USS Blanco County ( LST - 344 ) USS " Blanco County " ( LST - 344 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named for Blanco County , Texas , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . LST - 344 was laid down on 18 October 1942 by the Norfolk Navy Yard ; launched on 15 December 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . H . H . Ward ; and commissioned on 14 January 1943 with , Lieutenant Maurice G . Jackson , USNR , in command . Service history . Invasion of Italy , 1943 – 1944 . The tank landing ship conducted shakedown and amphibious training in Chesapeake Bay until early April . On 2 April , she sailed for New York . There she loaded and took on passengers before sailing in convoy on the 28th for the Mediterranean . LST - 344 arrived in Arzeu , Algeria on 26 May and began preparations for the Allied invasion of Sicily . At the end of the first week in July , the ship staged through Algiers as a unit of Task Force ( TF ) 81 ( Dime Force ) on her way to the southeastern coast of Sicily . She and her colleagues arrived off Gela around 0100 on the morning of 10 July . LST - 344 , however , did not approach the beach at H - hour , 0245 . Instead , she remained well offshore until mid - morning . During that time , several German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter bomber s tried unsuccessfully to skip bomb her . After she linked up with the causeway at Gela , several shore batteries tried to pepper her but , like the aircraft , scored no direct hits . Those bombardments only spattered her with shell fragments wounding two soldiers but causing no major damage to the ship . The tank landing ship completed unloading at about 1230 , retracted from beach and causeway , and headed seaward . She remained about two miles offshore until 12 July when she headed for Bizerte , Tunisia to begin a series of reinforcement shuttles between North Africa and Sicily . The ship made five additional beachings at Gela between 12 July and the first week in September . On 7 September LST - 344 sailed from Bizerte as a unit of TF 85 , the Northern Attack Force for the assault at Salerno and arrived off her destination on 9 September . She did not beach on the day of the initial assault , but rather remained well off shore parrying sporadic German air attacks . On the 10th , however , she moved onto Red Beach and completed unloading in 90 minutes . Immediately thereafter , she shaped a course back to Bizerte where she arrived on 12 September . Once again , she made five more reinforcement voyages from Bizerte to Salerno and Taranto between mid - September and 19 October . After that , she made supply runs between Bizerte , Tripoli , and Algerian ports . Invasion of France , 1943 – 1945 . On 22 November the ship departed Algeria on her way to Great Britain . She arrived at Plymouth , England on 5 December . LST - 344 began preparations for the Normandy Invasion . For the next six months , she conducted amphibious training at various locations throughout the British Isles . The tank landing ship departed Southampton during the late afternoon of 5 June 1944 in a convoy bound for Baie de la Seine , France . On D - Day , 6 June , she disembarked troops and unloaded vehicles and equipment at Omaha Beach . Late that night , she started back to Southampton to pick up additional men and equipment . The ship went to general quarters at 2320 to ward off an attack by Junkers Ju 88 bombers , and reported having helped to splash one of the attackers . The tank landing ship returned to Southampton safely on 7 June . For the next 10 months , LST - 344 shuttled back and forth across the English Channel , first to the invasion beaches and , later , to the various French Channel ports after they had been captured and reopened . Return to the US , 1945 – 1946 . She departed Le Havre for the last time on 31 March 1945 . The ship visited Southampton , Falmouth , and Plymouth in England , as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland . On 5 May she departed the latter port and shaped a course for the United States . LST - 344 entered port at Norfolk , Virginia on 31 May . However , was underway again on 4 June on her way to New York and an overhaul at Sullivan ' s Shipyard in Brooklyn . The tank landing ship returned to Norfolk on 28 August , a fortnight after Japan capitulated , and spent the next three weeks training in Chesapeake Bay . After another visit to New York between 20 and 27 September , the ship headed south to Florida for inactivation . LST - 344 arrived in Green Cove Springs , Florida on 30 September 1945 though she was not finally decommissioned and placed in reserve until 7 June 1946 . Mediterranean , 1951 – 1956 . Late in 1951 , the tank landing ship was moved to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard to prepare for a return to active service . LST - 344 was recommissioned at Norfolk on 5 January 1952 with Lieutenant John W . Wright , USNR , in command . After shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay , the ship stood out of Norfolk on 19 July with cargo bound for Port Lyautey in French Morocco . LST - 344 returned to Norfolk from North Africa on 26 August . The four years following her return to active service saw a number of voyages to carry cargo to locations in the West Indies , North Africa , and the Mediterranean Sea . She also participated in several amphibious exercises during that period . Also during that time on 1 July 1955 the tank landing ship was named USS " Blanco County " ( LST - 344 ) . On 28 February 1956 she was placed out of commission again and consigned to the reserve fleet at Green Cove Springs . Vietnam War , 1965 – 1969 . Late in 1965 , " Blanco County " was moved to Baltimore to undergo another reactivation overhaul at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding & Drydock Company . Early in June 1966 she went to Little Creek , Virginia where she was recommissioned on 9 June 1966 with Lieutenant Bernard E . Burgett in command . The tank landing ship spent several weeks in refresher training before departing Little Creek on 24 August on her way to the Far East . Steaming via Charleston , the Panama Canal , San Diego , Pearl Harbor , and Guam , the ship arrived in Da Nang , South Vietnam in November . On the 26th , she reported for duty with TF 115 for service in Operation Market Time , the interdiction of waterborne logistics to the insurgent forces in South Vietnam . She alternated service along the coast of Vietnam with periods spent in other locations in the western Pacific , notably in the Philippines , at Guam , in Japan , and at Taiwan . On 10 October 1967 " Blanco County " began her first tour of duty as a supply ship to the small craft and monitors of the Mobile Riverine Force . That service lasted until December 1967 when she voyaged to Guam for an overhaul . The repairs lasted until 3 March 1968 . On the 4th , the tank landing ship got underway for Japan . By 19 April she was back in Vietnam supplying American bases in the Mekong Delta . " Blanco County " continued to serve in Vietnam for over a year . She alternated tours of duty on " Operation Market Time " and base resupply missions with periods of upkeep at Subic Bay and Guam as well as rest and relaxation visits to numerous Far Eastern ports . Decommissioning and sale , 1969 – 1975 . She returned to the United States during the summer of 1969 to begin preparations for inactivation . Decommissioned on 3 October 1969 the tank landing ship was berthed at Orange , Texas . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 September 1974 ; and she was sold to W . L . Weeks in July 1975 , apparently for scrapping . " Blanco County " earned three battle star s during World War II as LST - 344 , and the Navy Unit Commendation and five battle stars for service during the Vietnam War as " Blanco County " ( LST - 344 ) .