Photograph of LST 807 given to employees by the Employees War Production Committee, Inc. Photograph engraved and printed by Keller-Crescent Co. LST-807 was laid down on 29 July 1944 at Evansville, Ind., by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. launched on 11 September 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Barney C. King, and commissioned on 3 October 1944, Lt. J. D. Holder, USNR, in command. During World War II, LST-807 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the assault and occupation of Iwo Jima in February 1945 and the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto in May and June 1945. Following the war, LST-807 performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until mid-May 1946. She was decommissioned on 27 May 1946 and transferred to the State Department for disposition. The ship was struck from the Navy list on 3 July 1946. LST-807 earned two battle stars for World War II service. In 1942 some 45 acres of riverfront property (approximately where Mead Johnson is now) was made into Evansville Shipyard, with the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co. contracted to build LSTs (Landing Ship Tank). The first LST was launched even before the yard was completed. At its height, over 19,00 were employed here, and Evansville made more LSTs than any other shipyard in the country. In its only three years of operation, the Evansville Shipyard built 24 ships, 167 LSTs, and 35 other war crafts. The last ship was launched December 12, 1945. A fire swept through the plant in January 1946, and today, nothing remains of this operation.