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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-125


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Whiskey - November
NYWN
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)


LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 8 June 1943, at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 23 August 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-125, 29 September 1943, LT. William R. Tenney Jr., USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-125 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater;
    For the Marianas, Luzon and Leyte;
    LST Flotilla Five, CAPT. G.B. Carter, USN;
    LST Group Fifteen, CDR. V. K. Busck, USN;
    LST Division Thirty
    For Okinawa;
    LST Flotilla Three, CDR. A. A. Ageton USN (23);
    LST Group Seven, LCDR. E. B. Garrigues;
    LST Division Fourteen and participated in the following campaigns;

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 28 July 1944
    Luzon operation
    Lingayen landings, 4 to 15 January 1945
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 October 1944
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 9 April 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-125 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal

    China Service Medal (extended)
    8 to 12 November 194522 December 1945 to 10 June 1946

  • Decommissioned, 10 June 1946, at Naval Station Subic Bay, P.I.
  • USS LST-125 was assigned to Joint Task Force 1, Task Unit 1.2.5 (Target Vessels - Landing Craft Units - LST Group 9 (LST GRU 9) for Operation Crossroads the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 September 1946
  • USS LST-125 earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sunk as a target by naval gunfire, 14 August 1946
    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
    LST-125 88k Bow view of USS LST-125 underway departing Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA. 17 August 1945. LST-125 was under repair at the yard from 23 June to 20 August 1945.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 3026-8-45
    Darryl Baker and Susan Bloom, for her father Matthew R. Bloom, MoMM2 USS LST-125
    Courtesy Harry Urbach Gunners Mate USS LST-125
    LST-125 80k Stern view of USS LST-125 underway departing Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA. 17 August 1945.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 3024-8-45
    Darryl Baker
    LST-125 132k USS LST-125 crew photo, Melvin Donner top left, date and location unknown. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 77k USS LST-125 beached and unloading trucks at Guam in 1944. Susan Bloom, for her father Matthew R. Bloom, MoMM2 USS LST-125
    Courtesy Harry Urbach Gunners Mate USS LST-125
    LST-125 49k USS LST-125 date and location unknown. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 108k USS LST-125 view looking aft from the forecastle toward the superstructure, date unknown. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 141k USS LST-125 view looking forward from the superstructure toward the bow. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 102k USS LST-125 view looking forward on the main deck toward the bow. The up ended boat appears to be one of the ships LCVPs. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 70k USS LST-125, date and location unknown. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 99k USS LST-125, date and location unknown. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 89k USS LST-125 dropping a pontoon at the Leyte, October, 1944. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 89k USS LST-125 bridge showing the two Japanese flags representing the two planes shot down and her nickname (Dragon Lady). Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-20 81k USS LST-125 exchanging movies at sea with USS LST-20 (not shown), date unknown. Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
    LST-125 68k USS LST-125 underway after a Mare Island refit, on 17 August 1945. By late in the war, upper decks had been cleared on LSTs. Bridges raised a level to clear top of a stowed LCT. Most 20 mm guns were replaced by 40s; the 3"/50 gun was replaced with a director-controlled twin 40 mm gun (another is right forward). The ship has surface-search radar at her masthead.
    Text and photo from "U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman.
    Robert Hurst
    LST-125 46k USS LST-125 conning tower. Susan Bloom, Courtesy of Jack Silady USS LST-125
    LST-125 75k USS LST-125 crew photo at Shanghai, 6 March 1946. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner USS LST-125
    LST-125 71k USS LST-125 crew photo "Ship Control" at Shanghai, 10 March 1946. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Joe Avedisian USS LST-125
    LST-125 56k USS LST-125 and LST-505 at Shanghai, 6 March 1946. Susan Bloom, Courtesy Melvin Donner and Joe Avedisian USS LST-125

    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Tenney, Jr., William R. USNR29 September 1943 - 21 January 1945
    02LT. Moore, Charles S. V., USNR21 January 1945 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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


    For more photos and information about USS LST-125, see:
  • LST-125 News Release History
  • Deck Log for 5 to 11 January 1944 (Lingayen Gulf)
  • Deck Log for 15 to 18 June 1944
  • LST Flotilla Five War Diary May 1944
  • USS LST-125 War Diary, June 1944
  • LST Flotilla Five War Diary July 1944
  • Deck Log for 19 to 24 October 1944 (Leyte)
  • Action Report for 15 to 18 June 1944
  • Action Report for 7 January 1944
  • Action Report for 27 February 1945 to 4 April 1945

  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • LST Home Port
  • State LST Chapters
  • United States LST Association

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    This page is created by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 9 June 2023