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N7KTP > NAVNET 17.09.04 03:14l 59 Lines 3513 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 22209_N7FSP
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Subj: USS SNOHOMISH COUNTY (LST-1126)
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<DB0SL<DB0FSG<I4UKI<IK5CKL<VE2PKT<N1UAN<KD4GCA<W4JAX<
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Sent: 040916/1739z @:N7FSP.#SEA.#WWA.WA.USA.NOAM West Seattle, WA. on 145.010
LST Snohomish County rang up eight battle stars during Vietnam War
By FRED MIleS WATSON - Managing Editor - Northwest Navigator
USS Snohomish County (LST-1126) was built at Chicago Bridge & Iron
Co. of Seneca, I11., and was completed and launched Feb. 9, 1945 and then
sailed down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans.
After further outfitting, LST-1126 was commissioned on Feb. 28, 1945
with Lt. E C. Helm, USNR in command.
Snohomish County was a LST-1081 class ship and displaced 4,080 tons
fully loaded and measured 328 feet in length. With a draft of 14 feet,
her top speed was around 12 knots. Ship's complement was set at 119
Sailors and she carried one, three-inch .50caliber gunmount, four, 4Omm
and 12, 2Omm antiaircraft gunmounts at the time of commissioning.
Between 1945 and 1960,LST-1126 deployed to the western Pacific eight
times. Her first tour of duty there came in April 1945, when she departed
New Orleans, transited the Panama Canal, stopped at San Diego, Seattle,
and Pearl Harbor, before continuing westward. As she continued her
voyage, she visited Eniwetok Atoll; Apra Harbor, Guam; Saipan; and
Okinawa. In late September, she joined the post-World War II occupation
forces in China. Snohomish County operated off the West Coast of the
United States out of San Diego when not deployed to the western Pacific.
LST-1126 returned to the Far East in 1948, 1953, and during the winters
of 1954-55, 1957, 1958, and 1959-60. She also made three DEW Line
resupply runs to Alaska in 1949, 1950, and 1953. It was on July 11, 1955,
just after her return from her fourth deployment to the western Pacific,
that the LST was officially named Snohomish County.
The permanent assignment of an LST squadron to Yokosuka, Japan, made
the 1959-60 deployment Snohomish County's last until the escalation of
the Vietnam War.
Until 1964, she operated out of San Diego and made two Mid-Pacific
cruises in 1961 and 1962. The second cruise was in support of Operation
"Dominic," a series of nuclear tests.
Upon completion of this assignment, she returned to normal
operations along the Pacific coast.
In 1965, the American buildup in Vietnam began in earnest.
Accordingly, the need for support ships grew, and Snohomish County was
ordered to the Far East once more. She drew normal tours of duty (five to
seven months at a time) in 1965, 1966, and 1967. In 1968, she was sent on
an extended deployment which did not end until the spring of 1970.
During each of these deployments, she made the circuit from Japan to
Vietnam to Subic Bay in the Philippines hauling men and supplies from
American bases in Japan and the Philippines to Vietnam. She made one
patrol of riverine operations in 1968. The crew also made port visits to
Hong Kong; and Keelung and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
When it arrived back in the United States Snohomish County resumed
normal operations, exercises, drills, and upkeep in and around San Diego
when not deployed to the Far East.
The LST returned to her overseas homeport of Guam and went through
an Inspection and Survey. She was declared unfit for further naval
service. On July 1, 1970, she decommissioned at the Naval Station, Guam,
and her name was struck from the Navy list. In January 1971, her hulk was
sold to Chin Ho Fa Steel and Iron Co., Ltd., of Taiwan for scrapping.
Snohomish County (LST-1126) was awarded eight battle stars for her
service in the Vietnam War.
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