USS ''Steuben County'' (LST-1138) was an built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Named after counties in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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

Service history

Completed too late for service in World War II, ''LST-1138'' performed occupation duty in the Far East until early January 1946. After post-war operations with the Pacific Fleet, ''LST-1138'' saw extensive service during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, including the 1950 amphibious assault at

Inchon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

, and a Korean prisoner exchange in 1953. She earned five battle stars for her service. During various cruises across the Pacific, she ranged as far north as

Barrow, Alaska Utqiagvik ( ik, Utqiaġvik; , , formerly known as Barrow ()) is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the northernmost cities and towns in the ...

, and as far south as

Taka Atoll Toke Atoll or Taka Atoll ( Marshallese: , ) is a small, uninhabited coral atoll in the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. It is one of the smaller atolls in the Marshalls and located at . It is visited regularly by the residents of nearby Utiri ...

in the Marshall Islands. On 1 July 1955, she was renamed ''Steuben County'' (LST-1138) (q.v.) after counties in

and

. She was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 1 February 1961 and sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc.,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, on 11 August 1961. Zidell had by that time expanded from shipbreaking into building barges with steel recovered from decommissioned ships, including ''Steuben County''. Zidell Marine

Footnotes

References

* * * *

External links

Serving on LST-1138 from 1953 through 1955
* LST-542-class tank landing ships Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Korean War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Seneca, Illinois Steuben County, Indiana Steuben County, New York 1945 ships {{US-mil-ship-stub