USS Berkshire County (LST-288) 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 for Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Berkshire County is a non-governmental county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield...

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

LST-288 was laid down on 6 September 1943 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; launched on 7 November 1943; sponsored by Miss Virginia M. Plofchan; placed in reduced commission on 4 December 1943; ferried 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 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...

; and placed in full commission at New Orleans on 20 December 1943 with Lieutenant Edwin L. McCloud, USNR, in command.

Invasion of France, 1944

LST-288 commenced her shakedown training on 19 January 1944 and returned to New Orleans for her post-shakedown availability on 4 February. On 14 February, the tank landing ship set sail for New York where she loaded ammunition. A week of preparation for a transatlantic passage at Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 ensued, and then she departed for Halifax, Nova Scotia

City of Halifax

Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...

 on 10 March. She joined convoy SC-155 and departed for the United Kingdom on the 14th. The convoy reached Milford Haven

Milford Haven

Milford Haven is a town and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, a natural harbour used as a port since the Middle Ages. The town was founded in 1790 on the north side of the Waterway, from which it takes its name...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 on the 29th and two days later, LST-288 stood out for Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

.

She remained at Plymouth throughout April and May readying herself for "Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord

Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...

", the long-awaited, cross-channel invasion of Europe. On 31 May she loaded 425 soldiers and 116 vehicles and "sealed up" in order prevent any news of the invasion preparations from leaking. The tense week of waiting that followed seemed to be at an end when she set sail on the 4th. However, abominable weather conditions obliged the Allied command to recall the invasion 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...

 and postpone the operation for at least 24 hours. Fortunately, the weather cleared in the interim, and the 4,000 ships and landing craft assembled for the assault on the beaches of Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

 departed for the real thing on the 5th. LST-288 stood out of Plymouth as a unit of Western Naval Task Force's follow-up Force "B", to which the assignment of reinforcing the beachheads established during the early hours of the attack belonged. LST-288 anchored approximately 2,000 yards off 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...

 at 1830 on D-Day

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

, 12 hours after the initial assault. By 8 June, the troops and vehicles on board had left the ship, and she joined a convoy returning to England. During the four weeks following the invasion, LST-288 completed seven cross-channel trips, transporting 1,534 Allied officers and men and 627 vehicles to France while returning 601 casualties to England. On 7 July she disembarked men and material at Normandy for the final time and returned to Falmouth, England.

Mediterranean, 1944

On 18 July she departed England as part of a Mediterranean-bound convoy, arriving on the North African coast at 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:...

 10 days later. After a three-day stopover at the 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...

n port at the end of July, she moved on to Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 where she unloaded her cargo on 2 August. Except for a brief excursion on the 6th and 7th to carry troops, vehicles, and provisions down the Italian coast to Salerno

Salerno

Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

, she remained at Naples readying herself for "Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August 15, 1944, during World War II. The invasion was initiated via a parachute drop by the 1st Airborne Task Force, followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army, followed a day later by a force made up...

", the invasion of southern France. On 9 August the tank landing ship embarked elements of the Army's 45th Division and awaited the order to depart for southern France. The order came on 12 August, and she left Castellamare Bay

Castellammare di Stabia

Castellammare di Stabia is a comune in the province of Naples, Campania region, southern Italy. It is situated on the Bay of Naples about 30 kilometers southeast of Naples, on the route to Sorrento.-History:...

 as a unit of Task Force (TF) 85, under the command of Rear Admiral Rogers. The task force reached Bougnon Bay during the early morning hours of 15 August. By 0742, LST-288 had dispatched her LCVP

LCVP

The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...

s and DUKW

DUKW

The DUKW is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Stephens and General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious...

s, which brought her infantrymen to Delta Beach at 0930. Two hours later, she began transferring vehicles to attending LCTs

Landing craft tank

The Landing Craft, Tank was an amphibious assault ship for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the British Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of versions. Initially known as the "Tank Landing Craft" by the British, they later...

 by marrying the landing craft to her bow. The last vehicle rolled into an LCT at 1525, prompting the landing ship to raise the ramp, close the bow doors and join a convoy bound for Ajaccio

Ajaccio

Ajaccio , is a commune on the island of Corsica in France. It is the capital and largest city of the region of Corsica and the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud....

, Corsica

Corsica

Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

. Before she departed the area for Bizerte on 29 October, LST-288 made nine voyages to southern France and two to Livorno, Italy. During this period, she transported over 3,100 soldiers and 600 vehicles and removed 1,000 German POWs from France.

Return to the US, 1944–1945

On 31 October LST-288 put in at Bizerte for eight days of repairs and maintenance. In company with and , she set out for 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 8 November. After pausing at La Maddalena

La Maddalena

La Maddalena is a town and comune located on the island with the same name, in northern Sardinia, part of the province of Olbia-Tempio, Italy.-The town:...

, Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

 to load cargo and soldiers, she reached Oran on the 18th and commenced six days of replenishment. On the 24th, she joined a convoy of 28 LSTs, 35 LCI

Landing Craft Infantry

The Landing craft, Infantry or LCI were several classes of sea-going amphibious assault ships of the Second World War utilized to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches. They were developed in response to a British request for a vessel capable of carrying and landing substantially...

(L)s, eight minesweepers, and two destroyer escort

Destroyer escort

A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...

s and set course for the United States, reaching Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 on 11 December. Three days later, the tank landing ship shifted north to the Navy's ammunition depot at Earle, New Jersey

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....

 where the ship underwent a month of yard availability while most of her crew enjoyed leave. On 18 February 1945 she loaded construction supplies at Davisville, Rhode Island

Davisville, Rhode Island

Davisville, Rhode Island was the former home of the U.S. Navy SeaBees. It was located at Quonset Point on Narragansett Bay, an area now included in the town of North Kingstown. The Navy acquired the property in 1939 and built Naval Air Station Quonset Point...

, then returned to New York to take on board, before steaming to Norfolk on 2 March.

Pacific, 1945–1950

On 7 March LST-288 departed for the Pacific, making a brief stop at Guantanamo Bay

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

 en route to 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...

. A steering failure while transiting the canal necessitated two days of repairs before she left Panama on the 23rd. On 12 April, she entered 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...

 and began 10 days of replenishment before embarking on a seven-week voyage to Okinawa that included visits to Eniwetok, 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 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...

. When LST-288 anchored off Okinawa on 30 May, the Japanese defenders had just over three weeks of determined resistance left in them. The landing ship disembarked over 1000 officers and enlisted men on the 31st, but waited to unload the vehicles on board until 15 June. After that, she operated off Okinawa for two weeks and then headed for Saipan.

Arriving at Saipan on 6 July, she spent two days in drydock to repair hull damage suffered during the Okinawa beaching. In all, LST-288 stayed at Saipan nearly three weeks before setting out for 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 the 24th in company with an LST convoy, The tank landing ship remained there beyond the Japanese surrender on 15 August into early September. On the 3rd, she set sail for Tokyo Bay

Tokyo Bay

is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...

 where she disembarked elements of the 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion. She departed Tokyo on 19 September for Leyte

Leyte

Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...

 where she took on board Japan-bound soldiers and supplies and arrived at Otaru on 19 October. After another six months of duty 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,...

, LST-288 was decommissioned at 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...

 on 6 March 1946 and transferred to the Shipping Control Administration, Japan (SCAJAP). She served with SCAJAP until the spring of 1950, at which time she sailed back to the United States to be returned to the Navy.

Decommissioning and transfer to Korea, 1950–

Turned over to the Commandant, 13th Naval District at Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...

 on 14 June 1950 she remained under his cognizance until berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet's Bremerton Group on 15 November 1950. On 1 July 1955 the tank landing ship was named USS Berkshire County (LST-288), but never saw active service under the name. She was later transferred to the Republic of Korea on 5 March 1956 and commissioned as ROKS Ke Bong (LST-810). On 15 November 1974, while she was still on loan to South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

, 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...

. Her final fate is unknown.

LST-288 received three battle stars for her World War II service.