Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Hampshire County (LST-819)
ex
 USS LST-819 (1944 - 1955)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Hotel - November
 NHHN
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons





Precedence of awards is from left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (7 to 15 June 67, 23 May 70)
Second Row - Presidential Unit Citation - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal
Third Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Fourth Row - Korea Service Medal (4) - Vietnam Service Medal (10) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Commendation (10)
Fifth Row - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 12 September 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 21 October 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-819, 14 November 1944, LT. George W. Ryerson, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-819 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Three CAPT. W. W. Weeden Jr., USN;
    LST Group Sixty-Seven, CDR V. A. King USN;
    LST Division One Hundred Thirty-Three and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 April to 30 June 1945

  • Decommissioned 1 December 1946, at Astoria, OR.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group, Astoria
  • Recommissioned, 8 September 1950, at Astoria
  • During the Korean War USS LST-819 participated in the following campaigns: campaign:

    Korean War Campaign
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    First UN Counter Offensive
    3 February to 20 March 1951
    9 to 15 April 1951     		Second Korean Winter
    9 March to 9 April 1952
    17 to 28 April 1952
    Communist China Spring Offensive
    28 to 30 April 1951
    7 to 17 May 1951     		Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    5 to 18 June 1952
    21 June to 12 July 1952
    13 August 1952
    11 to 13 September 1952
    24 September to 3 October 1952
    17 October 1952

  • Decommissioned, 24 June 1955, at San Diego, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Named USS Hampshire County (LST-819), 1 July 1955
  • Recommissioned, 6 July 1966
  • During the Vietnam War USS Hampshire County (LST-819) 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 Campaign
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    8 November to 2 December 1966
    4 January to 17 January 1967
    20 February to 23 February 1967
    6 April to 11 May 1967     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI
    12 to 22 February 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    30 June to 21 July 1967
    13 to 14 August 1967
    6 November 1967 to 17 January 1968     		Tet 69/Counteroffensive
    23 February to 10 May 1969
    Tet Counteroffensive
    19 March to 1 April 1968     		Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969
    14 to 18 July 1969
    27 July to 2 August 1969
    14 to 25 August 1969
    12 to 24 October 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV
    2 to 26 April 1968
    28 to 30 June 1968     		Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970
    3 to 9 November 1969
    20 to 25 November 1969
    23 to 30 April 1970
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V
    1 to 19 July 1968     		Sanctuary Counteroffensive
    1 May to 18 June 1970

  • Decommissioned, 19 December 1970
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 April 1975
  • USS Hampshire County earned one battle star for World War II service, four battle stars for Korean War service, and ten campaign stars, Presidential Unit Citation, and Navy Unit Commendation for Vietnam War service
  • Sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, 1 December 1975
  • Merchant History
    Sold to Max Rouse & Sons, Beverly Hills, CA.
    Taken in hand by Lake Union Drydock Co., Seattle, WA. and converted for commercial use
    Sold to Landing System Technology Pte. Ltd., Singapore (Lauritz Kloster, Norway) and renamed LST 2 in 1976
    Arrived at Piraeus having been acquired by Maritime & Commercial Co. Argonaftis S.A., Panama (Greek flag) and renamed
    Petrola 142, 30 June 1978
    Placed in service, 31 July 1980
    Arrived at Piraeus for lay up, 24 February 1983
    Name amended to Petrola
    Sold to Seltas A. S. for scrapping at Aliaga, Turkey
  • Final Disposition, arrived at Aliaga for demolition, 22 December 1995
    Specifications: (as reported by Office of Naval Intelligence-1945)
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t.
    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
    USS LST-819
    LST-819 327k Ten LSTs moored at the Yonabaru Pier, Okinawa, 23 July 1945. From right to left:
    USS LST-819,
    USS LST-879,
    USS LST-681,
    USS LST-926,
    USS LST-944,
    ?
    USS LST-715,
    USS LST-918,
    USS LST-871,
    ?
    ?
    US Navy photo 21st USNCB Neg. No. 204.    		 Donn Cuson
    LST-819 66k USS LST-819 and USS LST-598 beached, date and location unknown. Larry Roszkowiak, RM3 USS Hampshire County 1968-69
    LST-819 32k USS LST-819 beached, while loading/unloading equipment and vehicles, date and location unknown. Larry Roszkowiak, RM3 USS Hampshire County 1968-69
    LST-819 236k USS LST-819 beached while civilian laborers unload the ship, date and location unknown. Gary Wignall for his father Jack Wignall USS LST-819
    LST-819 57k USS LST-819 underway, date and location unknown. Larry Roszkowiak, RM3 USS Hampshire County 1968-69
    LST-819 130k USS LST-819 beached in Korea, date and location unknown. William A. Posson, RM3 USS Hampshire County
    LST-819 262k USS LST-819 underway with LCU-1236 loaded on deck, date and location unknown.
    US National Archives photo # USN 1045670, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Smolinski
    USS Hampshire County (LST-819)
    LST-819 93k USS Hampshire County (LST-819 moored on the ramp at Cua Viet, South Vietnam, 1969. Larry Roszkowiak, RM3 USS Hampshire County 1968-69
    LST-819 91k USS Hampshire County (LST-819 night loading while moored on a ramp in South Vietnam, 1969. Larry Roszkowiak, RM3 USS Hampshire County 1968-69
    LST-819 120k USS Hampshire County (LST-819 moored pierside at Naval Station Yokosuka, Japan in April 1970. Sitting under the cherry tree in bloom is RM3 Posson. William A. Posson, RM3 USS Hampshire County
    LST-819 20k USS Hampshire County (LST-819) underway, date and location unknown. LST Home Port Web Site
    LST-819 149k USS Hampshire County (LST-819) and USS Westchester County (LST-1167) moored pierside at Naval Base Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippine, 1971 Richard Albright
    USS Hampshire County (LST-819)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) and the
    History of USS Hampshire County (LST-819) - Mobile Riverine Force Association
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Ryerson, George W. USNR14 November 1944 - 1 December 1944
    02LT/LCDR. Zern, Zach, Edward Henry, USNR1 December 1944 - 27 November 1945
    03LTjg. Van Slyke Jr., Charles Alex, USNR 27 November 1945 - 14 January 1946
    04LTjg. Nichols, Gerald, USNR14 January 1946 - 3 June 1946
    05LTjg. Gillotti, Sam G., USNR3 June 1946 - 17 June 1946
    06LT. Coombs, Edmund Franklin, USN17 June 1946 - 1 December 1946
     Decommissioned1 December 1946 - 8 September 1950
    07LT. Burch, Jack Harley, USN8 September 1950 - September 1952
    08LT. Vereen, Jackson Edward, USNSeptember 1952 - September 1953
     Decommissioned24 June 1955 - 9 July 1966
    09LT/LCDR. White, Ervin Eugene, USN9 July 1966 - September 1967
    10LT. Wheeler, Donald Coughlin USNSeptember 1967 - 4 October 1968
    11LT. Richardson, David Paul, USN4 October 1968 - 19 December 1970
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    Mobile Riverine Force Association
    Brownwater Navy in Vietnam Web Book
    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
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 22 March 2024