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

USS LST-609

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Charlie - Tango
NFCT

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 (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)

LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 10 December 1943 at Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Seneca, IL.

Launched, 15 April 1944

Placed in reduced commission, 27 April 1944, for transit to her fitting out yard at New Orleans, LA.

Commissioned in full USS LST-609, 15 May 1944, LT. Walter S. Schaar USNR in command

During World War II USS LST-609 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, 20 October 1944	Manila Bay-Bicol operations Zambales-Subic Bay, 29 to 30 January 1945
Luzon operations Mindoro landings, 12 to 18 December 1944	Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 10 April 1945

For the Okinawa Gunto operation USS LST-609 was assigned to:
LST Flotilla Sixteen, CAPT. N. W. Sears;
LST Group Forty-Seven, CDR. L. A. Drexler USN (23);
LST Division Ninety-Three

Decommissioned, 4 January 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 21 January 1946

USS LST-609 earned four battle stars for World War II service

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 26 September 1947, to Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, MD.

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.
	150k	USS LST-609 and USS LST-660 beached in the Philippines, date and location unknown.	Photo by Richard R. Humpert USS LST-660 submitted by Matt Schneider by his grandfather Richard R. Humpert
1016060901 TL 115948783	2336k	Six LSTs loading for their next combat operation moored at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, between 8 December 1944 and 22 January 1945. From left to right; USS LST-609, with an LCT loaded on her main deck (Manila Bay-Bicol operations) USS LST-790,with an LCT loaded on her main deck (Invasion of Iwo Jima) USS LST-641, with *LCT(6)-1300* loaded on her main deck (Invasion of Iwo Jima) USS LST-944, (Invasion of Iwo Jima) USS LST-84, (Invasion of Iwo Jima) and USS LST-648, with *LCT(6)-1404* loaded on her main deck (Invasion of Iwo Jima) and with an LCI alongside. TimeLife_Image_115948783, 11548889 and 115948888, by W. Eugene Smith. For personal non-commercial use only.	David Upton
1016060902 TL 11548889	2219k
1016060903 TL 115948888.	533k
1016060904	137k	USS LST-609, USS LST-612 and USS LST-573 along with numberous other LSTs beached at Mindoro Island disgorging their vital cargoes of men and material, completing the over water movement from Leyte of 600 miles to seize the dominant beaches along the southern coast of Mindoro in and almost unopposed landings, circa March 1945. Photo by Tom Shafer, Acme Newspictures	Vincent Solinap

USS LST-609
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Schaar, Walter S., USNR	27 April 1944 - August 1945
02	LT. Sharples, Charles S., USNR	August 1945 - 4 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

Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page

Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index

Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.

This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 25 February 2022