Did You Know?

LST (Landing Ship Tank).   LST’s are named after county’s and are used for amphibious assault. The bow opens up like a big cargo plane to discharge cargo, jeeps, trucks, smaller combat vehicles and troops directly onto a beach head.  The ship has a flat bottom to get in close to the shore, her speed  is about 14 knots,  which makes a good target for  submarines. She has enough troop space for 395.  General Characteristics -  Length 384 feet, beam 55 feet, draft 17 feet, and when fully loaded her displacement was  5,800 tons.

• Length 384 ft (117 m)
• Beam 55 ft (17 m)
• Draft 17 ft (5.2 m)
  

She carried light armor, and was usually part of an amphibious assault group protected by destroyers, and other combatants along with the air arm of a carrier. Her main job get Marines, Army units and supplies ashore.

• Wahkiakum County (LST-1162) was laid down as LST-1162 on 21 July 1952 at Pascagoula, Miss., by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.
• launched on 23 January 1953
• sponsored by Mrs. Wilbur G. Dees
• and commissioned on 13 August 1953
• Lt. Comdr. I. W. Mathews in command
•  Decommissioned at the Inactive Ship Facility, Orange, Texas, on 16 October 1970 and sold for scrapping on 22 June 2005