1945-1955
(LST-1146: displacement 3,960; length 328'0"; beam 50'0"; draft 11'2"; speed 11.6 knots; complement 119; troops 147; armament 8 40 millimeter, 12 20 millimeter; class LST-542)
LST-1146 was laid down on 10 February 1945 at Seneca, Illinois, by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., launched on 11 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. M. L. Hecht, Jr.; and commissioned on 30 May 1945, Lt. Warren A. Cushing, D-V(S) USNR, in command.
On 4 June 1945, LST-1146 shifted from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama, for propeller repairs and then to Galveston, Texas. Her shakedown cruise was held in Galveston Bay from 10 to 20 June, and she returned to New Orleans for repairs. She then loaded supplies, ammunition, and 92 passengers and departed for Gulfport on the 30th to load deck cargo. Seven hundred tons of pontoon cargo, destined for Guam, M.I., were loaded, and LST-1146 sailed for Panama on 5 July. She arrived at Coco Solo, C.Z., on 11 July; disembarked her passengers; and continued to Hawaii the next day. The ship arrived in Pearl Harbor on 2 August. On 1 September, she steamed westward and, after calls at Eniwetok, Guam, Saipan, and Okinawa, arrived at Sasebo, Japan, on 2 November. She moved to Yokosuka ten days later and on the 19th began her return voyage to the United States, via Guam and Pearl Harbor.
LST-1146 arrived at Seattle on 4 January 1946 and began an extended yard period. When again ready for sea, she moved down the coast and operated out of San Diego from June 1946 to 24 May 1947. At that time she moved to Port Hueneme, Calif., loaded supplies, and joined five other ships to form the Navy's annual resupply expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska. After calling at Seattle on 12 June, the ships proceeded to Kodiak, Adak, and Attu. LST-1146 returned to Seattle from 14 July to 1 August for additional supplies and continued operating in Alaskan waters from 15 August to early September 1947 when she returned to San Diego and began local operations. The ship operated out of San Diego for the next four years and each summer she participated in the supply run to Alaska.
LST-1146 stood out of San Diego on 19 October 1951, en route to the Korean war zone. After port calls at Pearl Harbor and Yokosuka, she arrived at Inchon on 28 December 1951. Operating from Yokosuka until April 1952, the ship carried troops and supplies to various Korean ports. On 7 April, she departed Japan for her homeport of San Diego and arrived there on 10 May 1952.
She made resupply runs to Alaska that summer and again in 1953. After returning to San Diego from her last Alaskan run on 10 September 1953, she prepared for another tour in the western Pacific that lasted from 20 October 1953 to 27 April 1954.
In July 1955, LST-1146 was officially named Summit County (q.v.), .
LST-1146 received one battle star for her Korean War service, for operations during the second Korean winter (28-29 December 1951 and 20-26 March 1952).
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
13 March 2024
