Chronology
USS LCT(6) 614
By Tom Carter

Julieroo57@aol.com

December 1943      Building at Pidgeon-Thomas Iron Co., Memphis, Tenn.

7 January 1944       Trials conducted by LT G.R. Faust, ENS G.E. Grimshaw and

           Machinist L.L. Garrett

9 January 1944       Builder delivered craft to Navy

10 January 1944     Ready for departure to tidewater, Ferry Crew 104

19 January 1944     Arrived in New Orleans

17 February 1944   Hoisted aboard USS LST 291 in New Orleans. Left New Orlean

           21 Feb. Arrived New York 29 Feb. Left New York 8 March, struck rock under

          Triborough Bridge. Arrived Boston 9 March and drydocked 10 to 11 March.

          Left Boston 18 March and arrives Halifax, Nova Scotia, 20 March. Quarrantined

          for scarlet fever from 28 March to 8 April. Underway from Halifax with convoy

          SC-157 on 17 April, encounters storm, one ship from convoy torpedoed and sunk

          by U-boat. Arrived Milford Haven, Wales, on 1 May. Left Milford Haven on 2

          May and arrived Plymouth, England, on 3 May.

4 May 1944          LCT 614 launched from LST 291. Becomes an operational unit

          in U.S. Navy and is assigned to LCT (6) Flotilla 12, LCDR William Leide

          commanding. mid-May 1944 Moved to Portland Harbor to load for invasion.

3 June 1944         Embarked 2 bulldozers, 5 jeeps, 7 trailers, and 65 men from 3rd

          Battalion, 116th RCT, 29th Infantry Division; Companies A and C, 149th Engineer

          Combat Battalion; and 3565th Ordnance Company.

6 June 1944        Operation Neptune Lands on Dog Red sector of Omaha Beach as part of

          H+60 wave. Gets hung up on obstacles and spends 90 minutes on beach under

          fire. Jarvis wounded. Crewmen rescue wounded and stranded personnel from

          water. Retracts after partially landing troops and vehicles. Delivers wounded to

          Coast Guard vessel. Returns to Dog Red to land rest of load in middle afternoon.

          On way back to anchorage, stops by British LST to have Jarvis and Pequigney

          treated and to deliver more wounded. Anchors for night near battleship; narrowly

          missed by aircraft bomb intended for battleship.

7 June 1944 to November 1944 Operation Mulberry Operates with British forces in

          Gold Area unloading cargo from LSTs and merchant ships. Dowling injured when

          crushed between anchor winch and hull of freighter. One of 10 LCTs commended

          for continuous service between invasion and storm. Weathers storm of June 19

          with no damage. By July, U.S. LCTs in Gold area operating with very few

         supplies. In August, Carter accidentally shoots himself in the foot. Ship returns

          to Plymouth, England in mid-November.

19 December 1944 Hoisted aboard USS LST 540 in Plymouth, England. Arrived in

         Norfolk, Va., on 16 January 1945.

17 January to 12 February 1945 Refit at Old Dominion Marine Railway, Imperial

          Docks, Berkley, VA. Cost: $6,028.93

17 February 1945 Crafted rammed by another LCT under tow. Collision pierced hull

          of 614 and flooded the engine room, ruining all three engines and generators and

         partially sinking craft. 20 February 1945, towed to Frontier Base, Little Creek,

         VA, for repairs. 16 March 1945 repairs completed, 614 returns to Imperial Docks,

          Berkley, Va. In August 1945, Navy billed $3,437.55 for repair of collision damage.

24 May 1945 Hoisted aboard USS LST 1008 in Norfolk Navy Yard. Left Norfolk 25

          May, arrived off Panama Canal 2 June. Transited Panama Canal 3 June. Arrived

          Pearl Harbor 21 June. Left Pearl Harbor 23 June, crossed Date Line 29 June,

          arrived Eniwetok 5 July. Left Eniwetok 6 July, arrived Guam 11 July. Beached

          and unloaded cargo. Left Guam 18 July and arrived Saipan 19 July. Left Saipan 1

         August, arrived Okinawa 7 August. Three air raid alerts that night. Learned of

          Japanese intention to surrender evening of 10 August. Left Okinawa 13 August,

         arrived Saipan 19 August. Left Saipan 29 August, arrived Okinawa 4 September.

          Left Okinawa 11 September, arrived Jinsen (Inchon), Korea 15 September.

16 September 1945 Launched from LST 1008 in Jinsen, Korea. Attached to LCT

          Flotilla 15, Group 115.

30 September 1945 Operation Campus Beleager. Supported occupation of

          Taku-Tientsin area of northern China by III Amphibious Corps. Took units of 1st

          Marine Division ashore at Taku. Remained in northern China until end of October.

November 1945 Operations supporting occupation of Korea, mostly in Inchon area.

December 1945 Pacific crew begins to break up as men return to states for discharge.

9 January 1946 Transfered to Group 116 (still Flotilla 15).

9 April 1946 Loaned to Army and manned by Koreans. 2 October 1946 Army reports

          vessel unfit for further use and transfer to Korean Coast Guard cancelled. 18

          November 1946 vessel declared not essential to defense of the United States;

          Army authorized to salvage desired equipment and sink or destroy hulk. 4 April

         1947 ship struck from Navy Register. 2 August 1948, Army reports "disposal by

          salvage" in progress for vessel. Probably scuttled soon afterward.