USS King County (LST-857)

The USS "King County" (LST-857) was an sclass|LST-542|tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after counties in Texas and Washington, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

LST-857 was laid down on 19 September 1944 at Seneca, Illinois by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company; launched on 6 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Beatrice S. Major; and commissioned on 29 December 1944 with Lieutenant Roy C. Parlier in command. During World War II, LST-857 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto in June, 1945. Following the War, she performed occupation duty in the Far East until mid-December, 1945.

After post-War operations with the Pacific Fleet, LST-857 performed extensive service during the Korean War, participating in the following campaigns(18 September to 6 October 1950); the Inchon Landing (13 September to 17 September 1950); the UN Summer-Fall Offensive (4 to 10 November 1951); the Second Korean Winter; the Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952; the Third Korean Winter (9 to 15 December 1952 and 28 to 30 April 1953; and the Korean Summer-Fall 1953. On 1 July 1955 the ship was redesignated USS "King County" (LST-857). In October, 1957 she began conversion to an experimental guided missile test ship and was reclassified USS "King County" (AG-157) on 17 May 1958. Decommissioned on 8 July 1960, "King County" was sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc. of Portland, Oregon on 25 April 1961. Her final fate is unknown. LST-857 received one battle star for World War II service and seven battle stars for Korean service.

References

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* cite web|title=LST-857 / AG-157 "King County"|work=Amphibious Photo Archive
url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160857.htm|accessdate=June 18|accessyear=2007

ee also

* List of United States Navy LSTs
* King County, Texas
* King County, Washington