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USS Pitkin County (LST-1082)
Encyclopedia
USS Pitkin County (LST-1082) 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. Named after Pitkin County, Colorado
Pitkin County, Colorado
Pitkin County is one of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is named in honor of the late Colorado Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin. The county population was 14,872 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Aspen...
, she was the only U.S. Naval Vessel to bear the name.
Originally laid down as LST-1082 on 18 November 1944 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...
of 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...
. The ship was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 26 January 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Stephen Anzio; departed Ambridge on 26 January 1945 under a ferry crew which piloted her down the Ohio
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
and Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
s to the U.S. Naval Repair Base, Algiers, Louisiana
Algiers, Louisiana
Algiers is a neighborhood within the city of New Orleans. It is the portion of Orleans Parish on the West Bank of the Mississippi River.Algiers is also known as the 15th Ward, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans.-History:...
; and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
at New Orleans on 7 February 1945, Lt. John B. Cameron, USNR, in command.
World War II, 1945–1946
After shakedown to St. Andrews Bay, Florida, and alterations at MobileMobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, the new tank landing ship loaded pontoon barges at Gulfport, Mississippi
Gulfport, Mississippi
Gulfport is the second largest city in Mississippi after the state capital Jackson. It is the larger of the two principal cities of the Gulfport-Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. As of the...
, and departed on 24 March 1945 with 90 Navy passengers who were disembarked in the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
. From there she proceeded to 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...
where she embarked marines bound for Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, and sailed on 27 April entering Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor is a deep-water port on the western side of Guam in the Mariana Islands. The harbor is formed by Orote Peninsula in the south and Cabras Island in the north. To the south, the harbor narrows and then widens again to form an inner harbor. The southern end of the harbor is the location...
on 17 May. LST–1082 departed Guam two days later and proceeded via 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...
for Okinawa. After weathering a typhoon on 5 June, she arrived Buckner Bay, Okinawa on 8 June and lay hidden under a smoke screen with her crew at general quarters
General quarters
General Quarters or Battle Stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal the crew to prepare for battle or imminent damage....
during the many air alerts. LST–1082 departed Naha, Okinawa
Naha, Okinawa
is the capital city of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa.Naha is a coastal city located on the East China Sea coast of the southern part of Okinawa Island, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands...
, on 4 July, to return marines and their combat gear to Guam. She then returned via Saipan to Pearl Harbor on 5 August.
She was in floating drydock number 2, when news came of the end of hostilities with 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...
on 15 August. Fourteen days later she stood out of Pearl Harbor with 210 Marines and their equipment bound for occupation duty in Japan, and reached Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
on 23 September. LST–1082 departed Sasebo two days later for Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
, Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, Philippine Islands, where she embarked elements of the Fifth Air Force
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
. Following a brief stay in Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
, she departed San Fabian on 12 October to land the Army troops and their equipment at Wakayama, Japan arriving on 22 October. She sailed the following day for Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, thence proceeded to the San Fabian Beach in Lingayen Gulf. There she embarked 185 officers and men of an Army aviation battalion and debarked these occupation troops in Sasebo, Japan, on 15 November.
LST–1082 departed Sasebo on 23 November and steamed home via Saipan, and Pearl Harbor arriving at San Francisco on 16 January 1946. LST–1082 decommissioned at Astoria, Oregon
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...
, on 5 August 1946, and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Korean War, 1950–1955
The LST remained in reserve until recommissioned at Astoria on 6 September 1950, Lt. Comdr. John E. Chadwick, USNR, in command. She fitted out in the Puget Sound Naval ShipyardPuget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...
, trained out of San Diego, and sailed on 19 December for Japan via Pearl Harbor and Midway Island. LST–1082 arrived in Yokosuka on 23 January 1951 to begin support of United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Forces in 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...
. She departed on 8 February with units of LST Division 13 bound to Urusan Wan, Korea. Here, she received vehicles and men of a United States Engineering Special Brigade for transport to Pusan, arriving on 13 February 1951. That afternoon she was outbound with American and Korean Army troops, and 387 South Korean laborers. These passengers and their equipment were debarked at Inchon on 15 February. The following weeks, she transported thousands of prisoners-of-war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
from Inchon to Koje Do Island for internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
. LST–1082 left Koje Do Island on 20 March for Kobe
Kobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Japan. Following repairs, she touched at Sasebo en route to Okinawa thence steamed to Kunsan, Korea to transfer combat cargo to shore from the attack cargo ship . She returned to Okinawa on 4 May and sailed two days later with passengers and freight for Inchon. She put into Sasebo Harbor on 13 May 1951, for tactical exercises off the coast of Japan before departing from Yokosuka for home on 7 June. LST–1082 arrived at San Diego from the Far East on 28 June for amphibious assault tactics and exercises before she returned to the Far East reaching Yokosuka on 7 April. She sailed for shuttle duty at Pusan, Korea, transferring Communist Chinese
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
prisoners-of-war to Koje Do Island.
Returning to Yokosuka on 6 July, LST–1082 carried out amphibious assault training with Army field artillery troops along the coast of Japan before transporting them to Pusan. She entered Pusan Harbor on 10 August to land vehicles and Army troops. She again called at Pusan, 20 to 23 September, transporting 105 prisoners-of-war in a shuttle trip to Koje Do Island. She spent the following weeks among ports of Japan and in Fleet exercises stretching along the coast of Korea to P’ohang Do. She departed Yokosuka on 22 November and returned to San Diego on 20 December.
She trained along the Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
coast and was overhauled in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
until sailing on 19 October 1953 for the Far East. She touched at Pearl Harbor, then stopped briefly on 10 November to launch and recover a landing force at Taka Atoll in the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
and arrived at Yokosuka on 23 November 1953. She spent much of the next eight months in Marine amphibious assault landing exercises that took her from the shores of Japan to the beaches of Okinawa, Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
, and Inchon. She departed from Yokosuka on 17 June 1954 and returned to San Diego on 19 July.
Named USS Pitkin County (LST-1082) on 1 July 1955, she operated on the West Coast until she decommissioned at San Diego on 1 September 1955 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Vietnam War, 1966–1971
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 9 July 1966 with Lieutenant C. E. Quarles in command. The same day she became 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...
for Landing Ship Squadron 3. After training through the summer, she sailed for Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and arrived Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
on 29 November. After debarking Marines, she began shuttle operations between Da Nang and Chu Lai
Chu Lai
Chu Lai is a sea port, urban and industrial area in Dung Quat Bay, Núi Thành district, Quang Nam province of Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai Airport.-Vietnam War:...
until sailing for Guam on 21 December, arriving at Apra Harbor on 2 January 1967. On 26 January she got underway for a survey cruise taking her to the Marianas, Volcano Islands
Volcano Islands
The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...
, Bonins, and Ryukyus. Arriving at Okinawa on 7 February, she loaded supplies and vehicles and sailed on the 10th for Chu Lai, arriving on the 14th. After unloading, she sailed via Da Nang for Hong Kong.
For the next three years, operating out of Guam, she alternated service in Vietnam, largely for "Operation Market Time
Operation Market Time
Operation Market Time was the United States Navy’s effort to stop troops and supplies from flowing by sea from North Vietnam to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War...
" operations with visits to other Far Eastern ports. On Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
she sped to assist the merchant tug
Tug
Tuğ is a village in the Khojavend Rayon of Azerbaijan....
Makah ablaze in Vung Tau
Vung Tàu
Vũng Tàu is a city in southern Vietnam. Its population in 2005 was 240,000. The city area is including 13 urban wards and one village. It is the capital of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, and is the crude oil extraction center of Vietnam. It is also known as one of the most beautiful cities of tourism...
Harbor, and extinguished the fires saving the stricken and abandoned ship.
Decommissioning and sale
Pitkin County was decommissioned on 1 September 1971, and struck from the Naval Vessel RegisterNaval 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...
on 1 April 1975 and transferred to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
DLA Disposition Services is part of the United States Defense Logistics Agency...
(DRMS) for disposal. Pitkin County was sold for scrapping by DRMS on 19 December 1975.
However, she was then sold to Max Rouse & Sons, Beverly Hills, California, and taken in hand by Marine Industries, Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
for conversion for commercial use. She was then sold on to Landing System Technology Pte. Ltd,, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in 1975 and renamed LST-4. She arrived at Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
having been acquired by Maritime & Commercial Co. Argonaftis S.A., Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
(Greek flag) and was renamed Petrola 144, on 6 June 1978. She arrived at the ship breakers at Gadani Beach
Gadani Beach
Gadani Beach is a beach on the Arabian Sea located near the Hub River and Cape Monze in Gadani, Lasbela District, Balochistan, Pakistan.Gadani Beach is the location of Gadani ship-breaking yard, which is one of the world's largest ship-breaking yards....
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
for demolition, on 16 April 1988.
Awards
LST-1082 earned one battle star for World War IIWorld 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...
, four battle stars for 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...
, and as Pitkin County ten campaign stars for the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.