Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Lost to enemy action, 21 December 1944

USS LST-472

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Delta - Charlie
NGDC

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbons (retroactive, 11 August - 24 September 1943 and 21 December 1944) (2)
Second Row - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 31 October 1942, at Kaiser Inc., Vancouver, WA.

Launched 7 December 1942

Commissioned USS LST-472, 13 March 1943, LT. William O. Talley Sr., USN, in command

During World War II USS LST-449 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Five, CAPT. G. B. Carter, USN
LST Group Thirteen, CDR R.W. Cutler, USN
LST Division Twenty-Five and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaigns and Dates	Campaigns and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
New Georgia operation New Georgia-Rendova-Vangunu occupation, 4 July 1943	Hollandia operation, 21 to 28 April 1944
Treasury-Bougainville operation Occupation and defense of Cape Torokina, 10 to 13 November and 3 to 4 December 1943	Western New Guinea operations Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operations, 26 to 28 May 1944 Biak Island operation, 6 to 10 and 12 to 16 June 1944 Noemfoor Island operation, 2 to 4 and 6 to 11 July 1944 Cape Sansapor operation, 4 to 10 and 12 to 18 August 1944 Morotai landings, 15 September 1944
Bismarck Archipelago operation Green Island landing, 15 to 19 February 1944	Luzon operation Mindoro landings, 12 to 18 December 1944

Final disposition, sunk during action with the enemy off Mindoro Island, Philippines, 21 December 1944 (Probably hit by Kamikaze on the 15th of December and did not sink until 21 December 1944)

Struck from the Naval Register 19 January 1945

USS LST-472 earned six battle stars 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
1016047205	261k	USS LST-472 at anchor, bow doors open, date and location unknown.	Jim Lowman for his father LT. Zelvin Lowman LCI(L)-877
1016047208	125k	USS LST-472 on fire after being struck by a Japanese Kamikaze plane on D-Day, 21 December 1944 at Mindoro Island. Philippines Islands.	Jim Lowman for his father LT. Zelvin Lowman LCI(L)-877
1016047202	188k	Crew and paratroopers assemble on the bow awaiting orders to abandon ship, after USS LST-472 was hit by a Kamikaze attack at Mindoro Island, on D-Day, 21 December 1944. Photo taken from USS PCER-851. Photo from "LST Scuttlebutt", March/April 1997, p.46. Photograph by Y2c Dan Murphy (danbmurphy.com)	Jerry DuRuz and Daniel Pratt grandson of Dan Murphy
	82k	USS LST-472 after Kamikaze attack at Mindoro Island, 19 December 1944. NARA photo # 80-G-294601 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Gerd Metthes
1016047203	53k	U.S. Navy ships fighting fires on USS LST-472, after she was hit by a Kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches, 15 December 1944. Photographed from on board USS PCE-851. The bow of *USS O'Brien* (DD-725) is at right, with fire fighting parties spraying water on the burning ship. USS Hopewell (DD-681) is seen nearly bow-on in the center background, largely shrouded by smoke. O'Brien** is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 9D. US Navy photo # NH 103030 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command, collection of Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, USN. Photograph by Y2c Dan Murphy (danbmurphy.com)	Daniel Pratt for his grandfather Dan Murphy
1016047206	158k	U.S. Navy ships fighting fires on USS LST-472, after she was hit by a Kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches, 15 December 1944. *USS O'Brien* (DD-725), left and right, USS Hopewell (DD-681)**.	Jim Lowman for his father LT. Zelvin Lowman LCI(L)-877
1016047207	154k	USS LST-472 on fire after she was hit by a Kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches, 15 December 1944. U.S. Navy ships alongside fighting the fire include *USS O'Brien* (DD-725), USS Hopewell (DD-681)** and USS PCE-851.
1016047204	358k	Survivors from the burning USS LST-472 that had been taken off by the destroyers are transferred to USS PCER-851 for transportation. USS LST 472 was hit by Japanese suicide plane while conducting operations at Mindoro Island, Philippines, on D-Day. US National Archives photo # 80-G-294576, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives Photograph by Y2c Dan Murphy (danbmurphy.com)	Marc Levine and Daniel Pratt grandson of Dan Murphy