USS Middlesex County ( LST - 983 ) USS " Middlesex County " ( LST - 983 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named after counties in Connecticut , Massachusetts , New Jersey , and Virginia , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . Originally laid down as " LST - 983 " on 22 December 1943 at the Boston Navy Yard ; the ship was launched on 10 February 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . Neal B . Farwell ; and commissioned on 25 March 1944 with Lieutenant Woodrow W . Weir , USNR , in command . Service history . World War II , 1944 – 1945 . In April 1944 she proceeded to Portsmouth , Virginia where was loaded on her main deck in preparation for sailing to Europe . She departed New York on 18 April 1944 as flagship of LST Group 52 , in convoy with 112 ships . The tank landing ship arrived in Derry , Northern Ireland to discharge fuel oil that had been carried across the Atlantic as ballast and then proceeded to Milford Haven , Wales and Plymouth , England where she launched " LCT - 659 " . A week later " LST - 983 " sailed to London . After two days in London she moved down to Tilbury Docks for final preparations for the assault on Fortress Europa . Here she embarked troops of the British 153rd Infantry Brigade and their cargo and moved further downriver to an assigned anchorage . By the evening on 3 June , the mouth of the river was full of ships of all types . At 0900 on 5 June she got underway as flagship of the Vice Commodore , TU GL3 , which included 27 American LSTs destined for the British sectors of the Normandy beaches . In the early morning hours of 6 June 1944 , the convoy was off the Isle of Wight , where it rendezvoused with other ships and then proceeded across the English Channel . The task unit arrived at " Juno Beach " at 1600 on 6 June , and anchored off the beach . At 2345 , the Luftwaffe strafed and bombed the hundreds of ships anchored in the area , but caused relatively little damage . At 0230 the next morning , " LST - 983 " proceeded to the beach and unloaded , then sailed for Southampton to embark more troops and their equipment . During the first 30 days following " D - Day , " " LST - 983 " made ten round trips to Normandy , reinforcing the beachhead . Thereafter she continued to shuttle between Normandy and different ports in England , including London , Portsmouth , Portland , and Southampton . During the Battle of the Bulge early in 1945 , the Nazi s sent their submarine s as well as their soldiers into action , staking all in their last stand . German U - boat s desperately tried to halt the flow of men and material to the French ports . During this critical period " LST - 983 " was constantly at sea from Portland to Le Havre and Rouen , carrying 500 or more troops on each trip to be thrown into battle . On the night of 12 January 1945 submarines attacked her convoy as she was returning from Le Havre with seven other LSTs , but excellent defense by Canadian escorts drove off the U - boats . By V - E Day , " LST - 983 " had made 46 trips to the Continent . Five more voyages were made , from Tilbury to Ostend , Belgium . On the last passage she left Tilbury , entered Germany on 25 May , loaded troops , and five days later sailed northward through the North Sea to Oslo , Norway carrying British occupation troops . From Norway , she proceeded to Plymouth for repairs before returning to the United States . She arrived in Norfolk , Virginia on 17 July 1945 , bringing home 103 men freed from German prisons and PT - 199 which had been secured to her main deck for the crossing . During Normandy and later in World War II , " LST - 983 " crossed the Channel 102 times , transporting over 10 , 000 troops and over 3 , 000 vehicles to beachheads and ports of Europe , and returning more than 2 , 000 prisoners to England . Post - war activities , 1945 – 1955 . During the decade following World War II , " LST - 983 " has played a prominent role in the training of Naval , Marine , and Army personnel in the skills needed to maintain a high state of operational readiness . Based at Norfolk , Virginia she participated in amphibious training with the United States Marine Corps at Quantico , Virginia and at Camp Lejeune , North Carolina . She also took part in amphibious warfare demonstration and exercises during annual summer midshipmen training cruises . Each spring she also joined in maneuvers of the Atlantic Fleet in the Caribbean , making amphibious assaults on Vieques , Puerto Rico . In addition , the landing ship replenished several isolated bases in the Arctic . Her duties took her to many ports in the Caribbean and on the eastern seaboard of the United States . On 1 July 1955 , " LST - 983 " was named USS " Middlesex County " ( LST - 983 ) . Her status was reduced to in commission , in reserve on 1 October , and she decommissioned at Green Cove Springs , Florida on 10 January 1956 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . 1961 – 1969 . " Middlesex County " recommissioned on 27 September 1961 and soon established a pattern of alternating operations between the Virginia Capes area and the Panama Canal Zone training marines and soldiers in the techniques of modern amphibious warfare . In the spring of 1962 she participated in " Operation DEMOLEX " and amphibious demonstrations for President John F . Kennedy at Onslow Beach , North Carolina . That fall she was awarded the battle efficiency " E " for being the top ship of 16 activated for the Amphibious Force during 1961 . News of the Cuban Missile Crisis found " Middlesex County " heading home for Virginia . Ordered to Port Everglades , Florida she immediately began training with troops of the Army ' s 1st Armored Division . The efficiency of the naval quarantine of Cuba and the mobilization of American armed might quickly persuaded the Soviet Union to withdraw its offensive missiles , enabling " Middlesex County " to return home 16 December . On 17 May 1965 the LST steamed to the assistance of Panamanian National Guard Launch No . 2 . The next morning they found the craft adrift , dispersed food and water to 50 prisoners and 5 guards , and took the launch in tow to return her to Isla Cobia that night . A year later she again served as a good samaritan of the sea . Her two LCVPs were used to refloat SS " La Bonita " after the tramp steamer had run aground near Tumaco , Colombia on 11 May 1966 . Late in June she carried heavy equipment for the Inter - Oceanic Canal Study Group . After overhaul in the spring of 1967 begun at Maryland Shipbuilding & Drydock Company of Baltimore , and completed at Jacksonville Shipyards , Jacksonville , Florida the LST returned to Little Creek , Virginia on 19 June for training . She got underway on 25 August for another deployment with the Canal Zone Amphibious Group . During this deployment she transited the canal on four occasions for operations along the Pacific coast of Central and South America . After returning to Little Creek on 17 December , the tank landing ship resumed training operations . Throughout 1968 " Middlesex County " conducted local operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean , continuing these operations into 1969 . Decommissioning and sale . Decommissioned on 15 October 1969 , the ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 September 1974 and sold for commercial service to L . P . Callimros of Athens , Greece on 12 November 1975 . She ran aground at Benghazi , Libya on 4 December 1980 ; her final fate is unknown . Awards . " LST - 983 " earned one battle star for World War II service .