1945-1955
(LST-1076: displacement 4,080; length 328'0”; beam 50'0”; draft 14'1"; speed 11.6 knots; complement 119, troop capacity 147; armament 8 40 millimeter, 12 20 millimeter; class LST-542)
LST-1076 was laid down on 16 March 1945 at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard,; launched on 14 April 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Lillian J. Ostler; and commissioned on 1 May 1945, Lt. Grover L. Rawlings, D-V(G), USNR, in command.
After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, LST-1076 embarked troops at New York, N.Y., and sailed on 14 June 1945 for Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. She reached her destination on 19 July and began several weeks of rigorous training in the Hawaiian operating areas, during which time Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration and, on 14 August, agreed to surrender. LST-1076 stood out from Pearl on 29 August, with troops bound for Sasebo, Japan. She disembarked her passengers on 22 September and by 17 October was returning to the U.S. with war veterans.
LST-1076 reached San Diego, Calif., on 11 December 1945 and shortly thereafter went into overhaul, after which she was then sent to Vancouver, Wash., in April of 1946 for inactivation. Decommissioned on 13 June, she was assigned to the Columbia Group of the U.S. Pacific Reserve Fleet. While in reserve, she was named Page County (q.v.) on 1 July 1955.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
5 January 2024.
