USS Armstrong County ( LST - 57 ) USS " Armstrong County " ( LST - 57 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named for counties in Pennsylvania , South Dakota , and Texas , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . LST - 57 was laid down on 24 October 1943 at Neville Island , Pennsylvania by the Dravo Corporation and launched on 4 December 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Edward Mays . Placed in " reduced commission " on 1 January 1944 at her builder ' s yard , she went to New Orleans , Louisiana where she was commissioned on 15 January 1944 . Service history . Voyage to England , February – May 1944 . Following her fitting out at Pensacola and shakedown training out of Panama City , Florida LST - 57 returned to New Orleans where she took on board and a cargo of diesel fuel . Clearing the " Crescent City " on 25 February 1944 LST - 57 proceeded independently to New York City . Spending five days there ( during which time she embarked two Navy doctors and 40 corpsmen ) the tank landing ship proceeded to Davisville , Rhode Island where the tank deck was loaded with 358 tons of pontoons : " " no better a cargo for the sub - infested Atlantic " , " observed the ship ' s historian wryly . After an overnight stay at Boston , LST - 57 joined a convoy bound for Halifax , Nova Scotia . Reaching her destination on 21 March , the tank landing ship remained there until the 29th . Sailing thence with " slow convoy " SC - 156 , LST - 57 began her voyage to the Old World , although for a time her crew wondered if they would ever get away from the New . Three events occurred before she even left Halifax harbor that presaged an " eventful " crossing . The wait for a frozen boat davit to thaw delayed recovery of one of the ship ' s landing craft , a tug ripped a hole in her port bow several feet above the waterline , and a steering casualty stopped her a few hundred feet from the antisubmarine nets causing the ship to - block the convoy sortie until it could be corrected . Once at sea , LST - 57 and the convoy encountered dense fog that rendered visibility difficult for more than 48 hours , and another LST nearly collided with the ship . The fact that the other ship was known to be carrying ammunition " " didn ' t quiet anyone ' s nerves " , " as LST - 57s ' chronicler , recounts . No sooner had the fog cleared but an ice field was encountered . Two emergency changes of course to avoid the ice caused the convoy " " . . . to lose all semblance of order . . . for several hours . " " Preoccupied by accidents and natural hazards , LST - 57 ' s crewmen almost forgot the war until rudely reminded them . At 02 : 28 on 6 April the U - boat torpedo ed two merchantmen on LST - 57 ' s port side . The tank landing ship went to general quarters , but did not engage the enemy or participate in the rescue operation . One of the escorts , , sank " U - 302 " , and ships closer to the two victims picked up survivors . LST - 57 reached Milford Haven , Wales , on 14 April , only to be directed to proceed to Southampton immediately . She overtook a slow coastal convoy to that port and reached her destination on the 16th , mooring at the Fawley oil dock , downstream from Southampton , to discharge the diesel oil cargo . Later , at Southampton the tank deck was unloaded and the LCT launched . Over the next few weeks , LST - 57 visited Plymouth , Falmouth , Dartmouth , Salcombe , and Brixham as planning for the invasion of the continent of Europe proceeded apace . On 2 June , at Brixham , LST - 57 took on board six tanks , several " Long Toms " ( 155 - millimeter guns ) , and " " . . . a handful of Army quartermasters and a reserve company of airborne infantry . It was a conglomeration , " " noted the tank landing ship ' s chronicler , " " but the Army was careful in its loading and did not want to lose an LST full of one type of soldier . " " Invasion of France , June – November 1944 . After bad weather forced the invasion force to postpone its scheduled departure on 4 June , LST - 57 started toward France the following day as part of a slow convoy . LST - 57 discharged her initial cargo and passengers at Utah Beach in the American sector of the Normandy Beachhead . Over the ensuing months , she visited all five of the Allied beaches : " Utah , " " Omaha , " " Juno , " " Gold , " and " Sword , " delivering vital supplies and reinforcements from a variety of ports in southern England . After the Allied breakout at Saint - Lô late in July , the ship also carried supplies to the beach at Saint - Michel - en - Grève on the Brittany Peninsula . After November , LST - 57 transported men and equipment from England to the French ports of Cherbourg , Rouen , and Le Havre and returned to England with Allied casualties and German prisoners of war . Return to the US , April – July 1945 . On 16 April 1945 LST - 57 stood out of Plymouth , England , on her way back to the United States . Steaming by way of Hampton Roads , Virginia , the tank landing ship reached Houston , Texas in mid - May . She carried out substantial repairs at the Brown Shipbuilding Company at Houston before proceeding to Gulfport , Mississippi to load cargo . Then , following a brief repair period at Mobile , Alabama , LST - 57 set sail for the Panama Canal on 2 July . After transiting the canal , she departed the west coast of Panama on 13 July . The tank landing ship touched briefly at Manzanillo , Mexico before heading out across the Pacific Ocean . Pacific Ocean , August – December 1945 . LST - 57 arrived in Pearl Harbor on 2 August but resumed her voyage west on the 9th . While en route from Hawaii to the Marshall Islands , she received word of the Japanese capitulation . The tank landing ship arrived at Eniwetok on 21 August but tarried there only three days before getting underway on the 24th . She discharged cargo at Guam and then returned to sea on her way to the Philippines . In September and October , LST - 57 visited Leyte and San Fernando in the Philippines before setting out for Japan to support the postwar occupation . In November and December , she made a circuitous voyage from Hiro Wan , Japan , to Saipan and Peleliu , returning to Tokyo on 27 December 1945 . 1946 – 1956 . Decommissioned on 24 January 1946 , LST - 57 was turned over to the Shipping Control Administrator , Japan ( SCAJAP ) , for operation by a Japanese crew , under the designator Q - Q28 . Returned to the Navy in November 1950 , LST - 57 was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Tacoma , Washington on 9 November 1950 where she remained in reserve into the mid - 1950s . Though named USS " Armstrong County " ( LST - 57 ) on 1 July 1955 , she never performed any active service under that name . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 21 September 1955 and she was sunk as a target the following year . LST - 57 was awarded one battle star for her World War II service .