USS Bamberg County ( LST - 209 ) USS " LST - 209 was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Like most of the ships of her class , she was not originally named , and known only by her designation . From June to August 1951 she served a stint as a part of the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) , manned by a civilian crew , and renamed USNS " T - LST - 209 . She was recommissioned under her original name 24 August 1951 , and renamed USS " Bamberg County " ( LST - 209 ) on 1 July 1955 . She was named for Bamberg County , South Carolina , the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . Operational history . " LST - 209 " was laid down on 7 September 1942 at Seneca , Illinois by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company ; launched on 29 May 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . C . A . Dalton ; placed in reduced commission at her builder ' s yard on 4 June 1943 ; placed in full commission at New Orleans on 10 June 1943 with Lieutenant Frank J . Oberg , USNR , in command . World War II . After shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay , " LST - 209 " departed American waters on 4 August 1943 and steamed via the Strait of Gibraltar for the Mediterranean coast of North Africa . On her arrival at Oran , Algeria the ship received orders to proceed to Bizerte , Tunisia where she exchanged ships ' companies with on 25 August . Originally slated to sail for Algiers to load LST spare parts for shipment to the Far East , " LST - 209 " instead received orders to Sicily due to the critical need for LSTs to carry equipment to the Italian front . In the months that followed , the tank landing ship conducted four trips between Catania , Sicily and Taranto , Italy , before she returned to Algiers for further assignment . In convoy with 10 other tank landing ships , " LST - 209 " departed the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal and headed for India . After arriving at Calcutta during the latter part of November , she loaded 14 M3 " General Lee " tanks on 3 December and embarked 67 men of the British 14th Army before departing on 5 December , with and two British motor gunboat s , bound for Regu Creek , near Arakan , Burma . Although " LST - 208 " ran aground on the run in , " LST - 209 " beached successfully at 23 : 24 on 6 December . She completed unloading the tanks within 30 minutes , retracted , and reached Calcutta in the afternoon of 9 December . A week later , " LST - 209 " received orders to proceed to the British Isles . Departing Colombo on 28 December , the ship reached the Welsh port of Milford Haven on 12 February 1944 and , after a week of operational training , was drydocked at Cardiff . She next underwent additional training , including beaching exercises on the south coast of England . After shifting thence to Rosneath , Scotland " LST - 209 " received an armament conversion alongside destroyer tender , losing her single gun and receiving several 40 millimeter Bofors and 20 millimeter Oerlikon antiaircraft guns . On completion of that refit , " LST - 209 " sailed for Harwich , England to train for the invasion of France . She embarked various troops embarked during this period , including elements of the famed British 8th Army " the Desert Rats " , the troops she carried to the continent on D - Day , 6 June 1944 . After beaching on the British " Gold " Beach that day , " LST - 209 " shuttled between French and British ports for the remainder of June to support operations in France . Reconfigured in July to lift railway car s in her capacious tank deck , " LST - 209 " carried out this task between Southampton and Cherbourg until November 1944 . From then until the German capitulation , the tank landing ship transported troops between various English ports and Le Havre and Rouen , France , and Ostend , Belgium . Following the end of the war with Germany , " LST - 209 " received orders to return to the United States on 14 June 1945 . Reaching Norfolk , Virginia on 1 July 1945 with " PT - 460 " as cargo and former USAAF prisoners of war as passengers , " LST - 209 " shifted from the Tidewater region of Virginia to New York where she unloaded the motor torpedo boat . She then headed back to New Orleans , whence her voyages had commenced two years before . At Mobile , Alabama work began to update her to the configuration of the improved , but the end of the War prompted a cancellation of some of the alterations originally planned . Post - war . When the amended refitting had been completed by the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company , she proceeded to New Orleans for inspection . " LST - 209 " then carried out shakedown training out of Galveston , Texas , before returning to New Orleans in mid - October 1945 . Sent to the St . Johns River in Florida , the tank landing ship reported to the inactive fleet on 28 October 1945 and was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 27 June 1946 . The ship was placed in service as USNS " T - LST - 209 " on 19 June 1951 with a civilian crew and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) , Atlantic . She participated in Project " Bluejay " that July , a cold - weather exercise that took place in Arctic waters . While she was at sea , participating in these evolutions , it was decided that the ship be reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet with a military crew when released by MSTS from her present employment . Released from MSTS service upon her arrival at Norfolk on 5 August 1951 , " LST - 209 " shifted from there to Charleston , South Carolina where she was formally turned over to the Commander , Mine Force , Atlantic , on 11 August 1951 . She was then placed in commission on 24 August 1951 with Lieutenant John E . Cridland in command . As the flagship for the Commander , Mine Squadron ( MinRon ) 4 , " LST - 209 " resumed active operations in November 1951 after receiving such repairs and alterations as were necessary to enable her to function as a mine squadron flagship . These changes did not alter her basic tank landing ship lines . Clearing Charleston on 8 November , " LST - 209 " took part in amphibious exercises off Onslow Beach , functioning as flagship and control ship for minesweeping operations . In the course of these evolutions , she became one of the first LST ' s to operate helicopter s from her main deck . For the next half decade the ship operated with the mine force based at Charleston . Her tank deck was altered in 1953 to allow the ship to function as a support vessel for MSC ( 0 ) type minesweepers . During this period , " LST - 209 " was renamed USS " Bamberg County " ( LST - 209 ) on 1 July 1955 . Decommissioned again at Green Cove Springs , Florida on 10 December 1956 , " Bamberg County " never again saw active service with the Navy . Deemed " unfit for further naval service " on 28 October 1958 her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 November 1958 . Sold to Tolchester Lines , Inc . , of Arlington , Virginia soon thereafter , she was acquired by the Dravo Corporation of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania on 23 February 1961 for use at that firm ' s Baton Rouge , Louisiana facility , where she was eventually scrapped . " Bamberg County " earned one battle star for her World War II service .