LSM Division (21) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 44 text:

LSM 397 First row: Joseph C. Cavaluzzi, George W. Krider, Ervin T. Wahlic, Fred P. White, ENS Gerald L. Mittler, Lawrence J. Mognoni, Long, J. S. Condurso. . . . Second row: Albert D. Patterson, Jack Daugherty, Bernard E. Davis, J. N. Campbell, Owen Marvin Miller, Harold K. Miller, John Franklin Zuber, Robert Stanley Mazurek, Patsy L. Maiorano, Harvey Edward Hawkhurst, Phillip James Randier. First row: Robert William Walker, Anthony S. Dil Donald K. Bannett, Edward J. Szymoorski, ENS Bruce Robert Kauffman, Albert E. Welchman, Earl A. Tillotson, Asa Cray- ton Paschal, Jr., James V. Veloski. . . . Second row: Rodney A. Cleveland, Linwood R. Kelley, John Freijomil, James Thomas O ' Neill, Anthony T. Giordano, John M. Maroney, Hdison Walker, Jr., John J. McGecver, John P. Drat- wick, John E. Joseph, Carl D. Smith, Lewis Wilson.

Page 43 text:

i LT W. J. FLYNN Commanding Officer History Of LSM 397 THE USS LANDING Ship Medium 397 was built in Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S. C. and was com- missioned on 30 July 1945 just 14 days before the end of the war. The ship is 203 ' 6 long and is driven by two 1800 h.p. General Motors diesel engines. It has a maximum speed of 14 knots with a cruising speed of 10 knots. The com- plement assigned to the ship consists of three officers and thirty-eight enlisted men. The LSM is designed primarily for transporting medium and heavy Army tanks, their personnel and equipment and landing them under their own power on beaches. This vessel has a carrying capacity of five medium or three heavy Army tanks or a pay load maximum of 165 tons. All types of motorized vehicles and artillery can also be carried and unloaded under their own power. Since commissioning the ship has been assigned to the U. S. Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va. as home port. In October 1945 she made a voyage up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Cincinnati, Ohio where the ship was opened to the public on Navy Day 1945. New York City was visited on Navy Day 1946. The LSM 397 has engaged in two Cadet-Midshipman Training Operations during the summer of 1946 and 1947. During February-March 1947 in Atlantic Fleet Maneuvers a detachment of marines and marine mecha- nized equipment was transported from Camp Lejuene, N. C. and landed in an attack of Culebra Island in the Caribbean. The USS Landing Ship Medium 397 is a unit of the Amphibious Force, U. S. Atlantic Fleet. Designed for participation in the amphibious assault of enemy held territory, her primary mission is to land tanks and other vehicles fully equipped and manned. She participated in Amphibious Operations off Cuba in January 1946; off Puerto Rico, February 1947. In July 1947 she partici- pated in Operation CAMID off Virginia Beach, Virginia, an amphibious operation conducted for training of Cadets and Midshipmen. In October of 1947 she participated in Operation SEMINOLE off the west coast of Florida. In February 1948, she participated in SECOND TASK Fleet Exercises at Vieques, P. R. The LSM 397 has visited the following major ports: New York City; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Hamilton, Bermuda; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Fredriksted, St. Croix, V. I.; Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. She has steamed a total of approximately 60,000 miles. LT William J. Flynn is the Commanding Officer. LTJG H. L. Hillhouse is Executive Officer, LTJG G. L. Mittler is Engineering Officer and ENS R. R. Kauffman is First Lieutenant.

Page 45 text:

LSM 397 ' 9. V $ j ri.r : t. ' ,w A i rw row: Michael Thomas Defazio, Victor Lee Wilson, Wil- lard J. Deiger, LTJG H. L. Hillhouse, Clark Dennis Jones, Roy Stuart Johnson, Patrick Reagan. . . . Second row: Joseph Petrauskis, Carlyle J. Scott, Paul J. Kubiak, Jack F. Peck, Millard E. Francis, Loren R. Newman, Samuel M. Anderson, Richard J. Reardon.