USS Graham County (LST-1176) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

USS Graham County (LST-1176/AGP-1176) was a 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 the late 1950s. Named after counties in Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, and North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

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

Graham County was laid down by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company of Newport News, Virginia

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

4 February 1957; launched 9 September; sponsored by Mrs. Ralph Otis Davis; and commissioned 17 April 1958 with Lieutenant Commander Gordon H. McCrea in command.

Service history

After shakedown Graham County continued tests and repairs throughout 1958. Assigned to the Atlantic amphibious force, the LST engaged in training exercises along the Atlantic coast until late November, 1960 when she embarked a detachment of marines

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

and sailed for her first extended deployment. Touching ports in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

and Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, she sailed on to Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, arriving Monrovia, Liberia 5 January 1961. She stopped at other ports in Africa including the Congo

Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)

The Republic of the Congo was an independent republic established following the independence granted to the former colony of the Belgian Congo in 1960...

, where she embarked 500 Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

n troops of the U.N. peacekeeping force for transport to their country. Graham County returned to Little Creek, Virginia 17 May. Following the assassination of Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

President Rafael Trujillo on 30 May 1961 the LST, together with units of the fleet, steamed toward the Caribbean ready to assist if needed. Returning in early July, she resumed training operations for the next two years.

On 10 January 1964, Graham County with 170 marines on board departed Little Creek for amphibious exercises in the Mediterranean. Training was postponed, however, when the Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

crisis erupted; and Graham County, along with other units of Amphibious Squadron 4, rushed to the scene prepared for any mission. After 78 consecutive days in the area, she resumed her training exercises with the fleet. Returning home 21 June, Graham County resumed amphibious operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean for the rest of the year. Assigned to the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet, Graham County conducted operations off the east coast of the United States

United States

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

and in the Caribbean and Mediterranean for the next 14 years. Redesignated USS Graham County (AGP-1176) in 1972, her primary mission became the support of patrol gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

s, and her home port was changed to Naples, Italy.

Decommissioned on 1 March 1977 and 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...

that same day, Graham County was sold by MARAD 1 March 1978 and subsequently scrapped.

Service history

See also