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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LC(FF)-657
ex
 USS LCI(L)-657 (1944 - 1945)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Victor - November - Oscar
 NVNO
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large):
  • Laid down, 20 June 1944, at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber, N.J.
  • Launched, 21 July 1944
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-657, 28 July 1944
  • USS LCI(L)-657 was redesignated Landing Craft (Flotilla Flagship) LC(FF)-657, 20 January 1945
  • During World War II USS LCI(L)-657 / LC(FF)-657 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LC(FF) Flotilla Twenty-Three LCDR R. H. Brazeal / LCDR Dennis L. Francis:
     LC(FF) Group Sixty-Eight, LT. O. G. Howell;
     LC(FF) Division One Hundred Thirty-Six and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 March to 14 June 1945

  • Decommissioned, at West Loch, Pearl Harbor in October or November 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • USS LC(FF)-657 earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 5 November 1947
  • 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
    Complement
    4 Officers
    24 Enlisted
    Troop Capacity
    6 Officers
    182 Enlisted
    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
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 130 tons
    lube oil 200 gal
    Propulsion
    two sets of four General Motors Diesel engines, four per shaft, BHP 1,600
    twin variable pitch propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    LCI(L)-657 83k Roger Walker, SM2/c, "waving skivvies" from the conn of USS LC(FF)-657.
    Photo from USS LCI National Association's newsletter "The Elsie Item" February 2006, courtesy of Roger Walker USS LC(FF)-657    		 Ardie Hunt
    LCI(L)-657 83k USS LC(FF)-657 and several unidentified LCIs moored pierside, probably at Pearl Harbor, circa November 1945. Robert Morrissey
    The history for USS LCI(L)-657 / LC(FF)-657 is from USS LCI "Landing Craft Infantry", Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, © 1995. (ISBN 1-56311-262-0)
    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
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    This page is created by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 23 June 2017