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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive


Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Westchester County (LST-1167)
ex
USS LST-1167 (1954 - 1955)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Charlie - Bravo - India
NCBI
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (3-Vietnam 9SEP66, 11DEC67. 1NOV68) - Navy Unit Commendation (3)
Second Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (2) - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Taiwan Straits, Quemoy-Matsu, Vietnam)
Third Row - Vietnam Service Medal (14) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (27) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Personnel Awards

Silver Star - 1, Bronze Star, 9, Navy Commendation Medal 5, Navy Achievement Medal 5, Purple Heart 34Individual Awards

USS Westchester County (LST-1167) was transferred to Turkey and renamed TCG Serdar (L-402)

LST-1156 Terrebonne Parish Class Tank Landing Ship
  • Laid down, 11 January 1952, at Christy Corp., Sturgeon Bay, WI.
  • Launched, 18 April 1953
  • Commissioned USS LST-1167, 10 March 1954, LCDR. Leamond F. Lacy in command
  • Named USS Westchester County (LST-1167), 1 July 1955
  • During the Vietnam War USS Westchester County (LST-1167) served continuously in country and in contiguous waters, with the exception of overhaul periods, from early 1965 to mid 1972 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.)

    Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Vietnam Service Medal
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    Vietnam Advisory Campaign
    30 July to 9 August 1962
    9 August 1964 to 28 September 1964
    19 to 25 March 1965
    13 to 16 April 1965
    3 to 12 May 1965
    20 to 24 May 1965
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI
    2 to 17 November 1968
    Vietnam Defense Campaign
    6 to 10 July 1965
    13 to 17 August 1965
    31 October to 8 December 1965
    Tet 69/Counteroffensive
    20 March to 12 May 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    4 to 8 January 1966
    18 January to 2 February 1966
    6 to 10 March 1966
    20 to 25 March 1966
    25 May to 3 June 1966
    9 to 16 June 1966
    25 to 30 June 1966
    Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969
    12 to 14 July 1969
    25 to 27 July 1969
    10 to 15 August 1969
    5 to 9 October 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    15 to 18 July 1966
    27 August to 9 October 1966
    1 to 28 February 1967
    Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970
    3 to 7 November 1969
    7 to 15 December 1969
    29 December to 9 January 1970
    18 to 21 February 1970
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    22 August to 2 September 1967
    11 to 16 September 1967
    21 October 1967 to 24 January 1968
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    30 July to 12 October 1970
    3 February to 8 March 1971
    19 to 30 June 1971
    Tet Counteroffensive
    14 to 20 March 1968
    Consolidation I
    1 July to 2 August 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV
    29 April to 18 May 1968
    1 to 25 June 1968
    Vietnam Ceasefire
    1 April to 1 May 1972
    7 to 10 May 1972
    20 to 26 July 1972
    3 to 10 August 1972
    29 August to 4 September 1972
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V
    20 September to 1 November 1968
     

    Westchester County was mined in the Mekong Delta, 1 November 1968. The mining was the greatest loss of life in a single action for a commissioned Navy ship during the Vietnam War. It could have also resulted in the only destruction of a Navy ship by enemy action. A post war analysis by explosive expert Captain Robert Shelby said the cargo of ordinance and fuel could have resulted in an explosion equivalent to a small nuclear weapon. For the reasons noted above Richard K. Kolb included this event in his book titled Brutal Battles of Vietnam: America’s Deadliest Days, 1965-1972.
    The two mines exploded next to the operations and first-class berthing killing seventeen sailors, five army infantrymen, one sailor from River Assault Division 111, and two VN Navy sailors. Overall, 22 sailors and Army infantrymen were wounded. Therefore, the ship lost a quarter of its crew and nearly all its career first-class petty officers who would have provided on site leadership for damage control and repair parties. The explosions also ruptured enormous Diesel fuel tanks holding 200,000 gallons and caved in a berthing compartment for the 9th Infantry killing five soldiers. Electrical power was out for most areas. Fuel rushed into the broken compartments. Every exposed surface was covered with a mist of Diesel oil that was ready to ignite. The air was nearly unbreathable. The ship quickly began to list to starboard.
    The courageous, determined actions of the crew that night, and during the days following, controlled the damage sustained and prevented a catastrophe that would have horrified the nation. The commanding officer LCDR. John Branin dealt with the urgent problem of the increasing list by instructing Petty Officer 2nd Class Rick Russell to de-ballast starboard tanks forward. Junior petty officers and non-rated sailors further stabilized the situation by sealing off compartments to prevent progressive flooding. Hospital corpsman first class John Sullivan survived the blast, and though badly injured, cared for the trapped and wounded. Damage control and rescue efforts were hampered by the Diesel oil film which precluded the use of cutting torches and metal saws. Sailors quickly relocated away from the blast area large portions of the 350 tons of munitions, explosives, and pyrotechnics the ship carried.
    After temporary repairs were completed on 14 November, the ship undertook the 2,500-mile journey to its Yokosuka homeport. The ship evaded the worst of three typhoons closing in on the Philippines to arrive 25 November. However, the journey became nearly disastrous because high winds and seas from the typhoons ruptured temporary repairs to the point that for a time pumps capable of pumping 3,200 gallons per minute were overwhelmed. The crew had to restore watertight integrity to a 96 by 28 foot section of blasted hull over which tons of eight inch steel “I” beams and one inch steel plates had been applied and were now snapping. This last problem required the most gallant, professional, and determined responses by the crew to overcome an extremely difficult and hazardous condition. Through their courage and resolve, they prevented the most devastating combat loss the Navy would have incurred in the Vietnam war.
    S/S Nolan Nelson, Secretary/Treasurer, U.S.S. Westchester County Association
  • Decommissioned, 30 November 1973, assigned to Inactive Ship Facility, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • USS Westchester County earned three Navy Unit Commendations, two Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal with fourteen campaign stars for Vietnam War service
  • Transferred to Turkey, 27 August 1974
  • Renamed TCG Serdar (L-402)
  • Decommissioned by the Turkish Navy, in 2005
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications
    Displacement 2,590 t.(lt) , 5,800 t.(fl)
    Length 384'
    Beam 56' 6"
    Draft 17'
    Speed 14.5 kts.
    Complement 153
    Troop Accommodations
    15 officers
    380 enlisted
    Boats
    3 LCVPs
    1 LCPL
    Armament
    three twin 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts
    five single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion four General Motors 16-278A diesel engines, 6000shp, two controllable pitch propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    USS Westchester County (LST-1167)
    Westchester County
    1016116736
    403k Starboard bow view of USS Westchester County (LST-1167) arriving at San Diego, CA. from the Atlantic Coast, 27 January 1958. The ship was part of a transfer of five LSTs from Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Force to Pacific Fleet Amphibious Force.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command catalog # L45-304.02.01
    Mike Smolinski
    Westchester County 31k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) underway, circa 1960, location unknown.
    US Navy photo
    USS Westchester (LST-1167) Association
    Westchester County 108k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, December 1966.
    Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Westchester County 51k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo
     
    Washtenaw County 43k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) at right and USS Washtenaw County (LST-1166) left, at Naha, Okinawa in 1962, preparing to load for duty in the Republic of the Philippines. Gary Ottmar
    Tom Green County 29k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) and USS Tom Green County (LST-1159), circa May 1960-December 1962, Hong Kong. Courtesy Jim Harp
    via Ed Lange
    LST-1159 Web Site
    Westchester County 18k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) and USS Tom Green County (LST-1159), circa May 1960-December 1962, Hong Kong. Courtesy Jim Harp
    via Ed Lange
    LST-1159 Web Site
    Westchester County 88k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) and Marine LVT8's, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, March 1966.
    Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Westchester County 197k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) and unidentified LST in MSC service moored at Naha, Okinawa, circa 1966. Rich Krebs USS USS Washoe County (LST-1165)
    Westchester County 182k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) and unidentified LST in MSC service moored at Naha, Okinawa, circa 1966. Rich Krebs USS USS Washoe County (LST-1165)
    Westchester County
    1016116741
    119k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) showing damage shortly after being mined on 1 November 1968. Nolan Nelson
    Westchester County 138k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) moored on the Bode River, South Vietnam in 1970 as Seawolf gunships land on the ship. The ship is at yoke moor, which provided a wind from port to starboard for landing helicopters and a lee on the starboard side for securing PCFs. Nolan Nelson USS Westchester County (LST-1167)
    LST-819 149k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) and USS Hampshire County (LST-819 moored pierside at Naval Base Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippine, 1971 Richard Albright
    Westchester County 731k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) and USS Decatur (DDG-31) underway in the summer of 1973. Note the MagTail reels and other sweep gear on the Westchester County's main deck. Photo taken from USS Conquest (MSO-488) Photo by CDR Michael Cosgrove USN Ret. USS Conquest
    Westchester County
    10160116739
    379k USS Westchester County (LST-1167) Zippo lighter Tommy Trampp
    TCG Serdar (L-402)
    Westchester County 55k Ex USS Westchester County (LST-1167), in Turkish naval service as TCG Serdar (L-402), post 1974 USS Westchester (LST-1167) Association
    Westchester County 47k TCG Serdar (L-402), date and location unknown. Joe Radigan, MACM, USN, Ret.
    Westchester County 61k TCG Serdar (L-402) underway, date and location unknown. Yucel M. Umar GMC Turkish Navy Retired
    Westchester County 525k TCG Serdar (L-402) underway, date and location unknown. Cüneyt Demir

    USS LST-1167 / USS Westchester County (LST-1167)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Lacy, Leamond Fredrick, USN10 March 1954 - June 1955
    02LCDR. Clenedin, Lane Edwin, USN June 1955 - 8 July 1957
    03LCDR. Staub, Frederick Angelo, USN8 July 1957 - 18 March 1959
    04LCDR. Beaubouef, James Allan, USN18 March 1959 - 2 July 1960
    05LCDR. Karlowicz, Mitchell Joseph, USN (USNA 1947)2 July 1960 - 2 August 1961
    06LCDR/CDR. Briggs, Winston Dean, USN2 August 1961 - 19 April 1963
    07LCDR. Patton, James Eugene, USNA 1949)19 April 1963 - 15 July 1964
    08LCDR/CDR. Metcalf III, Joseph, USN (USNA 1951) :VADM15 July 1964 - 12 December 1965
    09LCDR/CDR. Hansen, Norman Thomas, USN12 December 1965 - 20 September 1967
    10LCDR. Branin, John Warrington, USN.20 September 1967 - 27 August 1969
    11LCDR. Lang Jr., Joseph McCarty, USN Obituary27 August 1969 - February 1972
    12CDR. Holly, Richard Warren, USN (USNA 1961)February 1972 - 30 August 1973
    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 Westchester County see;
  • USS Westchester County LST-1167 Association
  • USS Westchester County LST-1167 Deck Log, 1 November 1968
  • USS Westchester County LST-1167 Memorial Service Program, Dong Tam, Vietnam, 12 November 1968
  • Medals awarded with valor earned by Westchester County crew as result of enemy action at Go Cong Province, South Vietnam. 1 November 1968
  • Mobile Riverine Forces Association
  • Mobile Riverine Force Association - History of USS Westchester County (LST-1167)
  • LST Home Port
  • State LST Chapters
  • United States LST Association
  • Turkish Navy Photo Collections by Yucel M. Umar GMC Turkish Navy Ret. and Cüneyt Demir

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    Last Updated 5 July 2024