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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-815

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Charlie - Quebec
NHCQ

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 (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

USS LST-815 was sold to France and named RFS Odet (L9005)

International Radio Call Sign:
Foxtrot - Alpha - Oscar - Delta
FAOD

LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 28 August 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.

Launched, 7 October 1944

Commissioned USS LST-815, 30 October 1944, LT. Robert S. Denham Jr., USNR, in command

During World War II USS LST-815 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, CAPT. H.E. Richter USN (24);
LST Group Seventy-Four, CDR. J.G. Farnsworth;
LST Div One Hundred Forty-Seven and participated in the following campaign:

Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 April to 30 June 1945

Following World War II USS LST-815 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
20 September to 12 October 1945
25 October to 5 November 1945

Decommissioned, 7 September 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown

Sold, 25 May 1948, to Basalt Rock Co., Inc.

Resold by Basalt Rock Co., to France in 1948

Final Disposition, scrapped by France in 1969

USS LST-815 earned one battle star 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
USS LST-815
1016081520	328k	Walter E. Abbot of Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN. and PH3 Andrew P. Meaney participate in the broom raising for *LST-815, 24 October 1944. Broom raising is a maritime custom indicating the the ship and her equipment have passed all required tests prior to being deliver to the customer, in this case the US Navy. Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Shipbuilding Division, Evansville, Indiana. Evansville Shipyard Collection. ID 1948_151.-085575*	David Upton
1016081521	306k	USS LST-815 commissioning ceremony, 30 October 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN. The unfinished *LST-819* is on the starboard side of *LST-815. The number 138 seen on the bridge is the ship yard's launch number. Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library, Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Shipbuilding Division, Evansville, Indiana. Evansville Shipyard Collection. ID 1948_151.-08582*	David Upton
	25k	USS LST-815 at the invasion beaches at Okinawa on D-Day. Photo taken from *LST-817*	Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
RFS Odet (L9005)
	30k	Ex-USS LST-815 in the Republic of France service as *RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway, circa 1954, location unknown.	Robert Hurst
	443k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** dry docked at Toulon, France, circa 1955	André Pilon
1016081538	60k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway on the Saigon River, South Vietnam, circa 1955.	Jacques Druel
1016081539	99k		Jacques Druel
1016081540	253k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway, during World War I celebration, 11 Novmeber 1955.	Jacques Druel
1016081541	311k
1016081542	374k
1016081543	459k
	39k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway, 9 May 1957, location unknown.	Submitted by André Pilon, courtesy matelot signalman Raymond Anglada RFS Odet
	47k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** entering the harbor at Toulon, France, date.unknown.	Robert Hurst
1016081534	196k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway circa 1964, location unknown.	Jacques Druel
1016081535	187k		Jacques Druel
	90k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** at Toulon, 29 August 1966, after arriving from Vietnam with the coffins of 307 French soldiers who died during the French-Indochina war. Photos from "Képi Blanc," the monthly review off French Foreign Légion, October 1966.	André Pilon
	172k		André Pilon
	89k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** at Lorient, France, in 1967. Petty Officers and Chief Petty Officers, second maître mécanicien (second master mechanic) Fougère kneeing at left.	Submitted by André Pilon Quartermaster (signalman) RFS Golo Courtesy Petty Officer Alain Fougère RFS Odet
	93k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway in 1967 during a training exercise with a deck load of army trucks.	Submitted by André Pilon Quartermaster (signalman) RFS Golo Courtesy Petty Officer Alain Fougère RFS Odet
	91k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** landing vehicles at Abidjan, Ivory Coast during a training exercise in 1967.	Submitted by André Pilon Quartermaster (signalman) RFS Golo Courtesy Petty Officer Alain Fougère RFS Odet
	99k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** landing vehicles at Abidjan, Ivory Coast during a training exercise in 1967.	Submitted by Quartermaster (signalman) RFS Golo Courtesy Petty Officer Alain Fougère RFS Odet
	193k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** re-embarking vehicles at Abidjan, Ivory Coast during a training exercise in 1967.	Submitted by Quartermaster (signalman) RFS Golo Courtesy Petty Officer Alain Fougère RFS Odet
1016081536	401k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** anchored, 23 October 1968, during Operation Colomba	Jacques Druel
1016081537	433k		Jacques Druel
	108k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** moored with bow doors open, date and location unknown.	Robert Hurst
	138k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway, date and location unknown.	Robert Hurst
1016081533	346k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway, date and location unknown.	Jacques Druel
	60k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** underway off Toulon, date and location unknown. Photo courtesy of Marius Bar.	Robert Hurst
	18k	A French army AMX-30 MBT being loaded on to *RFS Odet* (L9005)**, date and location unknown. Photo from Marine Nationale.	Robert Hurst
	43k	*RFS Odet* (L9005)** seaman's cap	Submitted by André Pilon, Quartermaster (signalman) RFS Golo Courtesy Karoll Sassover, matelot Bosseman (1964) RFS Odet
	45k	Ex-*RFS Odet* (L9005)** serving as a as break-water at Saint-Mandrier, near Toulon, circa 1970	Submitted by André Pilon, Quartermaster (signalman) RFS Golo Photo by Gilbert Kerisit RFS Odet

RFS Odet (L9005) at Toloun, date unknown.
Contributed by Jacques Druel

USS LST-815
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Denham Jr., Robert S., USNR	30 October 1944 - 2 May 1946
02	LTjg. Durham, James E., USNR	2 May 1946 - 7 September 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

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 3 November 2023