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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Barnstable County (LST-1197)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Charlie - Uniform NUCU

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Joint Meritorious Unit Award - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (4) - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon - Navy Expeditionary Medal (2-Iran & Liberia)
Third Row - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Grenada, Lebanon, Somalia(2) - Humanitarian Services Medal (Beirut)

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USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) was sold to Spain and renamed Hernán Cortés (L 41)

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Decommissioned by the Spanish Navy, 13 November 2009. Hernán Cortés (L-41) was the 4th Spanish warship named after the conqueror. Her 10th and last Spanish CO was Capitán de Fragata (Commander) Alejandro Herrero Pita, who took command of the ship on 10 May 2008.

Barnstable County was the nineteenth ship of the twenty ship Newport tank landing ship class, which replaced the traditional bow door design LST. Two derrick arms support a thirty-ton, 112-foot bow ramp for the unloading of tanks and other vehicles ashore, additionally, amphibious vehicles can be launched from the tank deck via the ship's stern gate and the ship's flight deck can accommodate most Navy helicopter types.

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Specifications:
Displacement 5,190 t.(lt), 8,550 t.(fl)
Length 522' 3" (ovl)
Beam 69' 9 1/2" (max)
Draft max forward (fl) 13' 6", max aft (fl) 16' 3" 15'
Speed 27 kts. max.
Complement

14 Officers

15 CPO

226 Other Enlisted
Troop Accommodations

18 Officers

21 SNCO

268 Other Enlisted
Boats

three 36' LCVPs

one 36' LCPL
Aircraft

flight deck one spot
Armament

As Built

two twin 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts

Upgraded

two .25mm chain guns

six .50 cal machine guns

one 20mm Phalanx (CIWS)
Propulsion

six 16 cylinder ALCO 16-251E main propulsion Diesel engines

two shafts, three engines per shaft, shaft horsepower 15,000

two controllable reversible pitch propellers, twin rudders

three ALCO 251-C, 8 cylinder generator sets, 750KW

one 800 hp variable thrust bowthruster

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
USS Barnstable County (LST-1197)
	262k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) arriving at an anchorage in the Kythira Strait, Eastern Mediterranean Sea, 25 June 1976. Photo from the Soviet DDG Krasny Krim.		Eugene Ivkin
	35k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197), at Barcelona, Spain, 15 February 1979.		Photo by Fabio Peña
	108k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) at Augusta Bay, Sicily, circa 30 January 1976.		© Richard Leonhardt
	53k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) at Nordbynes, Norway, as troops and vehicles disembark during the NATO exercise Cold Winter (Coldex-Flotex`81), 1 March 1981. Photo by JO1 Gary Miller USN Department of Defense photo # DNSN8201126		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
	1038k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) with LCU-1664 alongside, 1 October 1981, after landing on the beach during Exercise Crisex '81. U.S. National Archive Photo # NN33300514 2005-06-30. ID: DF-ST-83-04489 a US Marine Corps photo by SSgt. Jose Lopez, Jr. USMC		Robert Hurst
	64k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) at Barcelona, Spain, 27 December 1981. This photo shows close-up details of the derrick arms, bow doors and superstructure, with a passage to permit vehicles to shift between the forward (tank) and aft (helicopter) decks. Just visible inboard of Barnstable County is the bow of USS Raleigh (LPD-1).		Photo by Fabio Peña
	83k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) at Barcelona, Spain, 2 January 1982. View of the stern ramp which permitted unloading amphibious vehicles into the water while the ship was underway, "mated" to a landing craft, a causeway, or beached. The anchor helped to retract the ship off the beach. USS Raleigh (LPD 1) is alongside outboard.		Photo by Fabio Peña
	1834k	Starboard bow view of USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) underway in the Atlantic Ocean, 6 June 1989. Defense Imagery photo # DN-SC-90-11767 ATLANTIC OCEAN (6 June 1989), a US Navy photo by CW04 Thomas now in the collections of Defense Imagery.com.		Robert M. Cieri
	109k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) passes along the Strait of Magellan during Unitas XXXII, a combined exercise involving the naval forces of the United States and nine South American nations, 1 September 1991. DVIC photo # DN-ST-92-04006 by PH2 John Bivera, USN, from the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center		Bill Gonyo
	30k	A Marine looks out from the hatch of an AAVP-7A1 amphibious assault personnel vehicle as it returns to USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) during the ships 1991 West African Training Cruise, 1 November 1991. Photo by PH1(SW) Michael D.P. Flynn USN Department of Defense # DNST9205911		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
	96k	Marines assigned to USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) stand in formation on a pier in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, during the ship's 1991 West African Training Cruise, 19 November 1991. DVIC photo # DN-ST-92-05901 by PH1 Michael D. P. Flynn, USN, from the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center		Bill Gonyo
	21k	USS Barnstable County (LST-1197), underway, mid-Atlantic Ocean 1993.		A. Freudig

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Hernán Cortés (L-41)

Contributed by Francisco Javier Santos Vazquez, La Coruña

International Radio Call Sign:
Echo - Bravo - Alpha - Victor EBAV

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	52k	Namesake Hernán Cortés Monroy Pizarro Altamirano Born in Medellín, Badajoz, 1485. Died in Castilleja de la Cuesta, Sevilla, 2 December 1547. Spanish conqueror of the Aztec Empire (now the center of Mexico). First Marquis of Valle de Oaxaca, Governor and Captain General of New Spain.		Fabio Peña
	54k	Ex-USS Barnstable County (LST-1197) in Spanish service as Hernán Cortés (L-41) moored pierside at San Fernando, Cádiz (Spain), 26 March 2000.		Photo by Daniel Ferro
	56k	Hernán Cortés (L-41) at anchor, date and location unknown. Photo courtesy Nick Newas.		Robert Hurst

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USS Barnstable County (LST-1197)
DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command

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Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Ellsworth Jr., Warren Reginald	25 May 1972 - 18 January 1974
02	CDR. Lang Jr., Joseph McCarty	18 January 1974 - 20 April 1976
03	CDR. Bell, James L.	20 April 1976 - 2 June 1978
04	CAPT. Benson, George Martin	2 June 1978 - 2 July 1980
05	CAPT. Dooley, Roy L.	2 July 1980 - 13 July 1982
06	CAPT. Wagner, Tod William	13 July 1982 - 25 July 1984
07	CDR. Franconeri, James J.	25 July 1984 - 5 March 1985
08	CAPT. Hopson, Thomas Edward	5 March 1985 - 8 May 1987
09	CAPT. Owen, Donald G.	8 May 1987 - 25 July 1989
10	CAPT. Enderly, Richard Harold	25 July 1989 - 27 June 1991
11	CAPT. Hayes, Thomas Mather	27 June 1991 - 11 May 1993
12	CDR. Naeger Jr., Henri William	11 May 1993 - 29 June 1994

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
The USS LST Ship Memorial
LST Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association
Armada Espanola - Buques Anfibios clase 'Hernán Cortés'

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 31 December 2010