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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-766


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - November - Tango
 NGNT
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


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

USS LST-766 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 13 July 1944, at American Bridge Co., Ambridge, PA.
  • Launched, 30 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-766, 25 September 1944, LT Lester W. Newton, USCGR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-766 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Nine, CAPT. C. H. Peterson USCG (25);
     LST Group Eighty-Six, CDR. S. R. Sands USCG;
     LST Division One Hundred Seventy-One
  • Following World War II USS LST-766 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    25 September to 18 October 194525 September to 18 October 1945

  • Decommissioned, 19 March 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946
  • Sold for commercial operations, 24 December 1946, to Pedro Bidegaray
  • Final Disposition, 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 Source
    LST-766 50k USS LST-766 at anchor, date and location unknown. Joe Horvat for his uncle William Bruson USCG USS LST-766
    LST-766 71k USS LST-766 at anchor, date and location unknown. Joe Horvat for his uncle William Bruson USCG USS LST-766
    LST-766 168k USS LST-766 underway off San Francisco, CA., with LCT-624 on board, in 1945-1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 79555.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    LST-766
    1016076604    		 71k USS LST-766 moored pierside at Saipan, date unknown. Note pontoon causeway attached to her port side. Raymond Cvetovich, Ph.D.
    USS LST-766
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Newton, Lester W. USCGR25 September 1944 - 17 April 1945
    02LT. Clay, William H. USCGR17 April 1945 - 24 December 1945
    03LT. Lyon Wesley W. USCGR24 December 1945 - 19 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    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 7 July 2023