USS Pitkin County ( LST - 1082 ) USS " Pitkin County " ( LST - 1082 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named after Pitkin County , Colorado , she was the only U . S . Naval Vessel to bear the name . Originally laid down as " LST - 1082 " on 18 November 1944 by the American Bridge Company of Ambridge , Pennsylvania . The ship was launched on 26 January 1945 , sponsored by Mrs . Stephen Anzio ; departed Ambridge on 26 January 1945 under a ferry crew which piloted her down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the U . S . Naval Repair Base , Algiers , Louisiana ; and commissioned at New Orleans on 7 February 1945 , Lt . John B . Cameron , USNR , in command . World War II , 1945 – 1946 . After shakedown to St . Andrews Bay , Florida , and alterations at Mobile , the new tank landing ship loaded pontoon barges at Gulfport , Mississippi , and departed on 24 March 1945 with 90 Navy passengers who were disembarked in the Panama Canal Zone . From there she proceeded to Pearl Harbor where she embarked marines bound for Guam , and sailed on 27 April entering Apra Harbor on 17 May . " LST – 1082 " departed Guam two days later and proceeded via Saipan for Okinawa . After weathering a typhoon on 5 June , she arrived Buckner Bay , Okinawa on 8 June and lay hidden under a smoke screen with her crew at general quarters during the many air alerts . " LST – 1082 " departed Naha , Okinawa , on 4 July , to return marines and their combat gear to Guam . She then returned via Saipan to Pearl Harbor on 5 August . She was in floating drydock number 2 , when news came of the end of hostilities with Japan on 15 August . Fourteen days later she stood out of Pearl Harbor with 210 Marines and their equipment bound for occupation duty in Japan , and reached Sasebo on 23 September . " LST – 1082 " departed Sasebo two days later for Subic Bay , Luzon , Philippine Islands , where she embarked elements of the Fifth Air Force . Following a brief stay in Lingayen Gulf , she departed San Fabian on 12 October to land the Army troops and their equipment at Wakayama , Japan arriving on 22 October . She sailed the following day for Manila , thence proceeded to the San Fabian Beach in Lingayen Gulf . There she embarked 185 officers and men of an Army aviation battalion and debarked these occupation troops in Sasebo , Japan , on 15 November . " LST – 1082 " departed Sasebo on 23 November and steamed home via Saipan , and Pearl Harbor arriving at San Francisco on 16 January 1946 . " LST – 1082 " decommissioned at Astoria , Oregon , on 5 August 1946 , and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet . Korean War , 1950 – 1955 . The LST remained in reserve until recommissioned at Astoria on 6 September 1950 , Lt . Comdr . John E . Chadwick , USNR , in command . She fitted out in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , trained out of San Diego , and sailed on 19 December for Japan via Pearl Harbor and Midway Island . " LST – 1082 " arrived in Yokosuka on 23 January 1951 to begin support of United Nations Forces in Korea . She departed on 8 February with units of LST Division 13 bound to Urusan Wan , Korea . Here , she received vehicles and men of a United States Engineering Special Brigade for transport to Pusan , arriving on 13 February 1951 . That afternoon she was outbound with American and Korean Army troops , and 387 South Korean laborers . These passengers and their equipment were debarked at Inchon on 15 February . The following weeks , she transported thousands of prisoners - of - war from Inchon to Koje Do Island for internment . " LST – 1082 " left Koje Do Island on 20 March for Kobe , Japan . Following repairs , she touched at Sasebo en route to Okinawa thence steamed to Kunsan , Korea to transfer combat cargo to shore from the attack cargo ship . She returned to Okinawa on 4 May and sailed two days later with passengers and freight for Inchon . She put into Sasebo Harbor on 13 May 1951 , for tactical exercises off the coast of Japan before departing from Yokosuka for home on 7 June . " LST – 1082 " arrived at San Diego from the Far East on 28 June for amphibious assault tactics and exercises before she returned to the Far East reaching Yokosuka on 7 April . She sailed for shuttle duty at Pusan , Korea , transferring Communist Chinese prisoners - of - war to Koje Do Island . Returning to Yokosuka on 6 July , " LST – 1082 " carried out amphibious assault training with Army field artillery troops along the coast of Japan before transporting them to Pusan . She entered Pusan Harbor on 10 August to land vehicles and Army troops . She again called at Pusan , 20 to 23 September , transporting 105 prisoners - of - war in a shuttle trip to Koje Do Island . She spent the following weeks among ports of Japan and in Fleet exercises stretching along the coast of Korea to P ’ ohang Do . She departed Yokosuka on 22 November and returned to San Diego on 20 December . She trained along the Southern California coast and was overhauled in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard until sailing on 19 October 1953 for the Far East . She touched at Pearl Harbor , then stopped briefly on 10 November to launch and recover a landing force at Taka Atoll in the Marshall Islands and arrived at Yokosuka on 23 November 1953 . She spent much of the next eight months in Marine amphibious assault landing exercises that took her from the shores of Japan to the beaches of Okinawa , Iwo Jima , and Inchon . She departed from Yokosuka on 17 June 1954 and returned to San Diego on 19 July . Named USS " Pitkin County " ( LST - 1082 ) on 1 July 1955 , she operated on the West Coast until she decommissioned at San Diego on 1 September 1955 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet . Vietnam War , 1966 – 1971 . " Pitkin County " recommissioned at Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 9 July 1966 with Lieutenant C . E . Quarles in command . The same day she became flagship for Landing Ship Squadron 3 . After training through the summer , she sailed for Vietnam and arrived Da Nang on 29 November . After debarking Marines , she began shuttle operations between Da Nang and Chu Lai until sailing for Guam on 21 December , arriving at Apra Harbor on 2 January 1967 . On 26 January she got underway for a survey cruise taking her to the Marianas , Volcano Islands , Bonins , and Ryukyus . Arriving at Okinawa on 7 February , she loaded supplies and vehicles and sailed on the 10th for Chu Lai , arriving on the 14th . After unloading , she sailed via Da Nang for Hong Kong . For the next three years , operating out of Guam , she alternated service in Vietnam , largely for " Operation Market Time " operations with visits to other Far Eastern ports . On Christmas Eve she sped to assist the merchant tug " Makah " ablaze in Vung Tau Harbor , and extinguished the fires saving the stricken and abandoned ship . Decommissioning and sale . " Pitkin County " was decommissioned on 1 September 1971 , and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 April 1975 and transferred to the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service ( DRMS ) for disposal . " Pitkin County " was sold for scrapping by DRMS on 19 December 1975 . However , she was then sold to Max Rouse & Sons , Beverly Hills , California , and taken in hand by Marine Industries , Tacoma , Washington for conversion for commercial use . She was then sold on to Landing System Technology Pte . Ltd , Singapore in 1975 and renamed LST - 4 . She arrived at Piraeus , Greece having been acquired by Maritime & Commercial Co . Argonaftis S . A . , Panama ( Greek flag ) and was renamed " Petrola " 144 , on 6 June 1978 . She arrived at the ship breakers at Gadani Beach , Pakistan for demolition , on 16 April 1988 . Awards . " LST - 1082 " earned one battle star for World War II , four battle stars for the Korean War , and as " Pitkin County " ten campaign star s for the Vietnam War .