USS LCS(L)(3)-102 is an LCS(L)(3)-1 Class

Landing Craft Support The Landing Craft, Support (Large) were two distinct classes of amphibious warfare vessels were used by the United States Navy (USN) in the Pacific and the Royal Navy in World War II. The USN versions which were later reclassified Landing Ship S ...

ship built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during World War II. The vessel was completed near the end of the war and saw brief service during the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

. After the war, ''LCS(L)(3)-102'' served in China before being decommissioned in 1946 and then transferred to Japan in mid-1953. Serving under the name JDS ''Himawari'', the vessel remained in Japan until mid-1966 when she was transferred to Thailand, becoming the HTMS ''Nakha''. In 2007, after being retired, the ship was returned to the United States to become a museum ship. Now the sole remaining vessel of her class, she remains docked at the site of the former

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates th ...

, in Vallejo, CA.

Design and construction

USS ''LCS(L)(3)-102'' was laid down 13 January 1945 at Commercial Iron Works in Portland, Oregon. The vessel was launched on 3 February 1945 and commissioned on 17 February. As built, the vessel displaced 250-tons without load, and 387 tons at full load. She was long, with a beam of and a draft of . With a crew of six officers and 65 enlisted personnel, at maximum endurance she had a range of 5,500 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12 knots; power was provided by two propellers that were driven by four General Motors 6-71 per-shaft 1,600 horse power diesel engines.

Armament

She was armed with an array of weapons, including: a single 3-inch gun mounted on her bow; two twin-mounted 40mm anti-aircraft guns; four single-mounted 20mm anti-aircraft guns; four .50 caliber machine-guns and ten rocket launchers. Armor included splinter shields which were placed on the gun mounts, the pilot house and the conning tower. Her ten Mk7 rocket launchers were removed sometime after decommissioning, presumably before transfer into the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Operational history

After commissioning, the LCS(L)(3)-102 was assigned to the

Asiatic-Pacific Theater The Asiatic-Pacific Theater was the theater of operations of U.S. forces during World War II in the Pacific War during 1941–1945. From mid-1942 until the end of the war in 1945, two U.S. operational commands were in the Pacific. The Pacific O ...

. World War II was in its final stages at the time, but she arrived in time to participate in the

, participating in the Gunto operation between 18 and 30 June 1945. She was pulled off line to perform mine removal in the Philippines, before doing the same in the Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, and rivers in China. At the end of the war, USS LCS(L)(3)-102 served as part of the occupation forces in Japan until December 1945 when it was moved to China before being deemed surplus and decommissioned in April 1946 and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group, in Astoria, Oregon. Redesignated Landing Ship Support Large, USS "LSSL-102", on 28 February 1949 she was soon transferred to Japan, 30 April 1953, and renamed JDS ''Himawari'' where she served until 18 April 1966 when she was brought to the US, re-transferred to Thailand and renamed HTMS ''Nakha'' (LSSL-751). She stayed in Thailand until 2007. USS ''LCS(L)(3)-102'' earned one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

for her service in World War II.

Museum ship (2007-present)

A transfer ceremony was held on May 22, 2007, to transfer custody of the ship from the Royal Thai Navy to the National Association of LCS(L) 1–130. In September 2007, she was loaded aboard a ship for transit from Thailand back to the United States to become a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

at Mare Island, California. The National Association of LCS(L) 1-130 is now officially known as the Landing Craft Support Museum, and continues to preserve and restore the 102. She is now located on Mare Island, at the site of the former

. The museum is open to the public from 9 to 3 Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, or by prior arrangements. The 102 was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2015.

References

External links