Builder: Brown Ship Building Corporation, Orange, Texas
Commissioned: 15 February 1943
Decommissioned: 20 March 1946
Disposition: Transferred to the Maritime Commission on 2 February 1948 for disposal.
Length: 158' 6" oa
Beam: 23' 3"
Draft: 2' 8" (forward), 5' 3" (aft -- beaching condition)
Displacement: 216 tons (light); 234 tons (beaching condition); 389 tons (full load)
Propulsion: 8 x GM diesels; twin shafts (4 diesels per shaft); 1,600 hp; twin variable-pitch propellers
Range: 4,000 @ 12 knots
Top Speed: 15.5 knots
Complement: 3 officers, 21 enlisted
Troops: 188
Cargo capacity: 75 tons
Initial armament: 4 x 20mm (single-mount): 1 forward, 1 amidships, 2 aft; 2 x .50 caliber; 2" plastic splinter armor on gun shields, conning tower, and pilot house.
Commanding Officers
LT Marshall L. Lee, USCGR
LTJG S. R. Underwood, USCGR
History: Flotilla 4 / 10 / 35, Group 103, Division 206
The Coast Guard-manned USS LCI(L)-96 was commissioned on 15 February 1943 under the command of LT Marshall L. Lee, USCGR. She was assigned to LCI(L) Flotilla 4. After undergoing shakedown and training exercises, she sailed across the Atlantic in company with the other LCI(L)s of the flotilla and participated in the North African occupation in Tunisia, from 1 June to 9 July 1943. She then landed troops during the invasion of Sicily on 9 July 1943 and the landings at Salerno on 9 September 1943. She then sailed for England as part of the same flotilla, now renamed Flotilla 10, in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. Arriving in England on November 3, 1943, she engaged in a series of mock invasions near Dartmouth. On June 6, 1944, she participated in the Normandy invasion by landing troops at Utah Beach.
After acting as channel guide for LCTs until October 5, 1944, she left Falmouth for Charleston, South Carolina. She reached Charleston on the 24th and remained there for overhaul and repair until December 1, 1944. Then, after amphibious training at Little Creek, Virginia and Solomons Island, Maryland, she proceeded to Lambert Point, Virginia on December 9th and after loading there departed on December 19, 1944, for San Diego via Key West and the Canal Zone. She remained at San Diego, attached to the Ship Training Group, Naval Repair Base, until April 3, 1945, when she departed f or Pearl Harbor, arriving April 13, 1945.
Leaving Pearl Harbor April 20, 1945, she arrived at Okinawa on May 28, 1945, via Eniwetok, Guam, Ulithi and Leyte. Here she made smoke for the protection of larger naval units and performed other logistics until September 9, 1945, when she departed for Japan. Arriving at Wakayama, Japan, on September 11, 1945, she remained on duty with the Mine Destruction Group, KiiSuido, until October 29, 1945, when she proceeded to Sasebo, arriving on October 21, 1945. On October 26, 1945, she departed Sasebo on operation "Skagway" with a Mine Destruction Group operating in Nansei Shoto until November 8, 1945.
Proceeding to Nagoya, via Sasebo, on November 15, 1945, she remained there until 27 November when she departed for home via Saipan and Pearl Harbor arriving at San Pedro, California, February 2, 1946. Here she was decommissioned on April 2, 19146.
The LCI(L)-96 earned four battle stars for her service in World War II. All LCI(L)s of Flotilla 10 were retroactively awarded the Coast Guard Unit Commendation for their service in the invasion of Normandy.
Sources
LCI(L) file, Coast Guard Historian's Office.
United States Coast Guard. The Coast Guard At War. V. Transports and Escorts. Vol. 2. Washington: Public Information Division, Historical Section, U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, May 1, 1949, pp. 117-130.