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U.S.S. HUNTERDON COUNTY
(LST-838)HASTEN SLOWLY
Click to view crew list
USS HUNTERDON COUNTY (LST-838 ) - a LST-542-class tank landing ship
In Commission 1944 to 1949LST-838 Deployments - Major Events
Add a LST-838 Shellback Initiation | Add a LST-838 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SEP | 1944 | - | Keel Date: 20 SEP 1944 at American Bridge Company Ambridge PA | ||
NOV | 1944 | - | Launch Date: 8 NOV 1944 | ||
DEC | 1944 | - | Commissioned: 4 DEC 1944 | ||
APR | 1945 | - | APR | 1945 | invasion of OKINAWA |
SEP | 1966 | - | SEP | 1966 | Recommisioned |
JAN | 1967 | - | JAN | 1967 | Reclassified AGP-838 (Patrol Craft Tender) |
MAR | 1967 | - | NOV | 1967 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
APR | 1967 | - | JAN | 1971 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
SEP | 1968 | - | Shellback Initiation - 28 SEP 1968 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JAN | 1969 | - | JAN | 1970 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
FEB | 1969 | - | JUL | 1969 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
FEB | 1969 | - | JAN | 1970 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
MAR | 1970 | - | JAN | 1971 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
AUG | 1974 | - | Decommissioned: 1 AUG 1974 |
LST-838 General Specifications
Class: LST-542-class tank landing ship
Complement: 7 Officers and 104 Enlisted
Displacement: 1625 tons
Length: 328 feet
Beam: 50 feet
Draft: Loaded - 8' FWD - 14' AFT
Final Disposition: Transferred to Malaysia 1 August 1974
USS HUNTERDON COUNTY (LST-838)
LST-838 was laid down by American Bridge Co.
Ambridge
Pa.
20 September
1944; launched 8 November; sponsored by Miss Margaret Foster; and commissioned
4 December
Lt. Allen T. Larkins
Jr.
in command.
After shakedown off Florida
LST-838 loaded heavy construction equipment
at New Orleans and departed 5 January 1945. Loading troops and additional
cargo at Pearl Harbor
the landing ship sailed to the Mariana Islands
arriving
Guam 4 March. She unloaded her cargo
then steamed to Saipan where she loaded
equipment and embarked units of the 130th Naval Construction Battalion for
the invasion of Okinawa.
Departing Saipan 25 March
LST-838 was en route to the heavily fortified
Japanese stronghold
arriving off the southern Okinawa beaches 1 April.
Despite a futile effort by the enemy to salvage the last barrier protecting
their homeland
Allied forces succeeded in securing a beachhead. On D-day
after LST-884 was struck by a suicide plane
LST-838 recovered
79 survivors from the heavily damaged ship. The landing ship stood off the
Coast of Okinawa until 13 April when she approached Green Beach to discharge
Seabees and construction equipment. The following day during one of the
many raids she splashed a Japanese plane.
Departing Okinawa on the 16th
LST-838 arrived Ulithi 6 days later.
For the rest of the war she transported men and equipment throughout the
South and Western Pacific Islands.
Following the victorious conclusion of World War II LST-838 moved
men and equipment to Japan for occupation duties. She remained in the Far
East until 7 November
when she departed Yokohama for Guam; then embarked
544 Army veterans and steamed to the United States
arriving San Francisco
23 December.
On 5 March 1946
LST-838 sailed to Portland
Oreg.
and decommissioned
at Vancouver
Wash.
7 August. She joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet and
remained there until she recommissioned at Vallejo
Calif.
10 September
1966 to help meet the large demands for ships in the Vietnam war. While
in reserve LST-838 was named Hunterdon County 1 July 1955.
Hunterdon County operated out of San Diego until sailing for the
Far Fast early in 1967. She arrived Subic Bay 8 March and promptly busied
herself transporting men and materiel in support of the Allied struggle
to thwart Communist efforts to take over the Republic of South Vietnam.
She continued to operate off Southeast Asia through mid-1967.
LST-838 received one battle star for World War II service.
[Note: The above USS HUNTERDON COUNTY (LST-838) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS HUNTERDON COUNTY (LST-838) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]