USS St. Clair County (LST-1096) was a LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy in World War II. Like most of the ships of her class she was originally known only by her designation, USS LST-1096, and, like all remaining LSTs, was renamed on 1 July 1955. She was named for counties in Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri.

LST-1096 was laid down on 27 November 1944 by the Jeffersonville Boat and Machinery Co., Jeffersonville, Indiana; launched on 10 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth L. Middleton; and commissioned on 2 February 1945.

Following shakedown off Florida, LST-1096 prepared for duty in the Pacific. In early March, she took on pontoons and ammunition as cargo; and, on 11 March, sailed for the Panama Canal. From there, she continued on to the Marshalls, the Marianas, and the Western Carolines, arriving at Ulithi in early May. For the next two months, she supported operations in the Ryukyus; then, on 1 July, headed south to the Philippines. Most of July was spent in the Leyte area. At the end of the month, she moved up to Luzon to prepare for further amphibious operations; but, with the Japanese surrender, she returned to Okinawa with occupation troops. Further occupation duties followed; and, into November, she carried troops and supplies from the Philippines and Okinawa to Japan. In December, carrying returning veterans as passengers and heavy equipment including one LCT as cargo, she headed east and arrived at San Francisco in mid-January 1946.

Ordered deactivated, she moved to Astoria, Oregon, in May for "mothballing." The ship was decommissioned on 24 August and berthed with the Reserve Fleet, where she remained through the end of the decade.

In June 1950, the North Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel into the Republic of Korea in an attempt to unify the divided country by force. As a part of the American build-up of military and naval forces, LST-1096 was ordered activated in August. She was recommissioned on 3 October; and, after a month at Bremerton, she moved down the coast to her home port, San Diego.

For the next two months, the LST trained out of San Diego; and, in mid-February 1951, she headed for Hawaii, Japan, and Korea. March was spent in exercising in Hawaiian waters; and, at the end of April, she arrived in Yokosuka to take up duties supporting United Nations operations in Korea. She conducted amphibious training exercises in Japanese waters; shuttled cargo and personnel between Japan and Korea; and transported prisoners of war (POWs) from the South Korean mainland to the camps on the offshore islands. In November, she completed her last run and headed home.

In mid-December, LST-1096 arrived at San Diego. Overhaul, type exercises, and coastal cargo runs occupied the next eight months; and, in September 1952, the ship got underway for the Far East. By mid-October, she had arrived at Yokosuka and, a fortnight later, was conducting amphibious training exercises on the Honshū coast. She then returned to carrying cargo and personnel to Korea. She also was busy returning prisoners of war, scheduled to be exchanged, to the Korean peninsula.

After the truce agreement was reached in July 1953, LST-1096 continued her POW shuttle runs, from the camps to the mainland, and completed her last run, from Koje Do to Pusan, on 10 August. Three days later, she returned to Japan, then continued east, arriving at San Diego at the end of September.