Following the broom raising and successful test run, the Evansville Shipyard officially sold an LST to the Navy. In Evansville, LSTs were placed in reduced commission status for the trip down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Algiers Naval Base in Louisiana. In some instances the entire crew boarded in Evansville-119 men, including 13 officers. Normally, only a skeleton crew boarded in Evansville and a special river ferry team piloted the LST down river. After final outfitting at Algiers, an LST was placed in full commission.

This photograph depicts the reduced commissioning ceremonies for LST 553.

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