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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Sutter County (LST-1150)
ex
 USS LST-1150 (1945 - 1955)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Fourth Row - Vietnam Service Medal (7) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (14) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

USS LST-1150 was first commissioned with a Coast Guard crew
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 1 March 1945, at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL.
  • Launched, 30 May 1945
  • Commissioned USS LST-1150, 20 June 1945, LT Joseph F. Carpenter USCGR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-1150 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirty-Four;
     LST Group 102;
     LST Division 203
  • Following World War II USS LST-1150 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 20 October to 3 December 1945
  • Replaced by a Navy crew at San Diego, CA, 7 February 1946, LTjg. Richard W. Shollenberger, USNR in command
  • Decommissioned, 13 September 1946
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group
  • Named USS Sutter County (LST-1150), 1 July 1955
  • Recommissioned, 16 April 1966, at Willamette Iron and Steel Co, Portland, OR., LCDR. Lawrence Massa, USN in command
  • During the Vietnam War USS Sutter County (LST-1150) served continuously in country and in contiguous waters, with the exception of overhaul periods, from late 1966 to mid 1970 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.)

    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    11 to 24 October 1966
    1 to 15 December 1966
    11 January to 3 March 1967
    4 to 31 May 1967     		Tet 69/Counteroffensive
    24 April to 31 May 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    1 June to 2 July 1967
    31 August to 18 September 1967
    2 November 7 December 1967     		Vietnam Winter Spring-1970
    3 to 10 November 1969
    28 November to 14 December 1969
    28 December 1969 to 5 January 1970
    21 to 28 February 1970
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV
    3 April to 9 June 1968     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    20 July to 19 August 1970
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V Phase V
    14 July to 21 August 1968
    12 to 27 October 1968     		 
  • Decommissioned, 12 March 1971 at Orange, TX.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, Orange
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 15 September 1974
  • USS Sutter County (LST-1150) earned seven campaign stars for Vietnam War service
  • Sold for commercial service, 1 November 1975, by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
  • Commercial service, renamed MV Marland II, date unknown, and in 1980 renamed MV Amal
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t. (beaching displacement)
    Length 328' o.a.
    Beam 50'
    Draft
    light 2' 4" fwd, 7' 6" aft
    sea-going 8' 3" fwd, 14' 1" aft
    landing 3' 11" fwd, 9' 10" aft (landing w/500 ton load)
    limiting 11' 2"
    maximum navigation 14' 1"
    Speed 11.6 kts. (trial)
    Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons
    Complement
    13 officers
    104 enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    16 officers
    147 enlisted
    Boats 2 LCVP
    Cargo Capacity (varied with mission - payloads between 1600 and 1900 tons)
    Typical loads
    One Landing Craft Tank (LCT), tanks, wheeled and tracked vehicles, artillery, construction equipment and military supplies. A ramp or elevator forward allowed vehicles access to tank deck from main deck
    Additional capacity included sectional pontoons carried on each side of vessel amidships, to either build Rhino Barges or use as causeways. Married to the bow ramp, the causeways would enabled payloads to be delivered ashore from deeper water or where a beachhead would not allow the vessel to be grounded forward after ballasting
    Armament (varied with availability when each vessel was outfitted. Retro-fitting was accomplished throughout WWII. The ultimate armament design for United States vessels was
    2 - Twin 40MM gun mounts w/Mk. 51 directors
    4 - Single 40MM gun mounts
    12 single 20MM gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 4,300 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two General Motors 12-567A, 900hp Diesel engines
    single Falk Main Reduction Gears
    three Diesel-drive 100Kw 230V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    two propellers, 1,700shp
    twin rudders
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Sutter County 157k USS LST-1150 ready for launching, 30 May 1945, at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL.
    Wire photo.    		 Tommy Trampp
    Sutter County 79k USS LST-1150 launching, 30 May 1945, at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL. David Painter for his father George W. Painter S1/c USCG, USS LST-1150
    Sutter County 153k USS LST-1150 under way in San Francisco Bay, circa 1945-46.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 79719. Courtesy of D.M. McPherson, 1974.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Sutter County 107k USS Sutter County (LST-1150) beached in Vietnam, July 1967 Dan Fruge SN USN USS Sutter County 1966-68
    Sutter County 103k USS Sutter County (LST-1150) beached in Vietnam, July 1967 Dan Fruge SN USN USS Sutter County 1966-68
    Sutter County 88k Photos of USS Sutter County (LST-1150) off the Willamette Iron and Steel Co, Portland, OR. in April while being refitted for recommissioning. James Swank
    Sutter County 148k
    Sutter County 413k USS Sutter County (LST-1150) underway, date and location unknown. This photo and the two at the Willamette Iron and Steel Co. where found aboard the ship in 1972 while she was laid up in the Reserve Fleet at Orange, TX. James Swank
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Carpenter, Joseph F., USCGR20 July 1945 - January 1946
    02LTjg. Reimers, Norman, USCGRJanuary 1946 - 7 February 1946
    03LTjg. Shollenberger., Richard W., USNR7 February 1946 - August 1946
    04LTjg. Rekoske, Ben M., USNRAugust 1946 - 13 September 1946
     Decommissioned13 September 1946 - 16 April 1966
    05LCDR. Massa, Lawrence Lee USN16 April 1966 - 15 August 1967
    06LT. Gluffreda, Robert Noel, USN (USNA 1961)15 August 1967 - 4 September 1969
    07LT. Riley, Robert Handley, USN4 September 1969 - November 1970
    08LT. Dempsey, James Garrett, USN (USNA 1968)November 1970 - 12 March 1971
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    For more photos and information about USS Sutter County see:
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
  • The USS LST Ship Memorial
  • Mobile Riverine Force Association
  • Mobile Riverine Force Association, USS Sutter County History
  • LST Home Port
  • State LST Chapters
  • United States LST Association
    • Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 24 December 2020