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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Lost to enemy action on, 18 and 20 May 1945

USS LST-808


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Bravo - Echo
 NHBE
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (2) (retroactive, February 1945 Iwo Jima, 18 May 1945, Ie Shima)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 1 August 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 15 September 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-808, 29 September 1944, LT. John C. Stevens II USNR in command
  • During World War II LST-808 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, CAPT. H. E. Richter USN (24);
     LST Group Seventy-Three CDR. L D. York USNR;
     LST Division One Hundred Forty-Five 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 26 February 1945     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 April to 20 May 1945

  • Struck by Japanese aerial torpedo off Ie Shima, 10:10 local time, 18 May 1945.
    LST-808 was pushed onto a coral reef by nearby LCVPs and at 4:00 pm two days later, 20 May, was struck again
    this time by a Japanese Kamikaze. At the time of the attack LST-808 was supplying fresh water and fog oil to the
    ships assigned picket duty around the island. Contributed by Richard M. Moore USS LST-808
  • Final Disposition, destroyed, 11 November 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • USS LST-808 earned two battle stars for World War II service
    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
    LSM-264
    S-193-1    		 88k From top to bottom; USS LST-808, USS LST-788, USS LST-760, USS LST-724 and USS LSM-264 beached at the foot of Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, 24 February 1945. Note that the ships keep their propellers turning over to hold themselves in position. In the water are a DUKW and an LCPR; in the surf and on the beach are LVT's, DUKW's, trucks, bulldozers, and a crawler crane. Trucks at the right are towing 105mm howitzers inland from USS LST-724.
    US Navy photos #'s S-193-1    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-264
    S-193-A2    		 154k From top to bottom USS LST-779, USS LST-808, USS LST-788, USS LST-760, USS LST-724 and USS LSM-264 beached at the foot of Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, 25 February 1945.
    US Navy photo # S-193-A2.    		 Robert O. Baumrucker, 1978 to the USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LST-808 48k USS LST-808 grounded and burning at Ie Shima after being torpedoed by a Japanese Kamikaze, 18 May 1945. Steve Glover
    LST-808 115k USS LST-808 sinking off Ie Shima circa 20 May 1945. Gene McFadden for his father Eugene J. McFadden, Gunners Mate USS LST-965
    USS LST-808
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Stevens II, John Calvin, USNR29 September 1944 - 20 May 1945
    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
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    Last Updated 8 May 2015