USS Page County (LST-1076)

USS Page County (LST-1076) underway, date and place unknown
History
United States
Name:	USS LST-1076
Builder:	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Laid down:	16 March 1945
Launched:	14 April 1945
Commissioned:	1 May 1945
Decommissioned:	13 June 1946
Renamed:	USS Page County (LST-1076), 1 July 1955
Recommissioned:	28 November 1960
Decommissioned:	5 March 1971
Struck:	15 April 1978
Honors and awards:	5 campaign stars (Vietnam)
Fate:	Transferred to Greece, 1971 Sold outright, 1 July 1978
Struck:	15 April 1978
History
Greece
Name:	Kriti (L171)
Acquired:	1971
Fate:	Unknown
General characteristics
Class & type:	LST-542-class tank landing ship
Displacement:	1,625 long tons (1,651 t) light 4,080 long tons (4,145 t) full
Length:	328 ft (100 m)
Beam:	50 ft (15 m)
Draft:	Unloaded : 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) forward 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) aft Loaded : 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) forward 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) aft
Propulsion:	2 × General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
Speed:	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried:	2 × LCVPs
Troops:	16 officers, 147 enlisted men
Complement:	7 officers, 104 enlisted men
Armament:	8 × 40 mm guns 12 × 20 mm guns

USS Page County (LST-1076) was a LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for counties in Iowa and Virginia, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Originally laid down as LST-1076 on 16 March 1945 by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts; launched on 14 April 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Lillian J. Ostler; and commissioned on 1 May 1945, with Lieutenant Grover L. Rawlings, USNR, in command.

Service history

World War II, 1944–1945

After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, LST–1076 embarked troops in New York and sailed, 14 June 1945, for Pearl Harbor. She arrived Pearl Harbor on 19 July and began several weeks of rigorous training in the Hawaiian operating areas. LST–1076 stood out from Pearl Harbor on 29 August loaded with occupation troops bound for Sasebo, Japan. She disembarked her passengers on 22 September and by 17 October, she was returning to the United States with war veterans. She arrived at San Diego on 11 December and shortly thereafter went into overhaul. LST–1076 was sent to Vancouver, Washington in April 1946 for inactivation, and decommissioned on 13 June to be assigned to the Columbia Group of the U.S. Pacific Reserve Fleet.

1960–1966

Named USS Page County (LST-1076) on 1 July 1955 the LST remained at Astoria, Oregon on the Columbia River until July 1960 when she was towed to San Diego for modernization and reactivation. Page County was recommissioned on 28 November 1960 and following shakedown carried out local operations off the coast of Southern California through 1961.

On 3 January 1962 Page County sailed for Pearl Harbor to provide logistic support for the United States Army. Page County operated within the Hawaiian Islands in support of the Army through January and shifted to operational control of Commander, Hawaiian Sea Frontier on 1 February for operations in the southern mid-Pacific. On 1 April she was assigned to Joint Task Force 8 in support of nuclear tests being conducted by the U.S. Government. She transported civilian construction crews and their equipment to islands such as Palmyra, Malden, Penrhyn, Washington, Fanning, and Christmas. She completed these assignments on 5 August and returned to San Diego on the 20th.

On 27 October Page County was called on to participate in the Cuban Missile Crisis quarantine. She transited the Panama Canal on 8 November and reached Vieques, Puerto Rico on the 16th. After shuttling troops between Roosevelt Roads and Vieques, she was detached on 1 December to return to San Diego.

On 16 March 1963 Page County put into San Francisco to undergo an extensive MK II FRAM overhaul which was completed in July. She returned to San Diego on 5 August and was assigned to coastal operations.

Between 18 January and 16 February 1965 she participated in "Operation Silver Lance" (one of the largest Navy-Marine Corps training exercises ever held in peacetime). Deteriorating conditions in Vietnam caused her immediate departure on 17 February, for Pearl Harbor, to transport elements of Marine Air Group 13 to Okinawa. She returned to San Diego on 7 May.

Vietnam, 1966–1970

Page County deployed to Adak, Alaska from 6 July to 21 October, returning to San Diego for coastal operations until 19 July 1966, when she prepared for deployment to Vietnam. Operating principally between Chu Lai, Da Nang, and also helped land the Army on the beach of Nat rang, Vietnam, she supported the struggle in South Vietnam until returning to the United States in December.

Resuming local operations, Page County provided services to MinPac in evaluating the capabilities of LSTs for mine sweeping, and to Pacific Fleet Command for training exercises and administrative lifts for Hawaiian based Army and Marine Corps personnel.

Early 1968 found Page County participating in EastPac exercises, training Camp Pendleton Marines and Seabees from Port Hueneme. During the spring she again joined the 7th Fleet for operations in Southeast Asia. From 11 September through 6 November she operated out of Da Nang and returned to San Diego on 24 December, via Hong Kong, Yokosuka, and Pearl Harbor.

After operations on the West Coast, Page County returned to the Western Pacific in the autumn and served in the 7th Fleet into 1970.

Decommissioning and sale

Decommissioned on 5 March 1971, she was transferred to Greece (date unknown) under the Security Assistance Program and renamed Kriti (L171). The ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 April 1978 and sold under the Security Assistance Program to Greece on 1 July 1978. Her final fate is unknown.

Awards

Page County earned five campaign stars for Vietnam War service.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.