USS Benzie County (LST-266) was an built for the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Named for Benzie County, Michigan

Benzie County, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 15,998 people, 6,500 households, and 4,595 families residing in the county. The population density was 50 people per square mile . There were 10,312 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...

, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

LST-266 was laid down on 11 November 1942 at Ambridge, Pennsylvania

Ambridge, Pennsylvania

Ambridge is a borough in Beaver County in Western Pennsylvania, incorporated in 1905 and named after the American Bridge Company. Ambridge is located 16 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, alongside the Ohio River. In 1910, 5,205 people lived in Ambridge; in 1920, 12,730 people lived there, and in...

 by the American Bridge Company

American Bridge Company

The American Bridge Company is a privately held civil engineering firm specializing in the construction and renovation of bridges and other large civil engineering projects, founded in 1900, and headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.-Products and industry positioning:The...

; launched on 16 May 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Joseph B. Barnwell; accepted and placed in reduced commission on 24 July 1943; departed Ambridge on 25 July 1943; and commissioned at New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

 on 4 August 1943.

Service history

After fitting out, LST-266 carried out her shakedown training in St. Andrews Bay until 28 August when she set out for Key West, Florida

Key West, Florida

Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...

. Arriving there on 30 August, she joined coastal convoy KN-262 on 1 September and reached Little Creek, Virginia soon thereafter for operations in the Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 area and at Solomons Island, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

. The tank landing ship continued in the Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 region for the rest of 1943 and well into 1944.

North Africa, March-April 1944

On 14 March 1944 she sailed for Tunisia

Tunisia

Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...

 as part of Task Force (TF) 64, in convoy UGS-36, 72 merchantmen and 18 tank landing ships shepherded by 16 warship

Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...

s. The escorts drove off a suspected U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 late on 31 March, but danger from above replaced that from below just six hours later when 22 German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 aircraft attacked the convoy early on 1 April. In the ensuing action, the screen downed two enemy planes and probably damaged two others. As a result, UGS-36 reached its destination, Bizerte

Bizerte

Bizerte or Benzert , is the capital city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia and the northernmost city in Africa. It has a population of 230,879 .-History:...

, on 3 April. LST-266 then stood out of that port on 12 April and made Oran

Oran

Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...

, Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

, on the 16th. From there, she sailed for the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on 20 April in convoy MKS-46, reporting to the 12th Fleet for duty upon her arrival in British waters on 3 May 1944.

Invasion of France, 7–17 June 1944

A little over a month later, LST-266 (as LST Flotilla

Flotilla

A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...

 4 flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

) took part in Operation Neptune

Operation Neptune

The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 , beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time...

, the invasion of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. On 5 June, the tank landing ship departed Falmouth, England for the assault area in Task Group (TG) 126.4 made up of 40 LSTs, 35 of which towed pontoon

Pontoon bridge

A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...

 causeway

Causeway

In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...

s. The Channel's

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 characteristic strong winds and heavy tidal currents made station keeping hazardous; but eventually, at 0800 on the 7th, TG 126.4 reached the invasion beaches; and LST-266 dropped anchor off the "Fox Green" section of Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...

. Despite a choppy sea, the ship dispatched her first loaded landing craft, an LCM

Landing Craft Mechanized

The Landing Craft Mechanized or Landing Craft Mechanical was a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults....

, to the beach at 1120; but the rough sea finally forced a pause in unloading at 1345. With 184 troops and 84 vehicles still on board, LST-266 persuaded a tank landing craft (LCT) to "marry" to her bow so that unloading could resume, an evolution aided by providentially calm wind and sea conditions. After three LCTs had been loaded and dispatched to the beach, more remained on board to send. Her executive officer, Lt. Wilbur H. Lundell, took a small boat out to look for a Rhino Ferry to speed the unloading. His hunt bore fruit; and, after marrying the Rhino Ferry to her bow at 2323, LST-266 completed her unloading at 0130 on the 8th.

Later that day, LST-266 received orders to stand out for onward routing. "Ducking and dodging" convoys of LCTs on the return voyage, LST-266, one of 42 LSTs in convoy, reached the Isle of Portland

Isle of Portland

The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and...

 on the morning of the 9th. From there, she accompanied 11 other tank landing ships to Tilbury Docks

Port of Tilbury

The Port of Tilbury is located on the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex, England. It is the principal port for London; as well as being the main United Kingdom port for handling the importation of paper. There are extensive facilities for containers, grain, and other bulk cargoes. There are also...

 to load cargo, arriving there early on 12 June. Embarking 273 British troops and 72 vehicles, LST-266 anchored briefly in the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

 before joining an out-bound convoy, ETM-8, in the late afternoon of the 13th. Arriving off Sword Beach

Sword Beach

Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...

, in the British sector, at 2245 on 14 June, LST-266 beached herself on "Queen Red" Beach, four miles west of Ouistreham

Ouistreham

Ouistreham is a commune in the Calvados department' in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la...

, France at 0830 on the 15th along with five other U.S. tank landing ships. "Until 0930," wrote Lieutenant Logan A. Bolon, USNR, LST-266's captain, "the beach was peaceful and free of enemy action, but at 0930 the peacefulness took a hasty departure, no doubt hurried along by the burst of an enemy shell five hundred yards on the port quarter." As the tide receded enough to allow unloading, the Germans increased the tempo of their gunfire accordingly. Over the next few hours, enemy long-range guns methodically sowed the beach with shells. "I am fully convinced," Bolon recounted, "that those manning the enemy guns were extremely capable and not green horns at the game. The range and deflection was good and salvoes varied from one to four. This vessel received one direct hit...and enough near misses to scare the daylights out of us..."
Shortly before 1130, the nearby LST-207 took a direct hit, and immediately requested medical assistance. LST-266 provided a doctor and 14 pharmacist's mates to help the wounded; soon thereafter, at 1137, LST-266 herself took a hit at the normal load waterline

Waterline

The term "waterline" generally refers to the line where the hull of a ship meets the water surface. It is also the name of a special marking, also known as the national Load Line or Plimsoll Line, to be positioned amidships, that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which a ship...

, in a main ballast tank. About ten minutes later, the tank landing ships received orders to evacuate all hands save skeleton crews. At 1150, LST-266's crew went ashore and sought cover for the duration of the shelling, leaving behind a seven-man repair party, four motor machinist's mates, one chief pharmacist's mate, a doctor and two other officers. Even British warships, brought into the area a little over a half an hour later, failed to silence the enemy guns which continued to lob shells at the LSTs until 1630, inflicting damage on five of the six.

Although she had dispatched her last vehicle to the beach at 1325, LST-266 could not retract from the beach because of the extreme tide conditions. Those men who had been evacuated returned a little over an hour later; and, at 1600, the tank landing ship began making all preparations for getting underway. Retracting soon thereafter on the second attempt, LST-266 proceeded to the out-bound convoy anchorage area and, from there, headed back to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, entering Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 at 0235 on 17 June. Her repeated requests for repairs at British facilities ignored, LST-266 had to take matters into her own hands, and her own ship's force repaired the shell damage within 24 hours.

Return to the US, 1945

LST-266 remained in European waters, carrying out cross-channel missions, into the spring of 1945. She then moved to Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 where she joined a homeward-bound convoy, ONS-50, on 11 May, with nested on board. Detached from the convoy on the 27th, LST-266 proceeded to Norfolk, arriving there on the 31st to unload the landing craft and undergo voyage repairs. Although earmarked for Pacific service, LST-266 never reached that theater, spending the rest of her active days in the Atlantic. Following an availability at Norfolk during the summer of 1945, the tank landing ship steamed to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, where she loaded and the stern section of . After carrying that cargo to Hampton Roads and unloading it at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling, and repairing the Navy's ships. It's the oldest and largest industrial facility that belongs to the U.S. Navy as well as the most...

, she returned to New York immediately to load for transportation to Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

.

Decommissioning and disposal

Arriving at Green Cove Springs, Florida

Green Cove Springs, Florida

Green Cove Springs is a city in Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,908. It is the county seat of Clay County....

 on 2 October 1945, she reported for duty with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet that same day. On 18 June 1947, LST-266 was decommissioned and placed in service, in reserve. A week later, on 25 June 1947, she was placed out of commission, in reserve. Towed from Mayport, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 by the three weeks later, LST-266 remained at the Charleston Naval Shipyard

Charleston Naval Shipyard

Charleston Naval Shipyard was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston...

 until 11 September when the towed her back to Mayport.

On 1 July 1955, the tank landing ship was named USS Benzie County (LST-266), but never served actively under the name. On 1 November 1958 her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

, and she was sold to the Fleet Storage Company on 4 August 1959 for scrapping. LST-266 earned two battle stars for World War II service.