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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-863


International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Uniform - Echo
 NIUE
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)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 11 October 1944, at Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Launched, 14 November 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-863, 9 December 1944, LT. John D. Barrett USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-863 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Three, CAPT. W.W. Weeden Jr. USN;
     LST Group Sixty-Nine, CDR. H. F. Agnen USN (23);
     LST Division One Hundred Thirty-Seven and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 18 April to 30 June 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-863 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    20 September to 3 October 1945
    15 October 1945 to 14 January 1946

  • Decommissioned, 18 June 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 31 July 1946
  • USS LST-863 earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 13 May 1948, to Hughes Bros., Inc.
    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 Contributed
    By
    LST-737 1086k USS LST-863 moored at Pearl Harbor, circa 16 to 23 January 1946.
    Also present are:
    USS Bennington (CV-20) moored across the channel at NAS Ford Island,
    USS Troilus (AKA-46) moored astern of,
    USS Cape Gloucester (CVE-109),
    USS LST-1079 moored astern of
    USS LST-1070
    USS Terror (CM-5),
    USS LST-459 with LCT-1015 secured to her main deck, astern of
    USS LST-863
    Moored forward of LST-863 are an unidentified Minesweeper and two Rescue and Salvage ships
    The next pier has two unidentified ships, possibly AKs the Survey Ship USS Sumner (AGS-5), and two unidentified Minesweepers
    USS LST-737 moored astern of
    USS LST-45 moored astern of numerous Minesweepers and possibly
    USS Shipley Bay (CVE-85)
    US Navy photo BUAer photo # 496019 from "CINCPAC, Released 23 January 1946.    		 David Buell
    LST-863 121k USS LST-863 entering San Francisco Bay (Note Homeward Bound Pennant) with LCT(6)-813 on deck, circa early 1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo # NH 83644, courtesy of D. M. McPherson, 1975.    		 Mike Green
    USS LST-863
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Barrett, John D., USNR9 December 1944 - March 1946
    02LTjg. Frosali, Mario J., USNRMarch 1946 - 18 June 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 23 November 2018