USS Suffolk County (LST-1173) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

USS Suffolk County (LST-1173) 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 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 New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

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

Suffolk County was laid down on 17 July 1955 by the Boston Naval Shipyard, Boston, Massachusetts; launched on 5 September 1956; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr.; and commissioned on 15 August 1957 with Lieutenant Commander James E. Brown in command.

1957 –1959

Suffolk County fitted out at Boston and sailed for 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 1 October to hold shakedown training and exercises in beaching. She returned to Boston from 5 December 1957 to 3 February 1958 for post-shakedown availability. The ship was back at Norfolk three days later and began local training exercises. From 19 July to 7 August the LST participated in amphibious training exercises off Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

. Suffolk County departed Norfolk on 8 September and, after embarking 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...

at Morehead City, North Carolina

Morehead City, North Carolina

Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007...

sailed for the Mediterranean and her first tour with the 6th Fleet. She was part of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Group at Beirut, Lebanon from 29 September to 18 October 1958. Between fleet maneuvers that included amphibious assault landing exercises on Crete, Sardinia (twice), Libya and Almeria, Spain she called at ports in Gibraltar, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, Crete

Crete

Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Spain and France. The ship stood out of Rota, Spain

Rota, Spain

-External references:*, official website * On-line since 1999! News, premiere information, pictures, weather, etc. Into Spanish, English... ****- External links :...

on 12 March 1959. After disembarking the marines at Morehead City on 24 March, she returned to Norfolk on the 26th. In June, she participated in "Operation Inland Seas

Operation Inland Seas

Operation Inland Seas was a United States Navy operation to celebrate the completion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959.Task Force 47 , a 28-ship detachment of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Edmund B...

" which was the formal opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway for ocean-going ships.

1960–1961

Suffolk County returned to Norfolk in August and was assigned to Amphibious Squadron (PhibRon) 8 which promptly deployed to the Mediterranean until 12 June 1960 when it returned to Norfolk. After a leave and upkeep period, she moved to Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

for her first overhaul which lasted from mid-July to 15 September. As a unit of PhibRon 8, the ship participated in a landing demonstration off Onslow Beach, North Carolina from 29 October to 3 November. The following month found her 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...

on a two-month deployment, ending at Norfolk on 17 January 1961. Suffolk County returned to the Caribbean in April on a normal deployment. However, she was called upon to operate off Guantánamo Bay from 25 April to 5 May and off the 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...

from 1 to 13 June because of the international tension those two countries were creating. She returned to Norfolk and operated from there until 15 September when she sailed on "SoLant Amity III" deployment. After loading marines and equipment at 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 proceeded to Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

. Suffolk County was attached to Task Force (TF) 88 for the remainder of the cruise which included port calls at South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, French Equatorial Africa

French Equatorial Africa

French Equatorial Africa or the AEF was the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River to the Sahara Desert.-History:...

, Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

, 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...

, and Liberia

Liberia

Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

. She returned to Little Creek, Virginia on 16 December 1961.

1962–1972

Suffolk County operated along the east coast, participating in various operations, deployments, and exercises which took her as far south as the Caribbean, 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...

, and the Dominican Republic. From September to December 1964 she was involved in the cross Atlantic operation, "Operation Steel Pike

Operation Steel Pike

Operation Steel Pike was the largest peacetime amphibious landing exercise in history, conducted by the United States Navy and Marine Corps and taking place on the coast of Spain in October to November 1964....

", the largest amphibious operation since the World War II Normandy Landings. Elements of the 2nd Marine Division were landed at several locations along the Spanish coast. Suffolk County, in addition to her ship's company, carried several companies of Marines and she also served as the "home base" for the U.S. Naval Cargo Handling Battalion One (CHBONE). She was at Guantanamo on 26 September 1966 when Hurricane Inez

Hurricane Inez

Hurricane Inez was a deadly, destructive, powerful and very long-lived Cape Verde-type hurricane that carved an erratic path through the Lesser Antilles, Hispaniola, Cuba, the Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico in 1966...

struck the Caribbean and left a path of destruction in Hispaniola

Hispaniola

Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...

. Suffolk County aided the inhabitants of Cayes-Jacmel

Cayes-Jacmel

Cayes-Jacmel is a municipality in the Jacmel Arrondissement, in the Sud-Est Department of Haiti.It has 21,374 inhabitants. Cayes-Jacmel is down the road from Cyvadier and home to a lovely public beach and has a remarkable farmers market...

, Anse-à-Pitres

Anse-à-Pitres

Anse-à-Pitres is a town in the Belle-Anse Arrondissement, in the Sud-Est Department of Haiti. It is located around . Its border crossing to Pedernales is one of the four chief land crossings to the Dominican Republic....

, and Marigot

Marigot, Sud-Est

Marigot is a municipality in the Jacmel Arrondissement, in the Sud-Est Department of Haiti.It has 50,734 inhabitants....

, on the southern coast of Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

, until 7 October. The LST then continued her routine operations until early 1968. On 16 April 1968 Suffolk County sailed for another deployment period with the 6th Fleet which lasted until 4 June. Normal peacetime, east coast operations were resumed until September, 1970 when she steamed to the Mediterranean to partake in a two-month exercise with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fleet units which ended on 18 November 1970. Her normal routine was next broken in September, 1971 when she deployed to the 6th Fleet for her longest tour in years which lasted until mid-March, 1972.

Decommissioning

When Suffolk County arrived at Norfolk, she was ordered to prepare for inactivation. A "stand-down" phase was begun on 24 May 1972 which lasted until 1 July when she was placed in commission, in reserve. On 25 August Suffolk County was placed out of commission, in reserve.

Disposed of by transfer to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) on 15 April 1992 for lay-up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at James River

James River (Virginia)

The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...

, Fort Eustis, Virginia, the ship was sold for $500 to Transforma Marine of Brownsville, Texas

Brownsville, Texas

Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...

for scrapping, 31 March 1999. Suffolk County was removed from the Reserve Fleet 23 November 1999 and scrapped.

1957 –1959

1960–1961

1962–1972

Decommissioning

See also