LST-926 was a tank landing ship, and the hull number was her name. She was an LST-542-class ship. Bethlehem-Hingham, at Hingham, Massachusetts, laid her down on 13 May 1944, launched her on 24 June 1944, and the Navy commissioned her on 20 July 1944. The commissioning line says Lieutenant Floyd H. Gould. The dated list gives him as Floyd Howard Gould, United States Navy, through 25 March 1945. Class displacement, length, beam, and the 11.6-knot trial are the LST-542 figures NavSource prints. The gun list beside them is a design.
Two battle stars. Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945, and Okinawa Gunto from 1 April to 30 June 1945. For Okinawa, NavSource places her in Flotilla 6. The 7th Naval Construction Battalion's cruisebook says she, LST-758, and LST-895 loaded that battalion's first echelon at Saipan about 12 to 15 April 1945 and put it ashore at Okinawa on 1 May. On 23 July 1945 she was fourth from the right at the Yonabaru pier, next to LST-944, in the line that also names LST-819, LST-879, LST-681, LST-715, LST-918, and LST-871. She was not sunk. She also received the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation and the Philippine Liberation Medal with one star.
Occupation service runs from 20 October 1945 to 26 March 1946. On 2 January 1946 a fire and explosion at Gushikawa, in Chimu Wan on Okinawa, involved LCT-1414, LCT-560, LCT-891, and LCT-785. A Navy letter of 7 January 1946, from the Commander of the Naval Operating Base at Okinawa to the Commander in Chief, Pacific, puts men of this ship and of LST-783 on the casualty list from that fire. Lieutenant (junior grade) William Richard Bierdeman of the Naval Reserve had her from 25 March 1945 into December. Lieutenant (junior grade) Eugene S. Schuman of the Naval Reserve had her from December 1945 to the decommissioning on 14 June 1946. She was struck on 31 July 1946 and sold for scrap on 13 June 1948 to the Walter W. Johnson Company of Seattle.
A note on sources. NavSource gives the builder dates, both battle stars, the occupation window, the 14 June and 31 July 1946 dates, the 13 June 1948 sale, and the three commands. The Saipan loading is the 7th Naval Construction Battalion cruisebook. The Gushikawa fire is a Navy letter of 7 January 1946, as cited on NavSource. The San Francisco Bay photograph is NH 79585. The pier photograph is 21st Naval Construction Battalion negative 204.
