USS Kent County (LST-855) 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 after counties in Delaware

Kent County, Delaware

Kent County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is coextensive with the Dover, Delaware, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population was 162,310, a 28.1% increase over the previous decade. The county seat is Dover, the state capital...

, Maryland

Kent County, Maryland

Kent County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, on its Eastern Shore. It was named for the county of Kent in England. Its county seat is Chestertown. In 2010, the county population was 20,197...

, Michigan

Kent County, Michigan

-Air Service:*Commercial air service to Grand Rapids is provided by Gerald R. Ford International Airport . Previously named Kent County International Airport, it holds Grand Rapids' mark in modern history with the United States' first regularly scheduled airline service, beginning July 31, 1926,...

, Rhode Island

Kent County, Rhode Island

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 167,090 people, 67,320 households, and 44,969 families residing in the county. The population density was 982 people per square mile . There were 70,365 housing units at an average density of 414 per square mile...

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

Originally laid down as USS LST-855 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company

Chicago Bridge & Iron Company , , known commonly as CB&I, is a large multinational conglomerate engineering, procurement and construction company. CB&I specializes in projects for oil and gas companies...

 of Seneca, Illinois

Seneca, Illinois

Seneca is a village in LaSalle and Grundy counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 2,371 at the 2010 census.The LaSalle County portion of Seneca is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the small portion that lies in Grundy County is part of the...

 on 6 September 1944; launched on 27 November, sponsored by Mrs. Jean Henning Hoerner; and commissioned on 21 December with Lieutenant (j.g.) Thomas P. Kierl in command.

World War II, 1945

After shakedown off Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, LST-855 loaded cargo and departed New Orleans on 25 January 1945. Steaming via the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 and San Diego, she reached Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 on 28 February. Following repairs and training in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 she sailed on 7 April for the Western Pacific. During the remaining months of World War II, she shuttled supplies and equipment among the Marianas, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, and Okinawa staging areas for a possible invasion of Japan

Operation Downfall

Operation Downfall was the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan. The operation had two parts: Operation...

.

1945–1950

The enemy's acceptance of Allied peace terms precluded an invasion; and the landing ship then operated between the Philippines and Japan, transporting occupation forces until mid-November. On 20 November LST-855 departed Guam with over 300 U.S.-bound Pacific veterans on board, arriving San Francisco the following month.

Returning to the Far East

Far East

The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

 seven months later, she arrived Taku, China on 16 July 1946 to support U.S. forces in the area. She made cargo runs among Chinese ports, and served in this capacity until 1949. After the Communist takeover of mainland China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, LST-855 returned to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, arriving San Diego on 29 July 1949. Operating along the West Coast, the veteran landing ship sailed to Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 in early September for cargo operations in the North Pacific. She returned Seattle on 15 November and decommissioned at Bremerton on 15 February 1950.

Korea, 1950–1953

After the outbreak of the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, to aid in the movement of men and equipment, LST-855 was recommissioned on 3 November with Lieutenant L. J. Parsons in command. After training off the West Coast, she departed Long Beach

Long Beach Naval Shipyard

thumb|right|300px|Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1993The Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which closed in 1997, was located at Terminal Island between the city of Long Beach and the San Pedro district of Los Angeles and approximately 23 miles south of the Los Angeles International Airport.The Long Beach...

 on 26 March 1951 for duty in the Western Pacific. Arriving Pusan, Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 on 23 May she unloaded cargo for the war effort, then sailed for Yokohama

Yokohama

is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...

, Japan. For the next four months she continued cargo operations out of Japan, before making another cargo run to Korea in mid-October. Two months later she embarked North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

n refugees at Paengyang Do and transferred them to Makpo; and in late December she transported troops and vehicles of the 27th Infantry Regiment

27th Infantry Regiment (United States)

The 27th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the Wolfhounds, is a unit of the United States Army established in 1901, that served in the Philippine-American War, in the Siberian Intervention after World War I, and as part of the 25th Infantry Division during World War II, the Korean War, and later the...

 combat team from Inchon to Koje Do. LST-855 departed Yokosuka, Japan, on 25 February 1952 for a stateside overhaul.

She was back in the Far East

Far East

The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...

 on 2 November and resumed cargo operations out of Japan and Korea. For the remainder of the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, she shuttled between Korean and Japanese ports as a logistic support ship. Following the July 1953 armistice which ended the fighting, LST-855 continued cargo runs, operated as a station ship, and transported prisoners of war for repatriation. Returning San Diego on 25 September, she operated off the West Coast for the rest of 1953.

1954–1958

The landing ship sailed for another Far East tour on 28 May 1954 arriving Yokosuka a month later. While operating with 7th Fleet

United States Seventh Fleet

The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...

 units from August to October, she participated in "Operation Passage to Freedom

Operation Passage to Freedom

Operation Passage to Freedom was the term used by the United States Navy to describe its transportation in 1954–55 of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam to South Vietnam...

." She carried refugees, troops and supplies from North Vietnam

North Vietnam

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...

 and transported them to the South. LST-855 continued operating in the Far East; and on 6 February 1955 she was en route to the Tachen Islands to evacuate Nationalist Chinese troops to Formosa

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

 when their positions could no longer be defended. Loading 300 troops and vehicles, she departed Tachen Islands on 10 February; and, after off-loading at Keelung

Keelung

Keelung City is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei and forms the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with the Taipei and New Taipei. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport...

, Formosa she resumed duties out of Japan. Returning San Diego on 20 April LST-855 performed amphibious exercises off the West Coast for the remainder of the year. She was named USS Kent County (LST-855) on 1 July 1955. Kent County made her final WestPac cruise in August 1956 engaging in amphibious exercises with 7th Fleet units, then returning to the United States on 14 May 1957 to conduct amphibious exercises off the West Coast and Hawaii.

Decommissioning and disposal

Kent County was decommissioned on 22 January 1958, used as a target ship

Target ship

A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing.-Rationale:Sinking redundant warships is an effective way of testing new weapons and warships in as realistic a manner as possible. Whilst practice torpedoes are fired...

, and destroyed on 19 March 1958.