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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST(H)-450
ex
 USS LST-450 (1942 - 1945)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Echo - Charlie
 NFEC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 10 July 1942, at Kaiser, Inc., Vancouver, WA.
  • Launched, 4 October 1942
  • Commissioned USS LST 450, 6 January 1943, LT. C. G. Drasher, USNR, in command:
    LST Flotilla Thirteen, CAPT. J. G. Sampson USN (22);
     LST Group Thirty-Nine, CDR. B. T. Zelenka USN (24);
     LST Division Seventy-Seven
  • During World War II USS LST-450 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 June to 30 July 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, April 1945
    Tinian capture and occupation, 24 to 30 July 1944  

  • Redesignated Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) USS LST(H)-450, 15 September 1945
  • Decommissioned, 8 April 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold, 16 April 1948 to the Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA for scrapping
  • USS LST-450 earned three battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation 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
    LST-450 18k USS LST-450 enlisted crew members, date and location unknown. LST Home Port
    LST-450 23k USS LST-450 ships officers, date and location unknown. LST Home Port
    LST-450
    1016045006    		 263k USS LST-450 at anchor off the invasion beachhead at Saipan Island in the Marianas Islands, 20 June 1944, as a Japanese artillery shell burst nearby.
    U.S. National Archives Identifier 193831523, US Army Air Corps photo # 63664A.C., now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives.    		 David Upton
    LST-450 101k US Army reinforcements disembarking from USS LST-450 and other LSTs form a graceful curve as they proceed across a coral reef towards the beach at Saipan, 17 June 1944.
    Photo from Conway Picture Library.    		 Robert Hurst
    LST-450 95k USS LST-450 beached, date and location unknown. Dennis Gaida in honor of his father Chester Gaida, BM2/c USNR USS LST-450
    LST-450 104k USS LST-450 crew members visit the Ernie Pyle memorial at La Jima Gunto, Chester Gaida is at right closest to camera. Dennis Gaida in honor of his father Chester Gaida, BM2/c USNR USS LST-450
    USS LST-450
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Drasher, C. G., USNR6 January 1943 - August 1944
    02LT. Young, E., USN August 1944 - 23 October 1944
    03LT. McQueen, Carroll G., USNR23 October 1944 - 25 March 1945
    04LT. Hunter Jr., Lewis F., USNR25 March 1945 - September 1945
    05LTjg. Kiely Jr., John C., USNRSeptember 1945 - 8 April 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    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 Homeport
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last updated 19 March 2021