboard forward of wheelhouse, one each port and starboard aft of wheelhouse, on some LCIs two .50 cal machine guns were added
    LCI(G) Armament
    two 40mm guns
    four 20mm guns
    six .50cal machine guns
    10 MK7 rocket launchers
    LCI(M) Armament
    one single 40mm gun, forward
    four 20mm guns
    three 4.2" chemical mortars mounted in three 4ft x 4ft wooden walled 2" x 6" high sand boxes on the well deck with the three tripod mortar tubes in position to fire forward over the bow, No. 2 Troop Compartment (under well deck) converted to a magazine
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 869 Bbls
    lube oil 200 gal.
    Propulsion
    two sets of 4 General Motors 6051 series 71 Diesel engines, 4 per shaft
    single General Motors Main reduction gears
    two Diesel-drive 30Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    twin variable pitch propellers, 2,320shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    LCI(L)-630 110k USS LCI(M)-630 mortar crews loading the three 4.2 inch mortar installations on the well deck during the Okinawa operation. Photo from the USS LCI National Association's 2005 calendar. Ardie Hunt
    LCI(L)-630 108k USS LCI(M)-630 firing mortars off Iwo Jima, 19 February 1945. Note the three 4.2 mortars mounted in sand boxes in the well deck. Photo from the USS LCI National Association's newsletter "The Elsie Item", Issue # 46, October 2003. Ardie Hunt courtesy of Robert Newberry, USS LCI(M)-630
    LCI(L)-630 121k USS LCI(M)-630 firing mortars off Iwo Jima, 19 February 1945. Photo from the USS LCI National Association's newsletter "The Elsie Item", Issue # 46, October 2003. Ardie Hunt
    LCI(L)-630 345k An amphtrac moves past USS LCI(M)-630 during the H-hour naval bombardment of Okinawa on 1 April 1945.
    A US Navy photo from the US National Archives.    		 Submitted by Ardie Hunt, courtesy Bill Ringle and Jordan Nichols for his grandfather Henry Robert Newell S1/c USS LCI(M)-630
    LCI(L)-630 39k USS LCI(M)-630 underway, date and location unknown. Jordan Nichols for his grandfather Henry Robert Newell S1/c USS LCI(M)-630
    The history for USS LCI(L)-630 / LCI(G)-630 / LCI(M)-630 is from USS LCI "Landing Craft Infantry", Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, © 1995. (ISBN 1-56311-262-0)
    Commanding Officers
    01LTjg. Gasiorek, J. J., USNR15 June 1944 - ?
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 30 June 2017