Addison County (LST-31)
1955
A county in the west central part of the state of Vermont
(LST-31: displacement 3,960; length 328'0”; beam 50'0”; draft 14'1"; speed 11.6 knots; complement 119; armament 6 40 millimeter, 12 20 millimeter, 2 .30-caliber machine guns; class LST-1)
LST-31 (q.v.) was laid down on 2 February 1943 at Pittsburgh, Pa. [Neville Island Branch] by the Dravo Corp.; launched on 5 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Maurice Endres; accepted by the Navy and placed in reduced commission on 10 July 1943; and steamed to New Orleans where she was placed in full commission on 21 July 1943, Lt. John D. Schneidau, Jr.,D-V(G), USNR, in command.
Following her service in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, for which she received five battle stars [Gilbert Islands operation (20 November-5 December 1943); Marshall Islands operation, the occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls (31 January-8 February 1944), and the occupation of Eniwetok Atoll (19 February-2 March 1944); the Marianas operation, the capture and occupation of Saipan (15 June-10 August 1944); the capture and occupation of Tinian (24 July-10 August 1944); and the capture and occupation of Okinawa Guntō (3-22 May 1945)], LST-31 was decommissioned on 8 January 1946.
Transferred to the Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJap), Commander Naval Forces Far East (ComNavFE) and redesignated as Q-005., she operated under Japanese control into May 1948. Clearing Yokohama on the 3rd of that month, she shaped a course for the west coast of the United States. The tank landing ship was later berthed in the Seattle area.
On 1 July 1955, LST-31 was named Addison County but performed no more active service under that name. Stricken from the Navy Register on 11 August 1955, she was subsequently sunk as a target.
Luann Parsons
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
20 December 2023
