USS LST-713

History
Name:	USS LST-713
Builder:	Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, Indiana
Laid down:	3 June 1944
Launched:	11 July 1944
Commissioned:	7 August 1944
Decommissioned:	20 June 1946
Struck:	31 July 1946
Honors and awards:	2 battle stars (World War II)
Fate:	Sold for scrapping, 21 May 1948
Status:	Decommissioned; scrapped
Notes:	unfortunately there is some conjecture about the final status and fate of USS LST-713. Whilst she may have been struck from the US Naval fleet register. She did not go on to be scrapped as possibly originally intended. Instead she was acquired in the years to follow her decommissioning in 1946 by the Thailand Royal Navy where her career continued in many different capacities from troop and personal transport to that of an engineering platform after being massively refitted for this purpose early in the 1970. However by the late 1980's her age even in her non-active duties was becoming apparent and she was therefore decommissioned from the Thai Navy in November of 1993. Her movements in the years to follow as she changed hands and indeed responsibility are not well documented. There is even evidence that she attempted to live up to her original design after slipping her mooring lines in a severe storm that savaged the port she was laid up in at the time and was driven ashore. Where she remained for the next two years before she was once again acquired by a private scrapping company run from Malaysia. However before she could be moved from Thai waters for the last time. A former US naval captain who had within his career commandeered her into an operational fleet in the post WW2 years convinced the Thai government to requisition her back into the Thai Navy and be used as a floating museum. She was once again on the move, this time to a port on the southeastern side of the island of Koh Pang Nan within the Gulf of Thailand. A special dock was built on reclaimed land and a memorial built around her, where she sits to this day in proud defiance of those who tried so many times to see her scrapped.
General characteristics
Class and type:	LST-542-class tank landing ship
Displacement:	1,625 long tons (1,651 t) light 3,640 long tons (3,698 t) full
Length:	328 ft (100 m)
Beam:	50 ft (15 m)
Draft:	Unloaded : 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) forward 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) aft Loaded : 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) forward 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) aft
Propulsion:	2 × General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
Speed:	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried:	2 × LCVPs
Troops:	8-10 officers, 89-100 enlisted men
Complement:	Approximately 130 officers and enlisted men
Armament:	8 × 40 mm guns 12 × 20 mm guns

USS LST-713 was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II.

The ship was laid down on 3 June 1944 at the Jefferson Boat & Machine Company in Jeffersonville, Indiana; she was launched on 11 July 1944 and commissioned on 7 August 1944.

Service history

During World War II, LST-713 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. She participated in two operations: the Battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945, and the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, which took place from April to June 1945. Following the war, LST-713 performed occupation duty in the Far East until February 1946.

She returned to the United States and was decommissioned on 20 June 1946, and struck from the Navy List on 31 July that same year. On 21 May 1948, the ship was sold to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and subsequently scrapped.

Awards

USS LST-713 earned two battle stars for World War II service.

References

• Photo gallery of USS LST-713 at NavSource Naval History
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.