Builder: Brown Shipbuilding Company, Orange, Texas
Commissioned: 10 February 1943
Decommissioned: 7 March 1946
Disposition: Sold on 13 December 1946, fate unknown.
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 William V. Lorimer, USCGR
LTJG W. F. Clingman, USSCGR
LTJG J. D. Gust, USN
ENS William H. Pardis, USCG
History: Flotilla 4 / 10 / 35, Group 103, Division 205
The Coast Guard-manned USS LCI(L)-325 was commissioned at Orange, Texas on February 15, 1943, under the command of LT William V. Lorimer, USCGR. 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. She reached Plymouth on November 3, 1943, and was occupied from then until D-day in preparation for her participation in the invasion of Normandy. She landed troops at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944, and then brought more troops to France in subsequent trips from England. After engaging in other duties incident to the invasion she departed Falmouth on October 5, 1944, for Charleston, South Carolina where she underwent overhaul and repair, taking on new officers and crew for her forthcoming duty in the Pacific.
Proceeding to Little Creek, Virginia, and Solomons Island, Maryland for amphibious training she left Norfolk December 23, 1944, for San Diego, California, via Key West and the Canal Zone arriving January 20, 1945, for a protracted period of training and availability at the Naval Repair Base there. She departed San Diego April 3, 1945, for Okinawa, via Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Guam and Ulithi, arriving on May 29, 1945. Here she was assigned to make smoke while acting as harbor entrance control vessel at Kerama Rhetto, undergoing numerous air raid alerts, both here and at Hagushi, Okinawa to which place she made frequent trips carrying passengers. Later she moved to Chimu Wan, Nakugusuku Wan and Buckner Bay for general logistics and smoke-making.
On September 8, 1945, she proceeded to Wakayama, Japan, as part of the Mine Destruction Unit which operated in Ku Suido until October 19, 1945, when she proceeded to Sasebo. On October 26, 1945, she departed to participate in "Operation Klondike" mine destruction in the East China Sea, returning to Sasebo on November 8, 1945, and departing for home November 25. 1945. She returned to Mobile, Alabama on April 23, 1946, via Guam, Pearl Harbor, San Diego and the Canal Zone. Here she was decommissioned on May 31st, 1946.
The LCI(L)-325 earned five 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.