>From the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships," 

(1976) Vol. 6, pp.298-299





SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY





	A county in California.





LST-1122

Displacement:  1,625 t.

Length:  328'

Beam:  50'

Draft:  11'2"

Speed:  12 k.

Complement:  226

Armament:  8 40mm; 12 20mm

Class:  LST-542





	LST-1122 was laid down on 30 October 1944 by the 

Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, Ill.; launched on 

24 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Alice S. Weaver; placed 

in reduced commission on 2 February 1945 for ferrying to New 

Orleans; and commissioned in full on 14 February 1945, Lt. 

L. L. Hutchinson, USNR, in command.



	Following shakedown off Pensacola, Fla., LST-1122 

loaded cargo at Gulfport and steamed via the Panama Canal to 

the Pacific.  In mid-May, she arrived at Pearl Harbor, 

whence she continued on to deliver cargo in the Marshalls, 

the Western Carolines, the Ryukyus, and the Marianas.  After 

the cessation of hostilities in mid-August, she continued 

her cargo and passenger runs.  In September, she extended 

her range to include the Philippines and the Japanese home 

islands, in which areas she continued to operate through the 

end of the year.



	With the new year, 1946, the tank landing ship was 

ordered back to the United States.  On 18 February, she 

arrived at San Francisco.  In May, she shifted to San Diego, 

whence she conducted operations, primarily off California, 

until 1949.  In January of that year, she moved north; 

conducted exercises in the Aleutians; and returned to San 

Diego in March.  The following month, she joined the Pacific 

Reserve Fleet; and, on 15 June, she was decommissioned and 

berthed at San Diego.



	In June 1950, hostilities again broke out in the Far 

East as the North Korean People's Army pushed past the 38th 

Parallel into the Republic of (South) Korea.  In August, 

LST-1122 was ordered activated.  She was recommissioned on 

3 November and departed San Diego on 27 January 1951 for the 

Hawaiian Islands, Japan, and the Korean combat zone.



	LST-1122 arrived at Yokosuka on 3 March.  Two weeks 

later, she got underway for Korea carrying Army troops from 

Ulsan and Pusan to Inchon.  She carried POW's to Koje Do in 

early April; then returned to Japan where she conducted 

local operations into May.  After a run to Inchon, with 

marines as passengers, at mid-month, the LST resumed 

operations in Japanese waters and, through the summer, 

conducted amphibious training exercises and shuttled cargo 

in Japanese waters.  At the end of September, she was back 

off Korea for the last run of her deployment--carrying Army 

Engineer units from Inchon to Japan.  On 26 October, she 

completed that run; and, on 5 November, she got underway for 

California.  At the end of the month, LST-1122 was back at 

San Diego.  She remained on the west coast, undergoing 

overhaul, conducting local operations, and participating in 

amphibious training exercises through 1952.  On 3 January 

1953, she sailed west again.  Arriving at Yokosuka on 

17 February, she resumed amphibious training duties and 

cargo and passenger runs in Japanese waters; continued those 

duties into March; and returned to Pusan in April.



	For the remaining months of the conflict, she 

transported troops, vehicles, ammunition, and gasoline 

between Japanese and Korean ports.  After the 27 July truce 

agreement, she joined the ships assigned to Operation "Big 

Switch," the POW exchange; and into late September, she 

carried POW's from their offshore island compounds to the 

Korean mainland, the first stage of their journey north.  On 

22 September, she returned to Japan.  In October, she 

conducted amphibious exercises; on 21 November, she headed 

home.



	After that tour, the LST, named SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY on 

1 July 1955, was regularly deployed to the central and 

western Pacific.  There, she performed training and 

transportation duties for the 7th Fleet similar to those she 

carried out in the eastern Pacific, along the west coast, 

and in Hawaiian waters, for the 1st Fleet.  In 1959, 

however, her home port was changed to Iwakuni, Japan.  She 

arrived on 26 September and took up station ship duties, 

including logistic support for Fleet Air Wing 6 and the 1st 

Marine Air Wing, which she continued until July 1966.  She 

then sailed to Guam for overhaul; participated in search and 

rescue operations in the Marianas; and, in late November, 

got underway for her new home port, Naha, Okinawa.



	Arriving on 1 December, she remained through the month; 

and, on 9 January 1967, sailed for Sasebo where she loaded 

ammunition and proceeded to the Philippines and the 

embattled coast of South Vietnam.  On the 29th, she anchored 

off Danang.  On 2 February, she joined other LSTs to support 

the 3d Marine Amphibious Force; and, from the 10th to the 

22d, stood off Quang Ngai as helicopters transported her 

cargo to marines fighting inland.  Returning to Danang, she 

took on rolling stock and headed back to Okinawa.



	At the end of March, the LST resumed cargo operations 

which took her to Korea, Taiwan, and back to South Vietnam 

where she again offloaded ammunition at Danang.  During 

mid-April, members of her crew assisted in the destruction 

of MAHNOMEN COUNTY (LST-912) which had grounded at Chu Lai; 

but, by the 25th, she was back at Danang to take on 

unserviceable ammunition.  On the 29th, she arrived at Subic 

Bay.  From the Philippines, she moved north; offloaded her 

cargo at Sasebo; then returned to Naha, arriving on 14 June. 



	Sixteen days later, Guam became SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY's 

home port.  Departing Okinawa on 11 July, she arrived on the 

17th and took up varied duties under Commander, Naval 

Forces, Marianas.  Her new duties included patrols and cargo 

operations in the Trust Territories of the Pacific; support 

of medical programs; census taking; submarine target vessel 

services; and search and rescue operations.  Also included 

was logistic support of the United States Naval Station on 

Chichi Jima which she provided until the Bonins reverted to 

Japan on 26 June 1968.



	A year later, in June 1969, SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY 

completed her final operations in the Trust Territories, and 

she got underway for the United States on 4 July to begin 

inactivation.  On 7 August, she arrived at Stockton, Calif., 

whence she continued on to Bremerton, Wash., where she was 

decommissioned on 26 September 1969 and berthed as a unit of 

the Pacific Reserve Fleet.  She was struck from the Navy 

list on 1 May 1972 and scrapped.



	LST-1122 earned five campaign stars during the Korean 

Conflict and one for service off Vietnam.





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com