USS Washtenaw County (MSS-2) ex USS Washtenaw County (LST-1166)(1955 - 1973) USS LST-1166(1953 - 1955)
LST-1156 Terrebonne Parish Class Tank Landing Ship:
Laid down, 29 November 1951, at Christy Shipbuilding Corp., Sturgeon Bay, WI.
Launched, 22 November 1952
Commissioned USS LST-1166, 29 October 1953, at Naval Station, New Orleans, LA., LCDR. Mack D. Ellis in command
Named USS Washtenaw County (LST-1166), 1 July 1955
During the Vietnam War USS Washtenaw County (LST-1166) served continuously in country and in contiguous waters, with the exception of overhaul periods, from early 1965 to late 1971 participating in the following campaigns. (Dates listed do not include underway transit times within the contiguous waters along the Vietnam coast as defined by the US Navy and so specified by the Vietnam Service Medal.)
Pre-1972/73 overhaul photo
Post 1973 Overhaul
The ship has a long history dating back to 1953 when she departed New Orleans on 28 November 1953 to join Landing Ship Flotilla 2, Atlantic Fleet, based at Little Creek, Virginia. .From 1956-1959 she was part of the Atlantic & Med Fleets.
1959-1960
On 15 April 1959 she cleared San Diego in company with the Terrell County (LST-1157) and Washoe County. After stops at Sasebo, Japan and Buckner Bay, OkinawaWashtenaw County got underway with the other ships of PhibRon 1 for SEATO Exercise "Saddle Up," conducted along the coast of British North Borneo. After 19 days of drills, she departed Borneo for a liberty visit to the British crown colony at Hong Kong. Washtenaw County's first western Pacific assignment lasted until September.
1960-1964 Washtenaw County's final 13 years of service in the U.S. Navy can be divided easily into two phases: the period before America's buildup in South Vietnam, and the period of that involvement. The first phase was characterized by routine operations in support of the 7th Fleet Amphibious Force and encompassed the period from 1960 to 1964. During that time, she carried troops and equipment to various bases in the Far East, including a trip or two to South Vietnam during the initial stages of the American presence there. More often, however, she engaged in amphibious exercises both unilateral and with units of foreign navies as well as goodwill missions to Far Eastern ports. The tank landing ship's itinerary of foreign ports during those four years would read like a travel guide of the Orient, ranging from Korean and Japanese ports in the north to Philippine harbors in the south and across to cities on both coasts of the Southeast Asian peninsula.
1964-1967
Throughout the first four years of America's involvement in Vietnam, Washtenaw County's contact with that war remained one of brief visits, though with one notable exception. In January 1967 she helped to pioneer some of the techniques which later became the basis of the doctrines used by the River Patrol and Mobile Riverine Forces. In Operation Deckhouse V, she joined the USS Coconino County and USS St. Francis River in conducting the first seaward penetration of the Co Chien River to support an assault launched by the 7th Marines against enemy forces in the area. Otherwise, she made only brief visits to bring in troops and supplies.
1968
It was not until 1968 that Washtenaw County began a more intimate association with the war in Vietnam. That phase of her service began as a result of her duty in support of the Mobile Riverine Force operating in the Mekong Delta area of South Vietnam.
After a stop at Da Nanthen continued on to the mouth of the Cua Tien River in the Mekong Delta where she arrived on the 17th. The ship anchored there for the night and, the next morning, crossed the bar and headed upriver to join Task Force 117, the Mobile Riverine Force. She relieved Westchester County as support ship for the boats and monitors of the riverine force on 27 January. For three months, she served as a mobile home for 200 Army troops and 170 sailors of the force: a joint Army-Navy organization charged with the mission to control the many waterways in the Mekong Delta. In addition to providing berthing space for men, she also served as a mobile, floating supply depot transporting and issuing tons of ammunition, rations, and other supplies to the gunboats and river monitors operating in the delta.
1969
After a period of repairs thd ship began loading ammunition at Baie de Binh Ba and Vung Tau on 2 and 3 February, she relieved Terrell County as support LST for the Coastal Surveillance Force's Operation Market Time. For the next six weeks, she served as a mobile supply ship for the smaller patrol craft engaged in the interdiction of enemy coastwise logistics efforts. On one occasion, 20 February, she entered the fray herself, when her 3-inch guns were called upon to support the smaller craft with naval gunfire.
On 26 August she put to sea again, this time to join Amphibious Ready Group "Alfa" at Da Nang. She reached her destination on 3 September and spent the next two days loading marines and equipment for the first phase of Operation Defiant Stand. Before dawn on 7 September Washtenaw County debarked her complement of marines which made up the first and second waves of the first phase. Over the next three days, the ship embarked troops of the 5th and 6th Companies of the ROK Marine Brigade for the second phase of the amphibious operation, conducted on 11 September. That landing marked the first joint American-Korean combat operation since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
1970 Washtenaw County made a brief visit to Vietnam in late February to participate in Operation Keystone Blue Jay but spent most of her time during the first part of 1970 conducting amphibious exercises. . While entering Hong Kong on 18 May, the ship suffered extensive damage when a merchant steamer, SS Kota Selatan, struck her. She continued into the harbor where temporary repairs were made during the next 11 days. She then departed the British colony for Yokosuka where she entered drydock for permanent repairs on 12 June.
1971
The year 1971 brought a resumption of duty in South Vietnam. Upon completion of a restricted availability at Yokosuka in January, Washtenaw County departed Japan to rejoin TF 115, the Coastal Surveillance Force, off the coast of Vietnam. For almost three months, the ship provided logistics support for "Market Time" operations, the interdiction of enemy coastal and coastwise logistics operations, in the vicinity of Vung Tau and Da Nang. In mid-April, the ship headed back to Japan where she spent several weeks undergoing extensive repairs. Following that, she was engaged in a number of logistic lifts as well as amphibious training at Okinawa.
1972 Washtenaw County began the year 1972 at Yokosuka and departed her home port on 31 January for Iwakuni where she embarked marines for training at Okinawa. During the next two months, she made two such voyages between Japanese ports and Okinawa to carry marines to the Ryukyus for training exercises. She concluded the second round trip at Yokosuka on 19 March. After a six-week availability, she departed Japan for her only Vietnam deployment of the year. She made a stop at Subic Bay to load ammunition desperately needed by 7th Fleet ships which were fighting hard to stem the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive. She reached Da Nang on 21 May, unloaded the ammunition, and then headed for Qui Nhon. During this tour of duty in Vietnam, the ship served at Qui Nhon until 10 July as a mobile helicopter platform in support of coastal radar stations engaged in Market Time operations. Relieved of that duty on 10 July, she made a brief stop at Vung Tau on the 11th before continuing on to Bangkok, Thailand.
1973, Special Device Minesweeper
On 9 February 1973 Washtenaw County was decommissioned at Yokosuka after completing conversion to a "Special Device Minesweeper" and became Washtenaw County (MSS-2). That same day, she departed Yokosuka for Subic Bay where she underwent a restricted availability in preparation for minesweeping operations to be conducted along the coast of North Vietnam. On 2 April the ship stood out of Subic Bay, bound for Haiphong harbor in North Vietnam. She reached that port on 6 April and joined TF 78, the force assigned to sweep up the mines following the termination of hostilities between the United States and North Vietnam.
Washtenaw County served as a special type of auxiliary craft to check the channels for mines. Specially configured for that purpose over the previous two months and manned by a volunteer skeleton crew, she was to make several transits of the mined areas to ascertain whether or not sweeping operations had to be made. She made her first six runs on 14 April, thereby becoming the first American ship to enter Haiphong in over a decade. She was scheduled to make an additional six transits the next day; but, after the first two, political complications in the negotiations between the United States and North Vietnam caused an interruption in minesweeping operations. Ultimately, Washtenaw County took a 50-day break in operations at Subic Bay while the negotiators resolved the political difficulties. On 15 June, she departed Subic Bay once more and reached Haiphong again on the morning of 20 June. She completed her assignments in Operation End Sweep and departed Haiphong.
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