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U.S.S. NEW LONDON COUNTY

(LST-1066)


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USS NEW LONDON COUNTY (LST-1066 ) - a LST-542-class tank landing ship

In Commission 1945 to 1967

LST-1066 Deployments - Major Events

Add a LST-1066 Shellback Initiation Add a LST-1066 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
JAN1945-Keel Date: 18 JAN 1945
FEB1945-Launch Date: 21 FEB 1945
MAR1945-Commissioned: 20 MAR 1945
JAN1966-DEC1966West Pac-Viet Nam
FEB1967-Decommissioned: 27 FEB 1967

LST-1066 General Specifications

Class: LST-542-class tank landing ship

Complement: 7 Officers and 204 Enlisted

Displacement: 1490 tons

Length: 328 feet

Beam: 50 feet

Draft: 8 feet

Final Disposition: Transferred to Chile 7 October 1976



USS NEW LONDON COUNTY (LST-1066)



LST-1066 was laid down at the Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard Hingham Mass. 18 January 1945 1aunched 21 February 1945 sponsored by Miss Cynthia L. Rowan; and commissioned 20 March 1945 Lt. E. J. Gilman in command.

Following shakedown the newly designated flagship of LST Group 99 departed New York 11 May 1945 in convoy for the Western Pacific. Three months later having transited the Panama Canal LST-1066 reached Leyte Philippines via the Marshall and Caroline Islands. After transferring ammunition to fleet ships she sailed 18 October from Lingayen Gulf Luzon on the first of two voyages transporting elements of the 6th Army to the Japanese home islands of Honshu and Shikoku for occupation duty.

On 30 November she joined the procession of ships old and new steaming homeward and arrived San Pedro Calif. 13 January 1946. In March 1946 placed out of commission in the reserve LST-1066 joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet in Puget Sound.

Though given a name New London County (LST-1066) on 1 July 1955 the ship remained inactive until the aftermath of the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. The Navy placed several LSTs in commission in reserve and created ResLSTRon TWO at Little Creek Va. New London County joined this squadron 19 June 1963. Beaching and other training exercises commenced in the fall of 1963 and found real application during the Dominican Republic crisis in the spring of 1965. The escalating war in Vietnam a country with limited port facilities caused LST-1066 and her sister ships to be placed in full commission 21 December 1965. After a brief yard period and some intensive refresher training at Pearl Harbor the squadron reached the Western Pacific in April 1966.

Home ported at Sasebo Japan this landing ship spent much of her time unloading supplies especially cement along the central coast of South Vietnam. In February 1967 new orders directed the ship to Pusan Korea. There she decommissioned on the 27th and was turned over to the Military Sea Transportation Service in whose service she continued to sail during 1969. On 13 January 1970 while back off the Viet Namese coast she was damaged by an underwater explosion. She was subsequently towed to Da Nang for repairs.

[Note: The above USS NEW LONDON COUNTY (LST-1066) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS NEW LONDON COUNTY (LST-1066) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]