 LST-983 pier side, date and place unknown | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSLST-983 |
| Builder | Boston Navy Yard,Massachusetts |
| Laid down | 22 December 1943 |
| Launched | 10 February 1944 |
| Commissioned | 25 March 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 10 January 1956 |
| Renamed | USSMiddlesex County (LST-983), 1 July 1955 |
| Recommissioned | 27 September 1961 |
| Decommissioned | 15 October 1969 |
| Stricken | 15 September 1974 |
| Honors and awards | 1battle star (World War II) |
| Fate | Sold into commercial service, 12 November 1975 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | LST-542-classtank landing ship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 328 ft (100 m) |
| Beam | 50 ft (15 m) |
| Draft |
|
| Propulsion | 2 ×General Motors12-567diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders |
| Speed | 12knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 2 ×LCVPs |
| Troops | 16 officers, 147 enlisted men |
| Complement | 7 officers, 104 enlisted men |
| Armament |
|
USSMiddlesex County (LST-983) was anLST-542-classtank landing ship built for theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. Named after counties inConnecticut,Massachusetts,New Jersey, andVirginia, she was the only United States Navy vessel to bear the name.
Originally laid down asLST-983 on 22 December 1943 at theBoston Navy Yard; the ship waslaunched on 10 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Neal B. Farwell; andcommissioned on 25 March 1944.
In April 1944 she proceeded toPortsmouth, Virginia whereLCT-659 was loaded on her main deck in preparation for sailing toEurope. She departedNew York on 18 April 1944 asflagship of LST Group 52, in convoy with 112 ships. The tank landing ship arrived inDerry,Northern Ireland, to discharge fuel oil that had been carried across theAtlantic as ballast and then proceeded toMilford Haven,Wales, andPlymouth, England, where she launchedLCT-659. A week laterLST-983 sailed toLondon. After two days in London, she moved down toTilbury Docks for final preparations for the assault onFortress Europa. Here she embarked troops of the British153rd Infantry Brigade and their cargo and moved further downriver to an assigned anchorage. By the evening on 3 June, the mouth of the river was full of ships of all types.
At 0900 on 5 June, she got underway as flagship of the Vice Commodore, TU GL3, which included 27 American LSTs destined for the British sectors of theNormandy beaches. In the early morning hours of 6 June the convoy was off theIsle of Wight, where it rendezvoused with other ships and then proceeded across theEnglish Channel. The task unit arrived atJuno Beach at 1600 on 6 June, and anchored off the beach. At 2345, theLuftwaffe strafed and bombed the hundreds of ships anchored in the area, but caused relatively little damage. At 0230 the next morning,LST-983 proceeded to the beach and unloaded, then sailed forSouthampton to embark more troops and their equipment.
During the first 30 days followingD-Day,LST-983 made ten round trips to Normandy, reinforcing the beachhead. Thereafter she continued to shuttle between Normandy and different ports in England, including London, Portsmouth,Portland, and Southampton.
During theBattle of the Bulge early in 1945, GermanU-boats desperately tried to halt the flow of men and material to the French ports. During this critical period,LST-983 was constantly at sea from Portland toLe Havre andRouen, carrying 500 or more troops on each trip. On the night of 12 January 1945, submarines attacked her convoy as she was returning from Le Havre with seven other LSTs, but excellent defense by Canadian escorts drove them off. ByV-E Day,LST-983 had made 46 trips to the Continent. Five more voyages were made, from Tilbury toOstend,Belgium. On the last passage, she left Tilbury, entered Germany on 25 May, loaded troops, and five days later sailed northward through theNorth Sea toOslo,Norway, carrying British occupation troops. From Norway, she proceeded to Plymouth for repairs before returning to the United States. She arrived inNorfolk, Virginia on 17 July 1945, bringing home 103 men freed from German prisons andPT boat PT-199, which had been secured to her main deck for the crossing.
During Normandy and later in World War II,LST-983 crossed the Channel 102 times, transporting over 10,000 troops and over 3,000 vehicles to beachheads and ports of Europe, and returning more than 2,000 prisoners to England.
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During the decade following World War II,LST-983 played a prominent role in the training of Naval, Marine, and Army personnel in the skills needed to maintain a high state of operational readiness. Based inNorfolk, Virginia she participated in amphibious training with theUnited States Marine Corps atQuantico, Virginia, andCamp Lejeune,North Carolina. She also took part in amphibious warfare demonstrations and exercises during annual summer midshipmen training cruises. Each spring she also joined in maneuvers of the Atlantic Fleet in theCaribbean, making amphibious assaults onVieques, Puerto Rico. In addition, the landing ship replenished several isolated bases in theArctic. Her duties took her to many ports in the Caribbean and on the eastern seaboard of the United States.
On 1 July 1955,LST-983 was namedUSSMiddlesex County (LST-983). Her status was reduced to in commission, in reserve on 1 October, and she decommissioned atGreen Cove Springs, Florida on 10 January 1956 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
Middlesex County recommissioned on 27 September 1961 and soon established a pattern of alternating operations between theVirginia Capes area and thePanama Canal Zone training marines and soldiers in the techniques of modern amphibious warfare. In the spring of 1962, she participated in "Operation DEMOLEX" and amphibious demonstrations for PresidentJohn F. Kennedy atOnslow Beach, North Carolina. That fall she was awarded thebattle efficiency "E" for being the top ship of 16 activated for the Amphibious Force in 1961.
News of theCuban Missile Crisis foundMiddlesex County heading home forVirginia. Ordered toPort Everglades, Florida she immediately began training with troops of theArmy's1st Armored Division. The efficiency of the naval quarantine of Cuba and the mobilization of American armed might quickly persuade theSoviet Union to withdraw its offensive missiles, enablingMiddlesex County to return home on 16 December.
On 17 May 1965 the LST steamed with the assistance ofPanamanian National Guard Launch No. 2. The next morning they found the craft adrift, dispersed food and water to 50 prisoners and 5 guards, and took the launch in tow to return her toIsla Cobia that night. A year later she again served as a good samaritan of the sea. Her two LCVPs were used to refloat SSLa Bonita after thetramp steamer had run aground nearTumaco,Colombia on 11 May 1966.
Late in June, she carried heavy equipment for the Inter-Oceanic Canal Study Group. After overhaul in the spring of 1967 begun atMaryland Shipbuilding & Drydock Company ofBaltimore and completed at Jacksonville Shipyards,Jacksonville, Florida the LST returned toLittle Creek, Virginia on 19 June for training. She got underway on 25 August for another deployment with the Canal Zone Amphibious Group. During this deployment, she transited the canal on four occasions for operations along thePacific coast ofCentral andSouth America. After returning to Little Creek on 17 December, the tank landing ship resumed training operations. Throughout 1968Middlesex County conducted local operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean, continuing these operations into 1969.
Her last cruise was from Little Creek, Va. to Port Orange Tx., where she was "mothballed" by her crew during the summer of 1969, in preparation for decommissioning. Decommissioned on 15 October 1969, the ship was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 15 September 1974 and sold for commercial service to L.P. Callimros ofAthens,Greece on 12 November 1975. She ran aground atBenghazi,Libya on 4 December 1980; her final fate is unknown.
LST-983 earned onebattle star for World War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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