U.S.S. L.S.T. 856 info/pic request

[ValEag]

My father served on the U.S.S. L.S.T. 856 in WWII. I have not found very much info at all on the web about this ship. Any chance a fellow lounger may have an old photo laying around? I'd really like to surprise my father with a framed photo.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Norumbega]

Gidday shipmate,

During WWII, the ship classifications went something like this:

WWII TYPE II LSTs:

LST-1 CLASS NO NAME FOR CLASS 390 VESSELS
(100 LSTs canceled 16 September 1942)

LST-491 CLASS NO NAME FOR CLASS 50 VESSELS

LST-542 CLASS CHELAN COUNTY CLASS 612 VESSELS

As to your father's ship, I didn't initially find a source for a photo, though you might try Seaweed's, whom I've contacted before. http://www.uss-seaweed.com/home.html
I can give you a wee bit of information on his ship from NavSource on-line. http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160856.htm My hope is that it's not redundant material for you.

LST-856
511 Class Tank Landing Ship: Laid down, 16 September 1944, at Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Seneca, IL.; Launched, 1 December 1944; Commissioned USS LST-856, 23 December 1944. During World War II, LST-856 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto in June 1945. Following the war, LST-856 performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until mid-February 1946. Decommissioned, 29 May 1946; Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 5 May 1948, to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA. LST-856 received one battle star for World War II service.

Specifications: Displacement 1,625 t.(fl), 3,640 t.(fl); Length 328'; Beam 50'; Draft unloaded, bow 2' 4" stern 7' 6", loaded bow 8' 2" stern 14' 1"; Speed 12k.; Complement 8-10 Officers, 89-100 Enlisted; Troop Capacity, approx. 130 officers and enlisted; Boats, two LCVP; Armament; one single 3"/50 gun mount., eight 40mm guns, twelve 20mm guns; Propulsion, two General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders.

I enjoy researching, and have performed similar work regarding my grandfather's Merchant Marine ship, plus the odd amateur transcription of Civil War diaries.
As for U.S. naval vessels, I'd suggest starting at Haze Gray & Underway
http://www.hazegray.org/features/.......lots of good intel and links there.
Good hunting.

 

[ValEag]

Norumbega -

Thanks very much for the helpful info. I'll check out the links you provided and see what I can find.

I appreciate the assistance!

 

[Treetopflyer]

Landing Ship Tank

Unfortunately, there is not allot of pictures of specific LSTs’ out there. The ships themselves had a short life span, usually just a couple of years through the war and then they were decommissioned. I guess not allot of time to take pictures while you are getting shot at. You can get paintings and drawings made up of the ship with its specific hull number at a number of companies on-line. I have a friend who was the Captain of the USS LST-225 and I think I have only seen three pictures ever taken of her. I was also stationed on an LST, Newport News class, not like the WWII type. She was around for 34 years so there were plenty of pictures.

 

[Treetopflyer]

Try This company

I had a print made up from this company and they did a great job.

http://www.modelshipbuilding.com/wjamphibs.htm

 

[Windsock]

Take a look at Peter Dunn's website, it's a wealth of info. Unfortunately nothing about your ship but this page has a few great shots.

http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/usnavy/usslst-334.htm

You could try searching the Australian War Memorials website. If you do a record search for LST there you'll find lots of of pics of LST's being used to ferry Aussie troops around New Guinea etc.

http://cas.awm.gov.au/PROD/cst.acct...latform=Microsoft Internet Explorer&bos=Win32

They're an interesting looking craft.

 

[ValEag]

Thanks again for all the help!