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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-21

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Quebec - Foxtrot - Charlie
NQFC

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal

USS LST-21 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 25 September 1942, at Dravo Corp, Neville Island, DE.

Launched, 18 February 1943

Commissioned USS LST-21, 14 April 1943, LT. Charles M. Brookfield, USCGR in command

During World War II USS LST-21 was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaign:

Campaign and Dates
Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign
Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944

Decommissioned, 25 January 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 19 June 1946

Final Disposition, sold to Louis Feldman, Flushing, NY, 12 March 1948 for scrapping

USS LST-21 received one battle star for World War II service

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	Contributed By
	27k	The Coast Guard-manned USS LST-21 ferries rolling stock from a British port to a French beach railhead, forming a floating link between the railroads of the two countries. Priceless hours, unloading and reloading, are saved by running packed cars into the track-equipped tank deck of the LST and carrying them across the English Channel to roll down a tracked ramp onto French rails. From this point, trainloads of war equipment and supplies move smoothly and swift off the fighting fronts. USS LST-21 loading railroad cars at Southhampton, England in June 1944.	LST Home Port Web Site
	20k	USS LST-21 unloading at Normandy in June 1944	LST Home Port Web Site
	22k	USS LST-21 unloading at Normandy in June 1944	LST Home Port Web Site
	27k	USS LST-21 unloading railroad cars at Normandy in June 1944. *LST-21* served as a railroad bridge between the United Kingdom and France. US Coast Guard photo #220-8	John H. Kellers GM3/c USS LCT-539
	1079k	A slightly different view of USS LST-21 unloading railroad cars at Normandy in June 1944. Note the censors erasure of the ships in the background. US National Archives photo # 26-G-4389, a US Coast Guard photo now in the collections of the US National Archives	Dave Kerr
	86k	USS LST-21 unloading railroad cars at Normandy in June 1944. US Coast Guard photo # Photo No. 4387 from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.	Mike Green
1016002111	309k	USS LST-21 unloading railroad cars at Normandy in June 1944. U.S. National Archives Identifier 12003981, a U.S. Coast Guard photo.	David Upton
	96k	USS LST-21 unloads British Army tanks and trucks onto a "Rhino" barge during the early hours of the invasion, 6 June 1944. Note the nickname "Virgin" on the "Sherman" tank at left. USCG photo # 26-G2370 from the US Coast Guard collection in the US National Archives.	John H. Kellers GM3/c USS LCT-539
	77k	US LST-21 at anchor, date and location unknown. US Coast Guard photo from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.	Don Leal USS LST-19 and USS LST-67
	51k	USS LST-21 unloading supplies onto a "Rhino" ferry after D-Day. *LST-21* supported the initial British landings off Gold Beach on 6 June 1944 and thereafter continued to supply Allied forces along the Normandy coast. US Coast Guard photo # 2366 from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.	Mike Green
	113k	USS LST-21, 12 July 1944, in the background, flying a barrage balloon to discourage attacks from low-flying German aircraft. In the foreground German POWs, captured in the St. Lo. area during the Battle of Normandy lined up on the beach awaiting transportation to England. Many of this group of prisoners are Poles, Austrians and Czechs. US Coast Guard photo from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.	Mike Green
	51k	USS LST-21, USS LST-519 and USS LST-310, off-loading vehicles and equipment at La Havre, France summer of 1944	LST 519 web site