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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-468

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Uniform - Mike
NFUM

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (7)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 20 October 1942, at Kaiser Inc., Vancouver, WA.

Launched, 24 November 1942

Commissioned USS LST-468, 5 March 1943,

During World War II USS LST-468 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Seven, CAPT. R. M. Scruggs, USN;
LST Group Nineteen, CDR. James E. Van Zandt, USNR and participated in the following campaigns;

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Eastern New Guinea operation Lae occupation, 4 to 10 September 1943, Saidor occupation, 2 to 4, 5 to 7, 6 to 11, January and 12 to 14 February 1944.	Leyte operation Leyte operation Leyte landings, 13 to 27 October and 5 to 18 November 1944
Bismarck Archipelago operation Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 26 to 29 December 1943 and 23 to 26 February 1944 Admiralty Island landings, 4 to 8 March 1944	Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings 4 to 16 January 1945
Hollandia operation, 21 to 25 April 1944	Consolidation of the Southern Philippines Mindanao Island landings 17 to 23 April 1945
Western New Guinea operation Biak Island operation, 27 to 29 May and 31 May to 4 June 1944 Noemfoor Island operation, 12 to 18 July 1944 Cape Sansapor operation, 21 July, 6 August, 8 to 14 August and 16 to 22 August 1944 Morotai landings, 15 September 1944.

Decommissioned, 2 April 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946

USS LST-468 earned seven battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for World War II service

Final Disposition, sold to Patapsco Scrap Corp., Baltimore, MD., 30 September 1947, and subsequently scrapped.

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
US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # USMC 69080	125k	Cape Gloucester Invasion, December 1943. Loading LSTs at Oro Bay, New Guinea, on December 24, 1943, in preparation for the Cape Gloucester landings two days later. Photographed by Brenner. LSTs present include (from left to right): USS LST-202, USS LST-466, USS LST-468, USS LST-475, USS LST-474, and USS LST-18. Note Marines marching by Jeep in foreground. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # USMC 69080 and Photo from "A Photographic History of World War 2", Colliers, 1946.	US Naval History and Heritage Command Dan Wilmes
Photo from "A Photographic History of World War 2", Colliers, 1946	315k		US Naval History and Heritage Command Dan Wilmes
	132k	USS LST-468 being unloaded by hand at Morotai, September-October 1944. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # 84854. Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1976	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	887k	Christmas 1945 and New Years 1946 greetings from Commander LST Group Nineteen, CDR James E. Van Zandt USNR to the ships of the Group: USS LST-466 USS LST-245 USS LST-467 USS LST-171 USS LST-181 USS LST-469 USS LST-470 USS LST-471 USS LST-468 USS LST-473 USS LST-475 and USS LST-474	Bill James for his father William James USS LST-471

USS LST-468
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
02	LT. Stevenson, Irwin K. USNR	December 1943 - 1 August 1944


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
Newsreel - "Allied Forces take Hollandia New Guinea"
History of LST Flotilla Seven
The USS LST Ship Memorial
LST Homeport
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 25 June 2021