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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USNS Morgan County (T-LST-1048)
ex
 USS Morgan County (LST-1048) (1955 - 1956)
 USS LST-1048 (1945 - 1955)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Alpha - Victor
 NAAV
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to Bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (3) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 7 January 1945, at Dravo Yards, Neville Island, Pittsburgh PA.
  • Launched, 17 February 1945
  • Placed in reduced commission as USS LST-1048, 15 March 1945 for transit to her fitting out yard at New Orleans
  • Commissioned in full, 28 March 1945 at New Orleans LA., LT. Roberts G. Stevenson USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-1048 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirty-Three, CAPT. C. A. Legg USN (24);
     LST Group Ninety-Nine, CDR. W. W. Johnson USN;
     LST Division One Hundred Ninety-Seven
  • Following World War II USS LST-1048 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    15 to 29 September 1945
    21 to 29 October 1945
    15 November to 15 December 1945

  • Decommissioned, struck from the Naval Register, and transferred to US Army custody, 14 May 1946, in Japan
  • Reacquired by the US Navy, reinstated in the Naval Register and recommissioned, 26 August 1950
  • During the Korean War USS LST-1048 participated in the following campaign;

    Korean War Campaign
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    North Korean Aggression
    15 September to 2 November 1950     		Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    23 to 24 May 1952
    28 June to 1 July 1952
    17 to 18 July 1952
    Communist China Aggression
    3 to 27 November 1950     		 

  • Named USS Morgan County (LST-1048), 1 July 1955
  • Decommissioned, 10 May 1956
  • Placed in service with MSTS, redesignated USNS Morgan County (T-LST-1048) in May 1956
  • Placed out of service, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 August 1959
  • USS LST-1048 earned three battle stars for Korean War service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 10 June 1960, to Ships Inc.
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t.
    Length 328' o.a.
    Beam 50'
    Draft
    light 2' 4" fwd, 7' 6" aft
    sea-going 8' 3" fwd, 14' 1" aft
    landing 3' 11" fwd, 9' 10" aft (landing w/500 ton load)
    limiting 11' 2"
    maximum navigation 14' 1"
    Speed 11.6 kts. (trial)
    Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons
    Complement
    13 officers
    104 enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    16 officers
    147 enlisted
    Boats 2 LCVP
    Cargo Capacity (varied with mission - payloads between 1600 and 1900 tons)
    Typical loads
    One Landing Craft Tank (LCT), tanks, wheeled and tracked vehicles, artillery, construction equipment and military supplies. A ramp or elevator forward allowed vehicles access to tank deck from main deck
    Additional capacity included sectional pontoons carried on each side of vessel amidships, to either build Rhino Barges or use as causeways. Married to the bow ramp, the causeways would enabled payloads to be delivered ashore from deeper water or where a beachhead would not allow the vessel to be grounded forward after ballasting
    Armament (varied with availability when each vessel was outfitted. Retro-fitting was accomplished throughout WWII. The ultimate armament design for United States vessels was
    2 - Twin 40MM gun mounts w/Mk. 51 directors
    4 - Single 40MM gun mounts
    12 single 20MM gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 4,300 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two General Motors 12-567A, 900hp Diesel engines
    single Falk Main Reduction Gears
    three Diesel-drive 100Kw 230V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    two propellers, 1,700shp
    twin rudders
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Morgan County
    1016104812    		 72k Sponsor, Mrs. L. P. Struble, and accompanying party for the christening and launching of LST-1048 at the Dravo Shipyard in Neville Island, Pittsburgh, PA., 17 February 1945.
    Dravo Corp. photo from USS LST Ship Memorial, Inc. LST Shipyard Collection    		 Tommy Trampp
    Morgan County 49k USS LST-1048, beached at Tinian, circa September 1945. Photographed by John R. Huggard.
    US Navy photo # NH 93823, courtesy of John R. Huggard, 1982.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Morgan County 101k USS LST-1048 launching LVT amphibious tractors during landing operations in Wonsan Harbor, North Korea, 26 October 1950. Note transport shipping anchored in the distance.
    US Navy photo # 80-G-422073, now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Morgan County
    1016104801    		 154k USS LST-1048 underway at sea, circa 1951-55.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 96907    		 Mike Smolinski
    Morgan County
    10116104802    		 464k USS LST-1048 underway at sea, circa 1951-55.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 96906    		 Mike Smolinski
    Morgan County 45k USS LST-1048, off San Diego, CA., circa April 1951. Joseph N. Mansberger ET2 USS LST-1048, 1950-1953
    Morgan County 131k USS LST-1048, off Korea, circa spring 1951, with a deck load of POW's when the authorities broke up the Koji Do prison into smaller groups. USS LST-1048 hauled out the first load of 2000 prisoners. This view shows about 700 Officers from PRK and PRC on the main deck of the ship. They had to be tear gassed to get them out of the POW camp and the there was a lingering odor of tear gas all day. The crew was forced to eat chow on the fan tail in the open because of it. Joseph N. Mansberger ET2 USS LST-1048, 1950-1953
    Morgan County 27k USS LST-1048, with a deck load of trucks bound for a small beach up the west coast of Korea. There were 19 General Sherman tanks in the tank deck, LST-1048 and three other LSTs put them ashore about 50 miles behind the lines, circa spring 1951. Joseph N. Mansberger ET2 USS LST-1048, 1950-1953
    Morgan County 32k USS LST-1048, nested with another LST, probably at Sasebo, Japan, date unknown. Joseph N. Mansberger ET2 USS LST-1048, 1950-1953
    Morgan County 34k USS LST-1048, looking forward from the boat deck at Inchon Korea, circa February 1951. Any "T" sailor who was there will remember the big house on the hill with the shell hole in the side. Joseph N. Mansberger ET2 USS LST-1048, 1950-1953
    Morgan County 73k USS LST-1048, beached at a ROK navy base at the southern tip of Korea. ROK sailors are unloading ammo loaded in Japan, circa summer 1952. Joseph N. Mansberger ET2 USS LST-1048, 1950-1953
    Morgan County 157k USS LST-1048, crew photo, Pearl Harbor, 6 December 1951. Joseph N. Mansberger ET2 USS LST-1048, 950-1953
    USS LST-1048
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Stevenson, Roberts G., USNR28 March 1945 - 19 November 1945
    02LT. Bratton, Theodore DuBose, USNR19 November 1945 - 14 May 1946
     Decommissioned14 May 1946 - 26 August 1950
    03LCDR. Vollertsen, Russell Armin, USN ~1954 - 1955
    04LT. Willett, Charles Frederick, USN 1955 - 10 May 1956
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 1 March 2024