USS LCS(L)(3)-102
International call sign: November-Victor-Xray-Charlie
USS LCS(L)(3)-102 was laid down 13 January 1945 at Commercial Iron Works in Portland, Oregon. The vessel was launched on 3 February 1945 and commissioned soon after on 17 February. As built, the vessel displaced 250-tons without load, and 387 tons at full load. She was 158 feet (48 m) long, with a beam of 28 feet 8 inches (8.74 m) and a draft of 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m). With a crew of eight officers and 70 enlisted personnel, at maximum endurance she had a range of 5,500 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12 knots; power was provided by two propellers that were driven by two General Motors four-shaft 1,600 horse power diesel engines. She was armed with an array of weapons, including: a single 3-inch gun mounted on her bow; two twin-mounted 40 mm anti-aircraft guns; four single-mounted 20 mm anti-aircraft guns; four .50 caliber machine-guns and ten rocket launchers. Armor included 10-pound (4.5 kg) splinter shields which were placed on the gun mounts, the pilot house and the conning tower.
After commissioning, LCS(L)(3)-102 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater under the command of Captain J. M. Mc Issac. World War II was in its final stages at the time, but she arrived in time to participate in the Battle of Okinawa, participating in the Gunto operation between 18 and 30 June 1945. At the end the end of the war, LCS(L)(3)-102 served as part of the occupation forces in Japan until December 1945 when it was moved to China before being deemed surplus and decommissioned in April 1946 and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group, in Astoria, Oregon. Redesignated Landing Ship Support Large, USS LSSL-102, on 28 February 1949 she was soon transferred to Japan, 30 April 1953, and renamed JDS Himawari where she served until 18 April 1966 when she was brought to the US, re-transferred to Thailand and renamed HTMS Nakha (LSSL-751). She stayed in Thailand until 2007.
In September 2007, she was loaded aboard a ship for transit from Thailand back to the United States to become a museum ship at Mare Island, California. USS LCS(L)(3)-102 earned one battle star for her service in World War II.
