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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-608

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Charlie - Romeo
NFCR

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)

LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 4 December 1943 by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL.

Launched, 11 April 1944

Commissioned USS LST 608, 15 April 1944, LT. A. L. Detweiler, USN (43), in command

During World War II USS LST-608 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Leyte operation, Leyte landings, 29 October and 19 to 29 November 1944	Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 10 April 1945
Luzon operations Lingayen Gulf landing, 4 to 18 January 1945

For the Okinawa Gunto operation USS LST-608 was assigned to:
LST Flotilla Sixteen, CAPT. N. W. Sears;
LST Group Forty-Seven, CDR. L. A. Drexler USN (23);
LST Division Ninety-Three

Following World War II USS LST-608 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
15 to 28 October 1945
15 November to 26 December 1945
5 to 24 January 1946

Decommissioned, 24 January 1946 and assigned to Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), redesignated Q026

Struck from the Naval Register, 7 February 1947

USS LST-608 earned three battle stars for World War II service

Final Disposition, sold for operational use, 31 May 1947 to the government of South Korea, fate unknown

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
	99k	LSTs unloading supplies at Leyte Gulf in October 1944. USS LST-242, and USS LST-608 at the bottom of the photo. In the middle of the photo and in the background can be seen numerous small craft along with six additional LSTs. Recognizable are USS LST-609 and USS LST-219. US Army Signal Corps. photo	Dave Kerr and Vicki Purl Ferrier-Taylor for Purl Allan Ferrier, Seaman 1st class, SV-6 USNR.
1016060804	72k	USS LST-608 along with two other LSTs beached at Dulag, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 23 October 1944. U.S. National Archives Album 111-SCA-Album_2849_090.jpg, US Army Signal Corps PHoto # SC260606	Tommy Trampp
	112k	USS LST-612, USS LST-608 and USS LST-1006 beached at Cape Cretin, New Guinea, while loading troops and equipment of the US Army 866 Engineer Aviation Battalion for transit to Leyte in the Philippines, 7 November 1944. US Army Signal Corps photo - 866 Engineer Aviation Battalion History, pg.62	Greg Cockburn
	7k	USS LST-608 unloading trucks, date and location unknown.	LST Home Port
1016063404	101k	*LST-634, USS LST 608, and two other LSTs beached on a ramp at Subic Bay Philippines, date unknown. LST Scuttlebutt Magazine, May 2021 issue, p. 9. (Photo originally donated by Dennis Blackmer, for his dad, Alano Blackmer). LST Scuttlebutt Magazine, May 2021 issue, p. 9.* (Photo originally donated by Dennis Blackmer, for his dad, Alano Blackmer).	Zach Morris
	111k	1945 Monogram balsa wood ship model of USS LST-608	Tommy Trampp

USS LST-608
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Detweiler, Austin Lee, USN (USNA 1943)	15 April 1944 - 24 January 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 Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 16 February 2024