USS Talbot County (LST 1153)

... The Talbot County made several beachings on Vieques Island in early January and on January 21st she proceeded to Morehead City, North Carolina to debark troops after which she returned to Little Creek and six weeks in an upkeep status.

... On March 10th she was host to more than 200 members of the Key Club of America, taking them on a brief cruise from Little Creek to NOB. In late March the Talbot County and the USS Chilton (APA 38) were at Onslow Beach, North Carolina training USMC Reservists in the launching and recovery of LVT's. On April 7th the Talbot County returned to Onslow Beach to participate in DEMOLEX, an operation which was observed by President Kennedy and the Shah of Iran.

... On June 2nd, following a repair period alongside the USS Cadmus (AR 14) the Talbot County visited her namesake county in Maryland where she received a warm welcome and from June 30th to July 5th 18,000 visitors in Arlington, Virginia viewed displays of USMC equipment and exhibits from the Naval Exhibit Center which were presented on the tank deck.

...On July 27th LCDR Robert M. Watkins was relieved as Commanding Officer of the USS Talbot County by LCDR J. R. Bres.

... The deterioration of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union concerning Cuba cancelled several scheduled training operations and the Talbot County embarked troops at Morehead City, North Carolina then steamed off the Florida coast under a condition of wartime readiness, with other amphibious force units, until the conclusion of the crisis. On December 7th she offloaded the embarked troops and sailed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in company with the USS Terrebone Parish (LST 1156) to transport USMC units from Guantanamo to Camp Lejune, North Carolina. The two ships returned to Little Creek on December 17th.

... The Talbot County again left for Guantanamo Bay, with a relief USMC Artillery Detachment embarked, on February 11th. She transported the relieved battery to Morehead City, North Carolina and on her return to the Norfolk area she went alongside the USS Tutulia (ARG 4) for two weeks to prepare for a scheduled deployment to Panama.

... On April 7th the Talbot County departed Little Creek, in company with the USS Churchill County (LST 583), for assignment to the Panama Canal Amphibious Unit. The two ships reached Panama on May 1st. The Commanding Officer of the USS Talbot County assumed responsibilities as Commander, Canal Amphibious Unit (CTU 44.4.9). The months of May and June were spent conducting amphibious training operations with US Army troops in the vicinity of Rodman Naval Station and Rio Hato, Republic of Panama. On June 19th the Talbot County arrived at Puerto Limon, Costa Rica for a three-day visit. During June and July she participated in Operation Fine Comb, which concluded on July 3rd, then a joint air sea operation at Fort Kobbe which was observed by the Secretary of the Army and representatives of the Conference of American Armies.
The Talbot County returned to Little Creek on July 26th after being relieved in Panama by the USS Middlesex County (LST 983) and the USS Dodge County (LST 722)

... August was spent in an upkeep status followed by a week of independent ships exercises off of the Virginia Capes after which she went alongside the USS Amphion (AR 13) for a scheduled tender availability. October 7th and 8th were spent in an INSURV inspection, which was passed satisfactorily. On October 11th she left the tender to prepare for a second deployment to Panama.

... The USS Talbot County and the USS Cheboygan County (LST 533) sailed for Panama on October 14th. and relieved the USS Middlesex County and the USS Dodge County on the 28th of October.On November 14 the Talbot County visited the liberty port of Puntarenas, Costa Rica for two days, during which time Governor Pedro Jiminez visited the ship. On November 20th the Talbot County returned to Rodman Naval Station to prepare for a combined Latin American operation, Operation America.

... (Except where otherwise noted the source material for this portion of this history was a written "History of the USS Talbot County" prepared by the ships company around 1967. The Executive Officer of the Talbot County at that time was kind enough to provide this sites author with a copy of the history in response to a written inquiry. This history consists of seven consecutively numbered pages. Page 5 of the copy of the history that I received was missing on receipt. I assume that the missing page contains information about the year 1964, the end of 1963 and the early part of 1965.)

Our thanks to former BM3 Bonnie Billings for the information below which consist of excerpts from letters that he wrote home during this period.

6/7/64 Talbot County tied up in Little Creek Va.

7/21/64 First letter that I have postmarked Newport News Va. Talbot County in Newport News Shipyard. ( I do not know when we got there)

8/5/64 Shipyard worker fell through a hole and broke his leg and a couple of ribs.

8/11/64 Small fire in forward pump room.

8/16/64 Standing fire watch (watching welders)

8/20/64 Small fire in forward engine room (nothing serious)

8/27/64 Inspection and change of command ceremonies (Lieutenant Commander C.J. Carmody relieved Lieutenant Commander J. H. Bres as captain of the Talbot County.

9/21/64 Steam line broke, we changed that. 0415 fire in # 2 engine room. Tested both booms today. 1600 hours had four tugs pull us up the James River about 5 miles. (Hurricane Gladys coming)

9/24/64 Went out for sea trials. (Left Newport News Shipyard)

9/25/64 Went to ammo depot and loaded the magazines with live ammo.

11/7/64 Just finished our period of training. It's been a long month.

11/11/64 Went out today but back in late afternoon.

11/18/64 Went out today but back in before noon. Same thing for tomorrow.

11/21/64 We go to NOB the 4th of Dec until 24th of Dec.

11/30/64 We move to the Army Piers Friday Dec 4 for a tender period until Dec. 24th

12/3/64 Getting under way tomorrow at 0700 for the tender period.

12/8/64 We are alongside the tender now. They are supposed to start work today. (No mention of the tenders name)

1/2/65 Getting the last minute things done before we leave for Panama. It's been real busy.

1/10/65 We pull into Puerto Rico tomorrow at 0900.

1/12/65 We are here in Puerto Rico, we pulled in yesterday (Monday Jan 11, 65) and leave the 15th for Panama.

1/21/65 We pulled into Coco Solo yesterday and transited the canal. We are tied up at pier 1 Rodman Canal Zone. I think we stay here until Wed. the 27th and then go out for helo operations.

1/24/65 We pull out Wed the 27th for helo operations, don't know if we stay out or come in each night.

1/28/65 Got underway at 0600 for helo operations. We landed 25 helo's and have the same thing for the next two days. We came in tonight because the Captain wants to practice docking. We get underway again next week for a couple of days but don't know where we are going.

1/29/65 We did 108 helicopter landings today. Finished the whole thing up today so we will not be going out tomorrow. We pull out again Tuesday for two days. I think we are going to Rio Hato.

2/4/65 Tuesday Feb. 4th Left for Rio Hato. Tried twice to make a beaching. (Too shallow) Jeeps disappeared off the ramp and sunk. Came back to Rodman and off loaded right where we loaded. (At the head of the dock) 2330 we finished tying up the ship. 2345 all hands working party loading stores. We leave tomorrow morning at 1000 for Ecuador. Rumor has it we will be back 15th of Feb.

2/7/65 Crossed the equator at latitude 00000 and longitude 81 02 'W headed south to Guayaquil Equador. Davey Jones was N.O. Gulbranson His Majesty's scribe was H.J. Frantz and Neptunus Rex was M.T. Wornack

2/16/65 We are back in Rodman, Panama. We loaded 130 mines aboard and chained them down. Each one weighs 3 tons. Getting under way tomorrow to dump the mines overboard in a deep hole. We will be back in Friday afternoon.

2/19/65 Had captains inspection today.

2/22/65 We started loading mines again today. We have 140 of them this trip. We get underway Wed 24th to dump the mines (same place that the last ones were dumped) Should be back Friday.

2/26/65 Pulled back into Rodman this morning. (from dumping the mines)

3/22/65 Just got back yesterday from Rio Hato where we spent a week loading and unloading troops and all their equipment. We would go in and pick them up and go out to sea for about 10 miles and than back in and unload them. Been doing that for six days. Twice we got stuck in the beach and had to wait 6 hours for the tide. We stay in port until the 31st of March and then get under way for Mexico. (NOTE) Something happen to one of the boilers while we were trying to get off the beach. They are trying to get that fixed before we leave for Mexico.

3/23/65. Painting main deck, portside, fantail and the tank deck. There is a guest cruise with 200 guests Sat. 27th.

3/26/65 Getting underway tomorrow at 0900. Taking 200 guests with us and will be doing all kinds of drills. Will be back in tomorrow afternoon.

3/29/65 Worked on the bow doors all day. Tomorrow we load trucks and equipment which we will be taking to Mexico. We leave Wed. 31st and should be back the 15th of April.

3/30/65 Bow doors still don't work. Loaded trucks all day with a crane, drove them down the ramp to tank deck and chained everything down. We will finish the doors in the morning before we get underway for Salina Cruz, Mexico.

4/12/65 Supposed to have gun practice today but was put off until tomorrow.

4/14/65 Pulled back in this afternoon. (from Mexico ??)

4/19/65 We will be in Little Creek 10:00 am 25th of May.

4/22/65 Getting underway tomorrow after we get loaded. Loading starts at 0430. I think we are going to Rio Hato. Will be back midnight tomorrow.

4/25/65 We get underway today to go back to Rio Hato to pick up everything that we took up the other day. We go to Coco Solo the 9th of May and stay there until we get ready to come home.

4/29/65 We have been to Rio Hato all week. We are at Rodman now to unload and then we go back to Rio Hato for another load in the morning. (Friday 30th) and take them through the canal, turn around and come back through the canal. Should be at Rodman late Sat or Sunday morning.

5/3/65 We made three round trips to Rio Hato last week. Then Saturday we went through the canal to Coco Solo with a full load of army troops and equipment and unloaded there. Came back through the canal to Rodman Monday morning. (May 3rd)

5/9/65 (Sunday) Been to Rio Hato and now on our way back to Rodman. We took a small load up there and were supposed to be back at 2000 tonight but got stuck on the beach for five hours. Used two LCVP's to tow the stern anchor out three different times before it finally held. We will be in around 0100 if we don't anchor outside of the bridge.

5/10/65 (Monday) Pulled into Rodman this morning about 0900. We anchored outside the bridge last night for some reason. I think we stay here until wed the 12th then go back to Rio Hato and pick up what we left there the last trip. Friday 14th we go through the canal and Sat. 15th we leave for Little Creek.

5/13/65 Right now on our way back to Rodman from Rio Hato with the last load of troops and equipment. Got stuck on the beach again. Had to wait 6 hours for the tide to float us. We are suppose to go through the canal tomorrow morning at 0600. We have a mule on board that we are going to take through the canal with us.

5/15/65 (Sat). In Coco Solo. Leaving tomorrow morning for Little Creek at 0800. Will be in Getmo Wed 19th for a gun shoot ( gunnery exercise ?) and should be in the Creek Monday 24th.

6/3/65 Thurs We get underway Friday 4th for a tender period over to NOB. Will be there a couple of weeks.

6/6/65 (Sunday) We moved along side the tender last Friday and will stay here until the 14th or 15th.

6/7/65 Work started from the tender crew today.

6/18/65 We leave the tender tomorrow around 1000 and go back to Little Creek. Should be in around 1600.

6/15/65 Last letter I have..... No news in it.

6/23/65 Discharged

Again, our thanks go to former BM3 Bonnie Billings for providing these memories.

... On August 10th 1965 COMPHIBLANT, Vice Admiral C. K. Duncan came aboard the Talbot County to present LCDR C.J. Carmody, the Commanding Officer of the Talbot County, the Battle Efficiency Award for the second consecutive year. The Talbot County also received her second award for Gunnery Excellence, second award for excellence in the Operations Department and fourth consecutive Amphibious Assault Award.

... The Talbot County remained in an upkeep status until September 13th, getting underway on that date for Baltimore, Maryland and dry-docking at the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard for replacement of her propellers and fathometer. On September 22nd she returned to Little Creek and remained there until October 5th when she got underway for a two week Operational Readiness Administrative Inspection. Following this inspection preparations were made for a scheduled deployment to Panama.

... November 26th found the Talbot County again underway and bound for Panama in company with the USS Churchill County. The Talbot County steamed into the Limon Bay Anchorage of the Panama Canal Zone on December 10th and the following day the USS Cheboygan County (LST 533) was relieved by the Talbot County which then made a south transit of the Panama Canal and moored at the U.S. Naval Station, Rodman, where she remained until after the Christmas and New Year Holidays. For the remainder of her time on active service she conducted operations along the Atlantic coast, North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, Panama Canal Zone and the Pacific Coast of Central and South America.

... On January 14th the Talbot County departed for Ampala, Honduras loaded with Project Handclasp material consisting of busses and trucks. After moving to La Union, El Salvador to complete offloading she sailed for Acapulco, Mexico for a four day port visit, arriving on January 24th.

... On February 16th she sailed from the U.S. Naval Station, Rodman, Canal Zone, enroute to Lima, Peru for a port visit. Upon crossing the Equator all lowly Pollywog crewmembers were initiated as Honorable Shellbacks. Following a four-day stay in Lima, during which numerous Peruvian military and political dignitaries visited the ship, the Talbot County returned to Rodman, arriving on March 3rd. In company with the USS Churchill County (LST 583) the Talbot County left Panama on March 13th for a port visit to Montego Bay, Jamaica. On the return voyage to the Canal Zone gunnery exercises were held in the Guantanamo Bay operating area. South transit of the Panama Canal was made on March 26th and a return transit was made on April 9th.
On April 11th the Talbot County was relieved by the USS Duval County (LST 758) and proceeded to Little Creek in company with the USS Churchill County, ending her deployment on April 17th upon her arrival home. Following a month of upkeep and leave the Talbot County received her annual Material Inspection on May 25th and 26th. The month of June was spent in RAV alongside the USS Amphibion (AR-13) at the Naval Station (NOB) Norfolk. Following her tender period the Talbot County hosted the change of command ceremonies when Commander E.H. Beumer relieved Commander E.T. Seibert as Commander LST Division 41 (COMLSTDIV 41). On July 11th the Talbot County was underway for St. Thomas, Virgin Islands and after a brief stay there she participated in Operation Well Done, the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from the Dominican Republic.

... Vice Admiral Charles K. Duncan, Commander Amphibious Forces Atlantic visited the Talbot County for the awarding of a third consecutive Battle Efficiency Award on August 19th. LCDR L. R. Turner relieved LCDR C. J. Carmody as Commanding Officer of the USS Talbot County on September 13th. The remainder of September and early October was time to prepare for overseas deployment and on October 20th the Talbot County deployed to SOUTHCOM, visiting Kingston, Jamaica while en-route and delivered sixty-six barrels of clothing that had been collected through Project Handclasp to the flood victims of St. Ann's district there. On October 30th the Talbot County arrived at Coco Solo piers, Canal Zone, relieving the USS Dodge County (LST 722) as Commander Canal Zone Amphibious Unit (CTU 44.4.9).

... A ruptured boiler tube, necessitating repairs at the Mt. Hope Shipyard, delayed the Talbot County's scheduled south transit of the Panama Canal until November 17th. By November 24th she was underway from the U.S. Naval Station, Rodman, to the tiny port of Matarini, Peru, to deliver a load of 3,000 school desks carried from Norfolk, Virginia. On November 26th, for the second time in a year, the Talbot County made a southbound crossing of the Equator and lowly Pollywog crew members were suitably initiated as Honorable Shellbacks.

... After a four day visit in Lima the ship continued south to Matarini where on December 5th she discharged her unusual cargo of desks for the schools of nearby Arequipa, Peru. A television news crew, from station WSOX in Charlotte, North Carolina filmed the Talbot County's part in the delivery of the desks that were a gift from the citizens of Charlotte to her sister city Arequipa. All hands received a warm welcome from the Peruvians at numerous parties and receptions given during the brief two-day visit. At a special session of the Arequipa City Council the Talbot County's Commanding Officer received citations from the Mayors of Arequipa and Charlotte for the Talbot County's efforts in delivering the desks.

~ 1967 - 1968 - 1969 ~

... The only record so far obtained by the author of this site concerning these years indicates that the Talbot County spent the remainder of her time until 1970 in operations along the Atlantic seaboard, ranging from Key West, Florida to Nova Scotia and various ports in the Caribbean.

In March of 2001, Mr. James Tew, the last Engineering Officer of the Talbot County contacted the author of this site by email with the following information which helps shed some light on the final active years of our former ship, duty station and home.

I may be able to fill in some of the void in the 1967-1970 period of this ship's life, as I was her last Chief Engineer.

I joined the TC in February 1968, after OCS and DCA school; she was in drydock in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard undergoing extensive re-fit under LCDR L R Turner (whom I believe was the son or nephew of Richmond Kelly Turner, the famous WW2 Amphib Admiral). The repairs took a good deal longer than planned, but we got out of the yard back to Little Creek in the late Spring and spent the rest of the summer and fall in AOTU - the Amphib Operations Training Unit. In early 1969 we left to return to Rodman, and may have stopped in Guantanamo Bay for further training. On board we had a load of dry wall and Clairol Go-Go Light as part of Operation Handclasp, but I do not recall what we did with that stuff. We came back after 3 months, hung around in Little Creek, and went back down to Rodman in the late spring for another 3 months. During these two deployments we spent time in Rodman, went down for training in Rio Hato, paid port visits to Acapulco, Punta Arenas, Costa Rica, Baranquilla, Colombia, San Andres (an Island on the Caribbean side).

Early in 1970 the ship was sent to Orange, Texas where, in the Sabine River which forms the border between Texas and Louisiana, the TC was put to sleep in the company of many other LST's, DE's, DD's, and assorted other ships. I assumed when we left that this boat would never again move under her own power. This was a steam driven LST - one of two, I was told. Also, it had 5" guns fore and aft; at one point in 1969, there was a rumor that we would go over to West Pac for shore bombardment. Didn't happen; and I doubt we would have made it. By that time, so much junk had been sucked up into the cooling system during landing excercises, the TC just stumbled from one evolution to another. We rarely steamed or maneouvered in the company of other ships. Moreover, the BUPERS and BUSHIPS had a hard time understanding that we were more like a destroyer - from an engineering dept viewpoint - than an LST. While the chiefs and enlisted men were competent, the wardroom was made up of college-kid reservists (such as myself), and an interesting series of CO's and XO's...some guys that had been in the Navy, then out, then came back in again. Most T's at that time were commanded by mustang Lt.'s, but our CO was a LCDR as we were a special kind of T...and a little bit bigger than those that had come before.

Some of the high and low points of that period: the quarterdeck watch being stabbed in the eye socket (later died) by a cook, ; a yeoman committing suicide; a CO (Academy Grad) being passed over twice for CDR; a Chief Engineer taken off the ship in a straight-jacket; a senior officer returning to the ship early one morning dressed only in a bed-sheet, a 5" round being fired accidentally while at point of maximum depression, on a down-roll, and hitting the water about 100 yards off the port side; a large, diesel-powered fork lift that went missing from the ship's list of equipment and no one knew where it went. One of the jg's lit his roommate's bed on fire while the roommate was in it. And not once, in my 2+ years on that ship - 1968-70 - did I hear any mention or reference to the fact that we had something going on in Vietnam.

Our thanks to former engineering officer Mr. James Tew for providing the memories above.

E-Mail James Tew

~ 1970 - Present ~

... On April 3rd, 1970 at Port Orange, Texas, the USS Talbot County (LST 1153) was removed from active service and decommissioned. She remained in a "mothball" condition until March 1, 1973 when she was stricken from the Navy list and transferred to the United States Maritime Administration. An entry in The Naval Vessel Register states "LST 1153 - 05/01/1974, Disposed of, sold by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping". According to a source in the history section of the Navy Memorial in Washington, DC she was sold as scrap, for the sum of $251,000.00, to Maritime Shipping Corporation Ltd., of Teheran, Iran, where she is presumed to have been dismantled for scrap value. Due to the international situation, conformation of the final disposition of the Talbot County has not been possible.

... Those of us who served aboard this lumbering lady never saw combat while assigned to her (unless, of course, you count a few skirmishes on Granby Street, or in Naples, San Juan, or some other port of call). In a letter to the author of this site written on February 7th, 1998, former Ltjg (and my former Division Officer) Mr. E. Infinger states of his shipmates "I want to remember us as we were. I want to remember the fine young men in their prime, all volunteers, who put themselves on the line to help protect a way of life we felt was worth defending. Some would call that patriotism and I am proud to have served with these men. That we did not come under fire during our tour of duty does not diminish our service." I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Infingers statement and to those who served aboard this lady at any time, I salute you, Shipmates one and all!

... LST's are no longer considered necessary by the United States Navy and all, except one, have been removed from service. As of the date that this site was constructed only one Newport Class LST, the USS Frederick (LST 1184), homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, remains on active duty with the United States Navy. Until recently a second LST, the USS La Moure County (LST 1194) based at Little Creek, Virginia, was also on active duty. On September 12, 2000, in South American waters off the coast of Chili, it hit a rocky outcropping at about 10 knots while on exercises with the Chilean Navy. More than a score of holes, one being 45 feet long, were ripped in the LaMoure County's hull. All of the engines were knocked off of their mounts, both engine shafts were bent, blades were torn off of the propellers and the ship's keel was broken. General Quarters was ordered and the ships crew began patching and repairing their mortally injured ship. The patching went on for days as the embarked troops were transfered to a different ship while the destroyer USS Hayler came alongside to receive the transfer of critical equipment from the stricken LST.
The Navy, stating that it had lost confidence in his ability to command, subsequently relieved the LaMoure County's Commanding Officer of his command. He had been the ships skipper only four months.
The LaMoure County was towed to a Chilean Navy shipyard by a Chilean Navy icebreaker, where she was inspected by US Navy officials and found to be too damaged to repair. Plans call for her to be decommissioned and then sunk in a training exercise. Soon the crippled warship will be towed from it's temporary Chilean anchorage and sunk during target practice.
A sad ending to the life of a once proud member of the United States Amphibious Forces. This is the very same ship that many of us saw tied to a pier at Little Creek during our recent reunion in Virginia Beach.

... Someone once said, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." In view of my inability to confirm the dismantling of our ship it should be assumed that though she had outlived her usefulness to the United States Navy, the former USS Talbot County (LST 1153) could have had value to others and could still be sailing under a different flag, possibly somewhere in (or near) the Middle East. Additional information about our ship, or her crew, is invited. Please contact me at the e-mail address below.

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