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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-789


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Yankee - Kilo
 NGYK
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-789 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 1 June 1944, at the Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Launched, 5 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-789, 11 September 1944, LT. Harold M. Mulvey, USCGR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-789 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 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 to 25 February 1945     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 15 April 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-789 was assigned to Occupation service for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    2 to 11 September 1945
    29 October to 9 November1945
  • Decommissioned, 29 April 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946
  • USS LST-789 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for commercial operations, 11 December 1947, to the California Co.
    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-789 75k USS LST-789 beached, date and location unknown. Russ Padden from the USS Lanier cruise book
    LST-787 82k Iwo Jima Operation, 1945. LSTs, LSMs and other amphibious shipping off Iwo Jima, with LVTs and landing craft forming up to head for the beach. LSTs in the foreground are USS LST-787 (bottom, center) and USS LST-789 (left center). The latter has LCT-901 embarked. Photograph received by the Naval Photo Science Laboratory, Washington, D.C., 8 March 1945.
    US National Archives Photo # 80-G-303099, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    LST-716
    1016071603    		 3890k As seen from USS LST-789, the bombardment of Mt. Suribachi, during the invasion of Iwo Jima, 19 February 1945. From left to right;
    USS LST-716 with LCT-1354 on deck,
    USS LST-723,
    USS LST-642,
    unknown LST,
    USS LST-756 with LCT-632 on deck.
    US National Archives Identifier 205585242, Local Identifier 26-G-4475, US Coast Guard photo # 4475.    		 David Upton
    LST-789
    1016078903    		 7452k Prayer service aboard USS LST-789 off Iwo Jima, February 1945. In the background USS LCI(R)-1029 is underway passing an unidentified LST.
    US National Archives ID 205585115 Local Identifier 26-G-4104, US Coast Guard photo 4104 by US Coast Guard photographer Papsun.    		 David Upton
    LST-789 170k USS LST-789 discharges a loaded LVT during landings at Iwo Jima, 19 February 1945. The LST has LCT-901 on deck.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 89383    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    USS LST-789
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Mulvey, Harold M., USCGR11 September 1944 - ?
    02LTjg. Forbush, Lothrop M., USCGR? - 29 April 1946
    03ENS. Seehorn, W. N., USCGR
    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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 27 August 2021