USS Talbot County ( LST - 1153 ) USS " Talbot County " ( LST - 1153 ) was a tank landing ship ( LST ) built for the United States Navy just after World War II . The lead ship of her class of only two vessels , she was named after counties in Maryland and Georgia , and was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . Design and construction . The two " Talbot County " class tank landing ships had a displacement of , a length of , a beam of , and a draft of . They were fitted with two Babcock and Wilcox boilers connected to two geared turbines ; a Westinghouse in the forward engine room , and a General Electric in the after engine room . These were intended to provide a top speed of , although was a more realistic flank speed . The landing ships were capable of transporting 197 troops , and were equipped with three LCVP s and one LCPL . The ship ' s company was 190 - strong , and consisted of about six or seven line officers , a supply officer , the Captain and Executive Officer , and about 115 – 125 enlisted men . " Talbot County " was initially armed with two single 5 " / 38 caliber gun s , two twin 40 mm Bofors guns , and two single 20 mm Oerlikon guns . The 20 & 40 mm guns were removed prior to 1958 . The ship was laid down as " LST - 1153 " on 19 July 1945 at the Boston Navy Yard . She was launched on 24 April 1947 with Mrs . Lena Mickelson as sponsor , and commissioned on 3 September 1947 . She was not named until 1955 . The " Talbot County " and her sister - ship , , were the only steam - driven LST ' s ever commissioned into the United States Navy , and were considered experimental due to their propulsion and armament . Apparently the experiment was not a success because no other steam driven LST ' s were ever built and no others had 5 - inch guns . Service history . 1947 – 1970 . " LST - 1153 " reported to the Fleet Training Group at Norfolk to begin her shakedown cruise on 21 September . She returned to Boston on 24 October for a post - shakedown yard period and put to sea again on 15 November . Eleven days later , she arrived at her home port , Little Creek , Virginia . For the next nine years , as a unit of the Amphibious Force , Atlantic Fleet , the tank landing ship operated along the east coast of the United States from New England to Florida and in the Caribbean . On 1 July 1955 , " LST - 1153 " was named USS " Talbot County " ( LST - 1153 ) . " Talbot County " deployed to the Mediterranean on 31 August 1959 , using her bulk fuel tanks to carry more than 240 , 000 gallons of aviation gasoline to refuel the helicopters of the amphibious squadron attached to the Sixth Fleet . After making port calls in France , Italy , Greece , Malta , Gibraltar , Algeria , and Morocco , she returned to the United States on 13 February 1958 . The ship was deployed with the Sixth Fleet again from April to August 1959 and from October 1960 to May 1961 . The remainder of her time , until 1970 , was spent in operations along the Atlantic seaboard , ranging from Key West , Florida , to Nova Scotia and various ports in the Caribbean . Decommissioning and sale . " Talbot County " was decommissioned on 3 April 1970 and assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange , Texas . Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1973 , " Talbot County " was sold for scrapping by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service one year later , on 1 May 1974 .