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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-763


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Kilo - Whiskey
 NGKW
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


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

USS LST-763 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 29 June 1944, at American Bridge Co., Ambridge, PA.
  • Launched, 16 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-763, 8 September 1944, LT. Alton W. Meekins, USCG, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-763 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Nine, CAPT. C. H. Peterson USCG (25);
    LST Group Eighty-Five, CDR. W. B. Millington USCG;
    LST Division One Hundred Seventy and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 3 March 1945     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 April to 10 June 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-763 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for from 10 September to 13 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 29 April 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 15 August 1946
  • USS LST-763 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 11 December 1947, to Southern Shipwrecking Co., New Orleans, LA.
    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 Source
    LST-763 37k USS LST-763 beached at Iwo Jima, date unknown. Note Mount Suribachi in the background and the wrecked Marine ampibs on the beach.
    Photo by Erwin "Erv" Windward.    		 Rolfe Windward for his father LT Erwin "Erv" Windward USNR, CO USS LST-643
    LST-763 97k USS LST-763 under way in San Francisco Bay, CA., circa 1945-46, with LCT-660 loaded on her main deck.
    Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo # NH 79106. Courtesy of D. M. McPherson, 1975.    		 Mike Green
    USS LST-763
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Meekins, Alton W., USCG8 September 1944 - 1945
    02LT. Ewers, Franklin J., USCG1945 - 29 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 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
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 13 July 2018