USS St. Clair County
LCU-1273 and St. Clair County in 1956
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS LST-1069 |
Builder |
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Laid down | 27 November 1944 |
Launched | 10 January 1945 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Elizabeth L. Middleton |
Commissioned | 2 February 1945 |
Decommissioned | 24 August 1946 |
Reinstated | August 1950 |
Recommissioned | 3 October 1950 |
Renamed | USS St. Clair County (LST=1096), 1 July 1955 |
Namesake |
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Decommissioned | 26 September 1969 |
Stricken | 1 April 1975[2] |
Homeport | San Diego (from November 1950) |
Identification | IMO number: 7629910 |
Honors and awards |
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Fate | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | LST |
Displacement |
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Length | 328 feet (100 m) |
Beam | 50 feet (15.2 m) |
Draft |
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Propulsion | Two General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders |
Speed |
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Complement | 7 officers, 204 enlisted |
Armament |
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USS St. Clair County (LST-1096) was a
Operational history
World War II
LST-1096 was laid down on 27 November 1944 by the
Following shakedown off Florida, LST-1096 prepared for duty in the Pacific. In early March, she took on pontoons and ammunition as cargo; and, on 11 March, sailed for the Panama Canal. From there, she continued on to the
Ordered deactivated, she moved to Astoria, Oregon, in May for "mothballing." The ship was decommissioned on 24 August and berthed with the Reserve Fleet, where she remained through the end of the decade.
Korean War
In June 1950, the
For the next two months, the LST trained out of San Diego; and, in mid-February 1951, she headed for
In mid-December, LST-1096 arrived at San Diego. Overhaul, type exercises, and coastal cargo runs occupied the next eight months; and, in September 1952, the ship got underway for the Far East. By mid-October, she had arrived at Yokosuka and, a fortnight later, was conducting amphibious training exercises on the
After the truce agreement was reached in July 1953, LST-1096 continued her POW shuttle runs, from the camps to the mainland, and completed her last run, from Koje Do to Pusan, on 10 August. Three days later, she returned to Japan, then continued east, arriving at San Diego at the end of September.
Mid-1950s to mid-1960s
In October, the LST shifted to Long Beach, where she remained for repairs and overhaul into 1954. In January, she returned to San Diego; put back to Long Beach for further work in early February; then commenced refresher training. In April, she began moving west again; and, on 25 April, arrived in Yokosuka to begin her first peacetime Western Pacific (WestPac) deployment. Through most of the summer, she conducted exercises in Japanese, Korean, and Okinawan waters. In mid-August, she was ordered south; and, for three months, participated in Operation Passage to Freedom, the transportation of people from the newly created Democratic Republic of Vietnam, north of the 17th parallel, to the National State of Vietnam, south of that line. Operating between Haiphong and Tourane, she completed her last run from north to south in mid-November; visited Hong Kong; then returned to Japan. In February 1955, she returned to San Diego; and, for the next eleven months, remained on the West Coast.
Named St. Clair County (LST-1096) in July 1955, she sailed west again in February 1956. Training operations in Japanese, Korean, and Okinawan waters were interrupted only once, by a cruise to the Philippines in July, during her WestPac stay. In September, she moved east; and, in October, reached California.
Through the end of the 1950s and into 1960, St. Clair County rotated regularly between training exercises, cargo runs, and overhauls on the west coast and similar exercises and cargo operations with the 7th Fleet in the western Pacific. During 1960, she also participated in the making of two motion pictures: one in May while deployed to WestPac; the other — the Pat Boone vehicle All Hands on Deck,[4] — in December in California coastal waters. She appeared in the opening scenes of "The World of Suzie Wong" anchored in the harbor as the Kowloon Ferry passes in foreground.
From 1961 to 1963, St. Clair County's schedule was altered, and her annual deployments took her only to the mid-Pacific, where she participated in amphibious exercises and conducted cargo operations for Service Force, Pacific. A FRAM II overhaul and refresher training occupied most of 1964.
In January 1965, the LST resumed WestPac operations. Only briefly deployed, she departed her home port to participate in a west coast operation and ended by carrying marines and their equipment via Hawaii to Okinawa. In May, after a visit to Japan, she returned to San Diego. From mid-August to November, she retraced the itinerary she had followed from January to May. Then, through the end of the year, she remained on the west coast.
Vietnam War
The LST sailed west again on 14 January 1966; and, late in February, commenced logistic support duty for combat operations in her third war. On 25 February, after a stop at Okinawa, she offloaded miscellaneous cargo, vehicles, and personnel at Chu Lai, South Vietnam; then proceeded to Subic Bay. She briefly remained there for upkeep and loading before returning to Vietnam to operate as a unit of TF 76 in that embattled country's coastal waters.
In March, she offloaded ammunition cargo at
Arriving back at her home port on 23 September, St. Clair County underwent voyage repairs, then resumed exercises off the southern California coast. In the spring of 1967, she participated in exercises in Hawaiian waters, then returned to the west coast for a three-month overhaul. In November, she resumed local exercises; and, early in 1968, completed her first "over-the-beach-hi-line" evolution. In June, she headed west.
The LST remained in WestPac through the remainder of the year, ferrying troops and cargo between
Struck from the Navy List on 1 April 1975, she was sold for scrapping 1 December 1975. Ultimately saved, she operated under the name LST 5 for a Singapore-based concern, and as the Greek-flagged Petrola 145 for a Panamanian organization. She was sold for scrapping in 1988.[2]
LST-1096 earned one
References
- ^ a b DANFS entry for St. Clair County states she was also named for a parish in Louisiana, however, there is no "St. Clair Parish, Louisiana".
- ^ "LST-1069". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. United States Navy. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
- Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here. Another entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of St. Clair County at NavSource Naval History