USS LST - 306 USS " Bernalillo County " ( LST - 306 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named for Bernalillo County , New Mexico , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . LST - 306 was laid down on 24 July 1942 at the Boston Navy Yard by the Todd Shipyard Company ; launched on 10 October 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . Caroline De Simone ; and commissioned on 11 December 1942 with Lieutenant Joseph B . Bartram , USNR , in command . Service history . Mediterranean , 1943 . After fitting out at Boston , LST - 306 loaded supplies and ammunition before proceeding to the Chesapeake Bay for shakedown training . While there , her crew conducted beach maneuvers , practiced lowering small boats , and held communications and gunnery drills . She then took on supplies and cargo in Norfolk before proceeding independently to Bermuda in March 1943 . Underway in convoy for Europe later that month , she arrived at Arzeu , Algeria on 13 April . After joining a convoy carrying supplies to Bone , Algeria in support of the Tunisian campaign , the LST spent the next six weeks ferrying troops and equipment between Oran , Mers - El - Kebir , and Bizerte . In June , the tank landing ship lay in Tunis Bay , preparing for " Operation Husky , " the planned landings on Sicily . As part of Task Group ( TG ) 86 . 1 in the " Joss " Attack Force , LST - 306 got underway on 7 July and arrived off Licata , Sicily early in the morning of 11 July . Assigned to reserve transport duty , she helped relieve port congestion by transferring supplies ashore at Gela and its environs until 17 August when she sailed to Bizerte . There she began preparations for " Operation Avalanche , " the landings at Salerno . After loading British troops and equipment , LST - 306 departed Tunis on 7 September and joined TG 85 . 1 , the Northern Attack Force , for the voyage to Italy . After passing into the Gulf of Salerno , and avoiding several drifting mines , the tank landing ship anchored south of Salerno at 1215 on 9 September to await a clear beach lane . After pulled off the beach , LST - 306 dropped her bow ramp at 1655 that afternoon . Under intermittent enemy shell fire , the tank landing ship disembarked 279 British soldiers and 57 vehicles before retracting to the anchorage at 1831 . During the evening , enemy bomber s attacked the beachhead twice , but no bombs fell near the LST . The next morning , LST - 306 took on British casualties for evacuation and departed the area . Joining a Bizerte - bound convoy , the tank landing ship moored in that port on the 12th . She then spent two months operating in the central Mediterranean area , ferrying supplies between North Africa and ports in Sicily and southern Italy . Ordered north at the end of November , the LST passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and sailed to England , arriving at Milford Haven on 17 December . Invasion of France , 1944 . After unloading tank deck cargo , the LST moved to Falmouth for drydocking and a complete overhaul . After those repairs were completed on 10 January 1944 the tank landing ship began nearly five months of work in preparation for the cross - channel invasion of Europe . First , she engaged in three weeks of " Rhino ferry " ( pontoon barge ) practice landings in the Falmouth area . LST - 306 continued this type of operation for the next four months , conducting various training maneuvers ( such as troop landings , small boat exercises , antiaircraft gunnery practice , and communication drills ) off the southwestern coast of England between Plymouth and Falmouth . Assigned to convoy B - 3 in Task Force ( TF ) 126 . 4 , the LST embarked troops and equipment at Falmouth on 1 June . After a false start on the 4th , LST - 306 got underway in convoy the next day with a pontoon causeway and a small tug in tow . While en route to France , the LST collided with a buoy , snapping off a blade from her port propeller . As the convoy ' s speed was already slow ( 5 knots ) , the damage did not prevent the tank landing ship from continuing her mission . Just after noon on 7 June , the tank landing ship cast off her tow at Utah Beach before proceeding to Omaha Beach where she anchored for the night . During this time , the ship ' s two LCVP s delivered medical supplies ashore . The next afternoon , the LST disembarked 218 Army engineers and unloaded mine - clearing equipment to LCTs for transfer to the beach . At 1917 , the LST beached and , over the next eight hours , unloaded the remaining 115 troops and the rest of her cargo of 52 trucks . Pulling off the beach on the morning of 9 June , LST - 306 proceeded to Southampton , England for repairs . She remained there , waiting for an availability , until 17 June when she moved to Plymouth for repairs . With a new propeller in place on the 22nd , the LST moved to Portland Harbour on 26 June , loaded Army trucks and personnel , and carried them to Utah Beach the next day . After dropping them off , she returned to Southampton with 900 German prisoners . Over the next ten months , LST - 306 made dozens of shuttle trips across the Channel , carrying troops , ammunition , and supplies from England to the French ports of Rouen , Le Havre , and Cherbourg . Return to the US , 1945 . On 11 May 1945 the LST joined one of the first convoys to head home after hostilities ended in Europe and arrived in Norfolk , Virginia on 31 May . After unloading her cargo , the tank landing ship proceeded to New York for major alterations in preparation for further combat duty in the Pacific . Entering a berth at Sullivan ' s Shipyard , Brooklyn on 11 June , LST - 306 was in the yard when the crew heard the news of the end of the war on 15 August . Upon completion of the repair work on the 29th , the LST conducted a short shakedown cruise to Norfolk before returning to New York to load an LCT . Departing New York on 2 October , she sailed to Green Cove Springs on the St . Johns River in Florida , where she joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on 6 October 1945 . Decommissioning and sale , 1946 – 1959 . LST - 306 was decommissioned there on 13 June 1946 . Although named USS " Bernalillo County " ( LST - 306 ) on 1 July 1955 she never returned to active Navy service ; her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 February 1959 . On 22 October 1959 the tank landing ship was sold to Ships , Inc . , of Miami , Florida . Her final fate is unknown . " LST - 306 " earned three battle star s for World War Ii She was re - commissioned in 1951 during the Korean War and participated in practice landings with Marines while in the Atlantic Fleet . She also made visits to Venezuela , Curaçao , Cuba , Greenland , etc . in various exercises .