USS LST-1064 was an LST-542-class tank landing ship

Tank landing ship

Landing Ship, Tank was the military designation for naval vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore....

 of 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...

. She was later named Nansemond County (LST-1064), but never saw active service under that name.

She was laid down on 9 January 1945 at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham

Hingham, Massachusetts

Hingham is a town in northern Plymouth County on the South Shore of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and suburb in Greater Boston. The United States Census Bureau 2008 estimated population was 22,561...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and was launched on 14 February 1945, called simply USS LST-1064. She was commissioned on 12 March 1945 by Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 Leland H. Austin.

USS LST-1064

Following a shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 area, LST-1064 loaded a cargo of ammunition at NWS Earle

Naval Weapons Station Earle

Naval Weapons Station Earle is a United States Navy base in New Jersey. Its distinguishing feature is a 2.9-mile pier in Sandy Hook Bay where ammunition can be loaded and unloaded from warships at a safe distance from land....

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, and sailed for the Pacific war front, reaching Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

 on 23 June 1945. As the end of the war approached, LST Group 99 advanced its operations to the 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 at Leyte LST-1064 transferred her cargo to fleet ships while loading new supplies and embarking units of an air service group destined to strengthen the occupation forces in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Two voyages to 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...

 took place between 4 October and 19 November before arrival of orders to return home.

LST-1064 spent Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 1945 at Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

; New Year's Day

New Year's Day

New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...

 on the high seas, and before the end of January 1946, liberty in California. After one year of service, inactivation commenced at Astoria

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, culminating on 21 August when LST-1064 was fully decommissioned and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group.

She was named Nansemond County on 1 July 1955 after Nansemond County, Virginia

Nansemond County, Virginia

Nansemond County is an extinct county which was located in Virginia Colony and the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, from 1646 until 1972...

, then was slated for disposal on 17 September 1959.

JDS Shiretoko (LST-4003)

The ship was purchased by Japan in April 1961 under the terms of the Military Assistance Program and sailed as the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force's JDS Shiretoko (LST-4003). In 1975, she was returned to the United States.

RPS Samar Del Norte (LT-510)

The ship was next transferred to the 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...

 on 24 September 1976, and served in the Philippine Navy

Philippine Navy

The Philippine Navy is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, literally, "Sea Force of the Philippines"....

 as RPS Samar Del Norte (LT-510), after the province of Northern Samar

Northern Samar

Northern Samar is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catarman and is located at the northern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the south are the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar...

.