USS Terrell County
USS Terrell County (LST-1157).
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS LST-1157 |
Builder | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
Laid down | 3 March 1952 |
Launched | 6 December 1952 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. John H. Spiller |
Commissioned | 14 March 1953 |
Renamed | USS Terrell County (LST-1157), 1 July 1955 |
Namesake | Counties in Georgia, Texas |
Decommissioned | 25 March 1971 |
Stricken | 1 November 1976 |
Honors and awards |
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Fate | Loaned to Greece; sold outright to Greece, March 1977 |
Greece | |
Name | Oinoussai |
Namesake | Oinousses |
Acquired | 17 March 1977 |
Decommissioned | 20 March 2003 |
Identification | L104 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Terrebonne Parish-class tank landing ship |
Displacement |
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Length | 384 ft 0 in (117.04 m) |
Beam | 55 ft 0 in (16.76 m) |
Draft | 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m) |
Installed power | 6,000 megawatts ) |
Propulsion | Four General Motors 16-278A diesel engines, two controllable pitch propellers |
Speed | 14 knots |
Boats & landing craft carried | Three LCVPs, one LCPL |
Troops | 395 (15 officers and 380 enlisted men) |
Complement | 205 (16 enlisted men ) |
Armament |
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USS Terrell County (LST-1157), originally USS LST-1157, was a
Early career
USS LST-1157 was designed under project SCB 9A, laid down on 3 March 1952 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works and launched on 6 December 1952, sponsored by Mrs. John H. Spiller. She was commissioned on 14 March 1953.
Following
Assigned to Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, LST-1157 operated out of San Diego into February 1954 before getting underway for the
LST-1157 was renamed USS Terrell County (LST-1157) on 1 July 1955.
Terrell County departed the U.S. West Coast on 9 September 1955 for her first
The sudden flare-up of tension halfway around the world in Lebanon in 1958 temporarily interrupted Terrell County's routine. She sailed for Pearl Harbor and conducted emergency exercises in the Hawaiian area before the Middle Eastern crisis abated.
Departing the U.S. West Coast on 15 April 1959, Terrell County headed across the Pacific Ocean for her third Western Pacific deployment. She subsequently returned to San Diego in November and began an extensive overhaul.
On 16 June 1960, Terrell County departed the U.S. west Coast for her fourth Western Pacific cruise. In July 1960 her permanent home port was changed from San Diego to
Vietnam War service
Following the
On 12 March 1965 Terrell County departed the
Following further refresher training and an upkeep period, Terrell County got underway for South Korea on 21 October 1965 and arrived at
Terrell County operated in support of Operation Blue Marlin from 4 to 17 November 1965; included in this deployment was a landing near Chu Lai and a trip to Da Nang, South Vietnam, with support equipment on board. Once she completed this assignment, she received orders to proceed to Nha Trang and thence to Cam Ranh Bay for further operations. On 21 November she embarked South Korean Marines and United States Army support units for transport to Tuy Hòa. Soon after reaching Tuy Hòa, Terrell County, with her troops still embarked, broached in the heavy surf and went aground. On 24 November the fleet tugs USS Molala and USS Mahopac succeeded in pulling Terrell County off the beach and towed to Nha Trang, VN. Subsequently patched and pumped dry, she got underway on 2 December 1965, under tow for Yokosuka. She was subsequently towed to Mitsubishi Shipyards in Yokohama, Japan, where permanent repairs were made to her damaged hull.
The restoration work was complete on 22 February 1966, and the ship got underway for
After coastal operations off Vietnam from 27 March to 5 May, Terrell County retired to Japan on one shaft, since her starboard shaft had ceased functioning. On 13 May, as she crept along toward Yokosuka, her lookouts sighted the Soviet merchant ship Makhachala two points abaft the starboard beam and closing. Both ships continued steady on their courses, as Terrell County assumed that the heavily laden Soviet ship would stay clear. Finally, both ships were forced to maneuver radically to avert a collision, with the Soviet vessel passing close aboard at Terrell County's port aft quarter.
Shaft troubles continued to plague the landing ship but did not interfere with the completion of her transport and cargo missions. She continued these duties into the Autumn of 1966. In October 1966, Terrell County sailed to Tacloban, Leyte, RP to serve as the United States' representative at the 22nd annual Battle of Leyte Gulf celebration, which commemorated General MacArthur's return and the American landings of 1944 supported by an earlier breed of LSTs.
Subsequently completing a
On 9 July Terrell County relieved landing ship tank
Following visits to Okinawa and Subic Bay, Terrell County loaded ammunition and causeway sections and departed Yokosuka on 1 March 1968, bound for Vietnam. However, while steaming in company with two of her sister ships, tank landing ships USS Washoe County and USS Westchester County, Terrell County lost two causeways which were torn loose by heavy seas. Returning to Yokosuka, Terrell County obtained replacement sections and embarked Amphibious Construction Battalion (ACB) 1 before getting underway again and rejoining Washoe County and Westchester County en route to South Vietnam. Arriving at Da Nang on 13 March, she delivered her causeways and proceeded to Tien Sha to unload her ammunition and to take on the gear necessary for her forthcoming operations.
Joining the Amphibious Ready Group once again, Terrell County operated off Mỹ Thủy, South Vietnam, from 15 March to 12 April 1968 before retiring to Subic Bay. She rendezvoused with the
From 1 to 7 December 1968, Terrell County conducted general drills and gunnery exercises before beaching at Vũng Tàu to load ammunition. On 10 December 1968, she relieved Washoe County as support LST for Task Force 115 on Operation Market Time, the interdiction operation attempting to interrupt North Vietnamese logistics operations in South Vietnamese coastal waters.
On 1 January 1969 Terrell County, still supporting Operation Market Time, was assigned additional duty as support ship for the fast
Terrell County then participated in other operations against the VC, firing on their positions along the banks of the Song Bp De River and the Duong Keo River, coordinating PCFs, aircraft, and ships' batteries in firing on VC concentrations and staging areas. As a result of these operations, VC extortion from local South Vietnamese foresters and fishermen in the lower Cà Mau peninsula was substantially, albeit temporarily, curtailed. Relieved as Market Time support LST, Terrell County got underway on 5 February 1969 for the Philippines and arrived at Subic Bay on 11 February 1969.
Training and local operations in Japanese, Okinawan, and Philippine waters preceded yet another Vietnam deployment which commenced upon Terrell County's arrival at Vũng Tàu on 8 May 1969. The next day, she relieved Westchester County and found that the tempo of operations in the lower Cà Mau peninsula had increased. With 50 men of the Mobile Strike Force embarked, as well as a U.S. Army scout helicopter and a U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) detachment, Terrell County provided support for multifaceted operations designed to destroy VC factories, training and supply camps, and extortion stations. She remained on station in the Cà Mau region until 25 June.
A visit to Hong Kong from 8 to 24 July preceded Terrell County's sailing for Yokosuka and upkeep. The ship subsequently carried causeways to Da Nang, Vietnam before resuming duties as support LST for continued interdiction and pacification operations at her old haunt, Cà Mau.
From 10 October to 25 November 1969, Terrell County supported Operation Seafloat. With an embarked helicopter detachment, she undertook refueling and rearming of helicopters, and provided ammunition and services for PCFs, SEAL teams, and troops. She also undertook small boat and PCF maintenance, as well as providing numerous personal services—laundry and small stores, to name but two. During this period, Terrell County established regular mail deliveries to off-shore units by helicopter, the first such services provided in the Cà Mau vicinity. On 15 October she fired a gunfire-support mission against VC vessels.
On 25 November 1969, tank landing ship USS Vernon County came alongside, and Terrell County entrusted her Seafloat support duties to Vernon County before sailing for Da Nang. Loading troops and equipment on 30 November 1969, she got underway on 1 December 1969 to neutralize a threatened mortar attack before returning and refueling from SS Hampton Roads.
Terrell County then returned again to Vũng Tàu, relieving tank landing ship Washoe County as Seafloat support vessel, providing fuel, ammunition, and communications support for a brood of smaller craft. She also assisted the landing craft repair ship USS Krishna by receiving Krishna's stores from provision ships and delivering them, and by also serving as a platform upon which Krishna's mail and spare parts could be helicoptered in. Terrell County also provided repair and maintenance services for PCFs and smaller craft, such as PBRs. She remained at this duty through the spring of 1970.
When American forces
On 1 October 1970 the Panama-registered freighter SS Tung Yang lost all power and wallowed in heavy seas. Terrell County and Washoe County went to the ship's assistance, and Terrell County passed a towline to Tung Yang. By midafternoon on 2 October 1970, Tung Yang rode at the end of the towline but, late the next day, the tow parted, and Tung Yang was once again adrift. The rescue and salvage ship USS Deliver, also in the area, soon retrieved the tow, and thus allowed Terrell County to proceed to Chu Lai. After loading U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy vehicles, Terrell County departed Chu Lai on 6 October 1970 for Subic Bay. Arriving there on 8 October 1970, she took on supplies and got underway on 9 October 1970 in company with her sister ship Washoe County and three Military Sealift Command ships. The two LSTs provided support services for these craft during the long voyage to the U.S. West Coast.
The little convoy arrived at San Diego on 11 November 1970. After off-loading her cargo on 13 November 1970, Terrell County proceeded to San Francisco, California, for four days liberty before continuing northward. She reached Bremerton, Washington, on 24 November 1970 and was placed in "in commission, in reserve" status. Her inactivation work lasted into the new year.
Decommissioning and transfer to Greece
On 25 March 1971 Terrell County was
Transferred, on loan, to Greece under the Security Assistance Program, she was renamed Oinoussai (L104) in Hellenic Navy service and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 November 1976.
Sold outright to Greece in March 1977, Oinoussai was decommissioned by the
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.
- "LST-1157 Terrell County". Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
- "Greek Navy". Battleships-Cruisers. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
- "Oinoussai L-104 (1977–2003)". Hellenic Navy website. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
- "Greek Navy – Amphibious Vessel – Oinoussai Class". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
External links
- U.S.S. Terrell County LST-1157
- History of The USS Terrell County (LST-1157) Archived 14 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive LST-1157 Terrell County