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USS Middlesex County
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USS Middlesex County
USS Middlesex County (LST-983) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after counties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia, she was the only United States Navy 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.
In April 1944 she proceeded to Portsmouth, Virginia where LCT-659 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 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, German U-boats 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. 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 them off. 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 boat 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.
During the decade following World War II, LST-983 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 in Norfolk, Virginia she participated in amphibious training with the United States Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She also took part in amphibious warfare demonstrations 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.
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USS Middlesex County
USS Middlesex County (LST-983) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after counties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia, she was the only United States Navy 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.
In April 1944 she proceeded to Portsmouth, Virginia where LCT-659 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 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, German U-boats 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. 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 them off. 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 boat 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.
During the decade following World War II, LST-983 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 in Norfolk, Virginia she participated in amphibious training with the United States Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia, and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She also took part in amphibious warfare demonstrations 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.
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