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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-20

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Quebec - Bravo - Golf
NQBG

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)

USS LST-20 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship: Laid down, 5 October 1942 at Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA.

Launched, 15 February 1943

Commissioned USS LST-20, 14 May 1943, LT Charles W. Smith USCG, in command

During World War II, USS LST-20 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Fourteen, CAPT. E. A. Seay USN (USNA 1924);
LST Group Forty Two, CDR. G. E. Artz, USN (USNA 1934);
LST Division Eighty-Four and took part in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Gilbert Islands operation November and December1943	Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, January 1945
Leyte operation Leyte landings-October 1944	Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, April 1945

Following World War II USS LST-20 was assigned to Occupation Service in the Far East from 29 October to 12 November 1945

Decommissioned, 3 April 1946

USS LST-20 earned four battle stars for World War II service

Struck from the Naval Register, 19 June 1946

Title transferred, 8 October 1947, the the Maritime Commission

Sold, 8 October 1947, to Southern Shipwrecking Co.

Resold, 21 December 1948, to Pan Ore Steamship Co., reflagged Panama

Final Disposition, fate unknown

Specifications:

Displacement

1,625 t.(lt)

4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)

2,366 t. (beaching displacement)

Length 328' o.a.

Beam 50'

Draft

light 2' 4" fwd, 7' 6" aft

sea-going 8' 3" fwd, 14' 1" aft

landing 3' 11" fwd, 9' 10" aft (landing w/500 ton load)

limiting 11' 2"

maximum navigation 14' 1"

Speed 11.6 kts. (trial)

Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons

Complement

13 officers

104 enlisted

Troop Accommodations

16 officers

147 enlisted

Boats 2 LCVP

Cargo Capacity (varied with mission - payloads between 1600 and 1900 tons)

Typical loads

One Landing Craft Tank (LCT), tanks, wheeled and tracked vehicles, artillery, construction equipment and military supplies. A ramp or elevator forward allowed vehicles access to tank deck from main deck

Additional capacity included sectional pontoons carried on each side of vessel amidships, to either build Rhino Barges or use as causeways. Married to the bow ramp, the causeways would enabled payloads to be delivered ashore from deeper water or where a beachhead would not allow the vessel to be grounded forward after ballasting

Armament (varied with availability when each vessel was outfitted. Retro-fitting was accomplished throughout WWII. The ultimate armament design for United States vessels was

2 - Twin 40MM gun mounts w/Mk. 51 directors

4 - Single 40MM gun mounts

12 single 20MM gun mounts

Fuel Capacity

Diesel 4,300 Bbls

Propulsion

two General Motors 12-567A, 900hp Diesel engines

single Falk Main Reduction Gears

three Diesel-drive 100Kw 230V D.C. Ship's Service Generators

two propellers, 1,700shp

twin rudders

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
	1634k	USS LST-20 and USS LST-478 unloading on the beach at Kiska Island, Alaska, 23 August 1943. Just visible In the distance is the Japanese cargo ship *Nozina Maru, beached by the Japanese after bombing by American forces. US National Archives photo # III-SC 182872, Box 187*, a US Army Signal Corps photo by PFC Sanderson now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Dave Kerr
1016002001	236k	USS LST-20 and an unidentified LST beached at Kiska Island, Alaska, 23 August 1943, while delivering much need supplies to the occupation forces. US Navy BUAIR Photograph Collection, Kiska, 1943. ASL-PCA-430. Alaska Digital Archives ID ASL-P430-33.	David Upton
	71k	USS LST-20 moored pierside at Naval Station Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay, August 1945.	Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
	126k	USS LST-20 beached at Guam, Marianas Islands in 1945 while loading/unloading a light tank.	Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
	81k	USS LST-20 (not shown) exchanging movies at sea with USS LST-125, date unknown.	Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
	61k	USS LST-20 beached at Iwo Jima, November 1945.	Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
	317k	USS LST-20 forming up to join a convoy to Okinawa in 1945, probably in the Philippines.	Bruce Stevens for his father DuWayne Stevens USS LST-20
	70k	USS LST-20 at anchor at Okinawa, April 1945. Photo taken from USS LST-678	Photo by LT. Fred C. Anderson Jr. USS LST-678
1016045122	310k	USS LST-20 beached alongside *LST-451* probably at Okinawa in 1945.	Bob Martin Jr.

USS LST-20
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Smith, Charles W., USCG	14 May 1943 - ?
02	LT. Duprey, Edgard, USCGR	no dates
03	LT. Garrity, Raymond F., USCGR	no dates
04	LTjg. Cieslinski, Stanley J., USCGR	no dates
05	LT. Sinkler, William L. E., USCGR	no dates
06	LTjg. Eib, Warren B., USCGR	8 January 1946 - 3 April 1946

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
The USS LST Ship Memorial
LST Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association
MARAD Vessel History Database

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 16 April 2021