1945-1955
(LST-883: displacement 1,625; length 328'0”; beam 50'0”; draft 14'1"; speed 12 knots; complement 226; armament 8 40 millimeter, 12 20 millimeter; class LST-511)
LST-883 was laid down on 16 November 1944 at Evansville, Indiana, by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.; launched on 30 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. L. D. McBride; and commissioned at New Orleans, La., on 23 January 1945, Lt. Winfield H. Cook, D-V(G), USNR, in command.
After shakedown off the Florida coast, LST-883 departed New Orleans for the west coast 28 February 1945 and arrived at San Pedro on 26 March. Steaming via Seattle, Wash., the landing ship reached the Hawaiian Islands on 1 May and trained there until sailing for the western Pacific on the 24th. She transported members of U.S. Navy Construction Battalions (CBs or “Seabees”) via the Marshalls and the Marianas to Okinawa where she arrived on 26 June. After discharging men and equipment, she embarked leathernecks of the Sixth Marine Division and sailed on 10 July. Steaming via Guam, she reached Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 5 August.
During the rest of August 1945 he participated in amphibious training operations in the Hawaiian Islands. Following the surrender of Japan [2 September 1945], she departed Pearl Harbor on 3 September, with occupation forces for Japan. She debarked troops at Sasebo, Kyūshū, on 25 September, before sailing for the Philippines on the 28th. She reached Lingayen Gulf on 5 October, and between 26 October and 4 November transported U.S. Army engineers to Nagoya, Honshū. From Japan, she arrived at Saipan on 14 November and operated in the Marianas during the remainder of the year.
LST-883 steamed to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, between 15 and 20 January 1946. During the next three months she made cargo and passenger runs to locations in the Philippine Islands: Mindoro, Mindanao, Luzon, and Samar. She decommissioned at Samar on 20 April 1946, was placed in a custody status, and was transferred to the U.S. Army on 26 August for use in Japan.
Reacquired by the Navy on 1 July 1950, in the wake of the North Korean invasion of South Korea, LST-883 was recommissioned at Yokosuka, Japan, on 26 August, Lt. Charles M. Miller in command. In response to President Harry S Truman’s order to repel Communist aggression in Korea, she embarked U.S. Marines and Army troops, loaded combat stores, and departed Kobe, Japan, on 10 September. She sailed for Inchon, South Korea, as part of an amphibious attack force.
Assigned to TG 90.3, LST-883 arrived off Inchon on 15 September 1950, while a concentrated air-sea bombardment pounded Communist shore installations. Later that afternoon, she closed the beaches and, despite heavy mortar and machinegun fire, debarked troops on Red Beach. As American naval and ground forces carried out the Inchon invasion, which spearheaded an Allied offensive northward, LST-883 discharged emergency supplies and dueled with enemy guns. She remained off Inchon until sailing for the eastern coast of Korea on 15 October. For daring bravery and heroic performance of duty off Red Beach, the aggressive and intrepid tank landing ships of Task Element (TE) 90.32, including LST-883, received the Navy Unit Commendation.
Arriving at Wonsan on 25 October 1950, LST-883 made coastal troop and cargo runs from Wonsan to Hungnam until returning to Yokosuka, Japan, on 22 November. After Chinese Communist armies moved southward into North Korea later that month, she departed Japan on 9 December for the massive amphibious evacuation of Hungnam. Between 15 and 27 December she completed two runs out of Hungnam to carry men and equipment to Pusan; thence, she returned to Japan New Year’s Eve. She continued operations between Yokosuka and Pusan until 31 March 1951 when she sailed for the United States.
After reaching San Diego, Calif., on 29 April 1951, LST-883 underwent overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., from 16 May to 22 July. During August and September, she operated along the west coast, and on 2 October she departed San Francisco, Calif., for the Far East, arriving at Yokosuka on 5 November. After operating along the Japanese coast, she arrived at Inchon on 28 December, three days after Christmas, with a cargo of military vehicles. Between 28 December 1951 and 18 July 1952, she made numerous troop and cargo runs along the western coast of Korea, and between Korea and Japan. In addition, she joined in amphibious training exercises off Japan and Okinawa. Departing Yokosuka on 25 July, she arrived at San Diego on 22 August, and during the next ten months operated off the California coast.
Carrying leathernecks of the Third Marine Division, LST-883 again deployed to Korean waters on 15 June 1953. Steaming via Pearl Harbor and Yokosuka, she reached Pusan on 27 July as the uncertain armistice which halted hostilities in this stalemated conflict was signed at Panmunjom.
During August and September 1953 she carried troops and supplies from Korea to Japan and transported Communist prisoners from United Nations Prisoner of War (POW) camps to Inchon. After returning to Yokosuka on 24 September, she made coastal runs to the Japanese ports of Kobe and Kure and supported amphibious operations off Okinawa during the next five months. Between 26 February 1954 and 27 March, she sailed from Japan to California via Pearl Harbor. She operated along the California coast out of San Diego during the remainder of 1954.
Departing San Diego on 17 February 1955, LST-883 arrived at Japan on 17 March to begin a six-month deployment in the Far East. During that time, the ship was renamed La Moure County (q.v.) on 1 July 1955.
LST-883 received one battle star for her World War II service in the Pacific Theater, for her participation in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto (26—30 June 1945) and seven battle stars for her Korean War service, for the following campaigns: Inchon Landing (15-17 September 1950), North Korean Aggression (18 September-2 November 1950), Communist China Aggression (3 November-27 December 1950), First United Nations Counter Offensive (3 February-7 March 1951), Second Korean Winter (28 December 1951-9 January 1952, 27 January-13 March 1952, 20-28 March 1952), Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 (10 June-14 July 1952), and Korea, Summer-Fall 1953 (27 July 1953).
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
27 October 2023
