Builder: Brown Shipbuilding Corporation, Orange, Texas
Commissioned: 15 February 1943
Decommissioned: 26 March 1946
Disposition: Transferred to the Maritime Commission on 9 October 1947 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 Grant C. Kidston, USCG
LTJG W. L. Brown, USCGR
Executive Officers
LTJG Saul W. Rosenberg, USCGR
Engineering Officers
LTJG Raymond, L. Wyant, USCGR
History: Flotilla 4 / 10 / 35, Group 104, Division 209
The Coast Guard-manned USS LCI(L)-322 was built by the Brown Shipbuilding Corporation at Houston, Texas, and was placed in commission on February 15, 1943 under the command of LT Grant C. Kidston, USCG. After shakedown exercises at Galveston the 322 proceeded to Norfolk, Virginia, for amphibious training at Solomons Island, Maryland.
She departed Norfolk in the latter part of March, 1943, and arrived at Rabat, Morocco, North Africa, 18 days later, via Bermuda. Soon afterwards she sailed for Lake Bizerte, Tunisia, where as a member of LCI(L) Flotilla 4 she conducted landing operations in preparation for the convoy invasion of Sicily. Arriving at Licata, Sicily on July 10, 1943, she successfully disembarked the troops on board. Two months later on September 9, 1943, she was part of the Green Reserve Section of Uncle Attack Group landing troops at Salerno.
Leaving Bizerte in the latter part of October, 1943, she arrived at Plymouth, England, November 3, 1943, via Gibraltar where she was assigned to LCI(L) Flotilla 10 [LCI(L) Flotilla 4's designation was changed prior to the Normandy Invasion to Flotilla 10], engaging in extensive beaching operations in Southern England during the next seven months in preparation for the invasion of Normandy. On June 5, 1944, she departed Salcombe, England for France, unloading troops on Utah Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944, and making subsequent trips across the channel until July 12, 1944.
She departed Dartmouth, England on October 5, 1944, and arrived at Jacksonville, Florida, 21 days later where she underwent a major overhaul at Merrill, Stevens Dry Dock and Repair Company with a new crew of officers and men, she was assigned to LCI(L) Flotilla 35, and left Hampton Roads January 3, 1945. She arrived at San Diego, California, via Key West and Canal Zone on January 31, 1945, where she reported to Commander, Training Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, for training and final availability before eventual onward routing. After a visit to Port Hueneme, California she left San Diego April 20, 1945, for Pearl Harbor arriving April 30, 1945, and departing May 6th for Guam, via Eniwetok, arriving May 26th. On the 31st she reported to C.T.U. 94.7.2 at Saipan for local patrol and escort duty in the Saipan-Tinian area. On August 6, 1945, she proceeded to Eniwetok where she was assigned to Commander, Service Division 102, for inter-island ferry service until October 25, 1945.
Departing Eniwetok on October 25, 1945, she proceeded to Guam and Saipan, transporting troops from there back to Guam on November 2, 1945, and then departed for Ulithi and Peleliu on the sane mission, returning to Guam November 17, 1945. Shortly thereafter she left Guam for Long Beach, California, arriving February 1, 1946, via Pearl Harbor and San Diego. Here she was decommissioned on March 26, 1946.
The LCI(L)-322 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.