USS Nye County (LST-1067)

The LST 1067 loaded invasion forces at Leyte and was steaming toward Japan when the a-bomb was dropped, when Japan surrendered and then our orders were changed to proceed as an occupying force. I was aboard as navigator (Ens. Abraham P. Goldblum); Lt. Murtha was the Exec., Lt. White was the commander. We landed 2 docks, which had been fastened to our sides, at Mitsugahama, proceeded to Kure (?) naval base (and some of us toured Hiroshima) and we then steamed back to either Pearl Harbor or the Marianas. (I was transferred from the ship at Pearl Harbor, the ship continued to San Francisco and I was transferred to A.T.A. 182 in the Phllippenes).

History
United States
Name:	USS Nye County (LST-1067)
Laid down:	24 January 1945
Launched:	27 February 1945
Commissioned:	24 March 1945
Decommissioned:	13 August 1946
Reinstated:	22 May 1963
Recommissioned:	21 December 1965
Decommissioned:	27 March 1967
Struck:	10 June 1973
Honors and awards:	two battle stars, Vietnam War
Fate:	Transferred to Chile, August 1973
History
Chile
Name:	Comandante Araya (LST-89)
Acquired:	August, 1973
Out of service:	14 December 1981
General characteristics
Class & type:	LST-542-class tank landing ship
Displacement:	1,490 tons (light); 4,080 tons (full load of 2,100 tons)
Length:	328 ft (100 m)
Beam:	50 ft (15 m)
Draft:	8 ft (2.4 m) forward; 14 ft 4 in (4.37 m) aft (full load)
Propulsion:	Two diesel engines, two shafts
Speed:	10.8 knots (20 km/h) (max); 9 knots (17 km/h) (econ)
Complement:	7 officers, 204 enlisted
Armament:	8 × 40 mm guns; 12 × 20 mm guns

USS Nye County (LST-1067) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship in the United States Navy. Unlike many of her class, which received only numbers and were disposed of after World War II, she survived long enough to be named. On 1 July 1955, all LSTs still in commission were named for US counties or parishes; LST-1067 was given the name Nye County, after a county in Nevada.

LST-1067 was laid down on 24 January 1945 at Hingham, Massachusetts, by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc.; launched on 27 February 1945; and commissioned on 24 March 1945, Lt. P. H. White in command.

World War II Service

Upon completing shakedown along the Virginia coast, LST–1067 sailed to Davisville, Rhode Island to load materials of war. Departing 16 May 1945 she steamed via the Panama Canal first to Pearl Harbor and then, with additional cargo, to Guam arriving 19 July. A second logistic voyage from the Hawaiian Islands to the Marianas occurred in the immediate aftermath of the Japanese surrender. She then embarked occupation forces at Leyte and landed them on Honshū, Japan, 2 November. Turning eastward for the long trip to the United States, LST–1067 arrived at San Francisco on 6 January 1946 and decommissioned at Portland, Oregon on 13 August 1946.

Reserve

Named Nye County 1 July 1955, the landing ship recommissioned “in reserve” 22 May 1963, and was assigned to the newly created RESLSTRON 2 based at Little Creek, Virginia. The value of this squadron during the Dominican Republic crisis brought a full commissioning 21 December 1965 and new duties in the Western Pacific.

Vietnam War

Though based at Sasebo, Japan, Nye County spent much time between April 1966 and March 1967 offloading supplies at critical points along the central coast of South Vietnam. Ordered to Pusan, Korea she decommissioned 27 March 1967 and was turned over to the Military Sea Transportation Service. Manned largely by a Korean crew, she continued to sail in Far Eastern waters in 1970 as USNS Nye County (T-LST-1067). She was later sold to Chile in August 1973 where she serves as Commandante Araya (LST-89).

LST-1067 earned two battle stars for the Vietnam War.

BACH Comandante Araya

On 1 August 1973, Nye County was sold to Chile where she served as Comandante Araya (LST-89). She was taken out of service on 14 December 1981 and sold for scrapping 29 March 1982.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here. Another entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of Nye County at NavSource Naval History