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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Pima County (LST-1081)
ex
 USS LST-1081 (1945 - 1955)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Lima - Papa
 NALP
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
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Europe clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 13 November 1944, at American Bridge Co., Ambridge, PA.
  • Launched, 5 January 1945
  • Commissioned, USS LST-1081, 30 June 1945, LT. Verne J. Dicharry USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-1081 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirty-Two, CAPT. D. J. Sweeny;
     LST Group Ninety-Five, CDR. J. Capponi USNR;
     LST Division One Hundred Eighty-Nine
  • Decommissioned, 30 July 1946
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group
  • Recommissioned, 2 February 1951, LT. John G.Finneran USN in command
  • Named USS Pima County (LST-1081), 1 July 1955
  • USS Pima County (LST-1081) was assigned to Occupation service in Europe from 7 June to 20 September 1955
  • Decommissioned, 12 December 1956, at Green Cove Springs, FL.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1958
  • Merchant Service
    Sold for merchant service in June 1960 to Atlantic Steam Navigation Co.
    Named MV Baltic Ferry in 1972
    Sold in 1977, renamed MV Sable Ferry
    Sold, date unknown, to Mareantes Armadora SA, Panama, renamed MV Nickel Ferry
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in 1973, to Andy International, Brownsville. TX.
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t. (beaching displacement)
    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/Source
    USS LST-1081
    Pima County 23k USS LST-1081 under way, date and location unknown. Bob Hess
    Pima County 110k USS LST-1081 under way, date and location unknown. Bob Hess
    Pima County 83k USS LST-1081 under way, date and location unknown. Bob Hess
    Pima County 156k USS LST-1081 under way with LCU-971 loaded on her main deck, date and location unknown. Ed Zajkowski
    Pima County 391k MRS Margret R. Leeper standing in from of her husband Harold's ship USS LST-1081 and USS LST-400 moored at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, VA., January 1954. Photo by Harold J. Leeper. Tom Leeper from the collection of his father Harold J. Leeper ET3 USS LST-1081
    Pima County 361k Hollywood movie crew using USS LST-1081 as a backdrop for the film "Battle Cry" during a training cruise to Vieques Island, Puerto Rico in March 1954. Photo by Harold J. Leeper. Tom Leeper from the collection of his father Harold J. Leeper ET3 USS LST-1081
    Pima County 83k USS LST-1081 under way, circa 1954, location unknown. Tom Leeper from the collection of his father Harold J. Leeper ET3 USS LST-1081
    Pima County
    1016108109    		 222k USS LST-1081 entering Grand Harbor, Valletta, Malta, 14 June 1955.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 86955, courtesy of William H. Davis, 1976.    		 Mike Smolinski
    Pima County 156k LCT(6)-971 being transported by USS LST-1081 date and location unknown. Ed Zajkowski
    Pima County
    1016108128    		 185k USS LST-1081 underway with LCT(6)-971 on her main deck, date and location unknown Kelly McCrystle for his grandfather Ernie Osburn USS LST-1081
    Pima County
    1016108129    		 216k
    USS Pima County (LST-1081)
    Pima County 22k USS Pima County (LST-1081) under way, date and location unknown. Bob Hess
    Merchant Service
    Pima County
    1016108105    		 104k Ex-USS Pima County (LST-1081) in merchant service as the Atlantic Steam Navigation Co.'s MV Baltic Ferry
    Mersey & Irish Sea Shipping Web Site    		 Robert Hurst
    Pima County 44k Ex-USS Pima County (LST-1081) in merchant service as the Mareantes Armadora SA Co.'s MV Nickel Ferry, date and location unknown. Johan Alkema
    Pima County 76k MV Nickel Ferry beached in Costa Rica after making her run from El Salvador to Costa Rica, date unknown. Sandy Ahlstrom
    USS Pima County (LST-1081)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Dicharry, Verne J., USNR30 January 1945 - 10 December 1945
    02LT. Kalafat, James D., USNR10 December 1945 - March 1946
    03LTjg. Cummins, Clyde R., USNRMarch 1946 - 30 July 1946
     Decommissioned30 July 1946 - 2 February 1951
    04LT. Finneran, John Glennon, USN (USNA 1947) :VADM2 February 1951 - ?
    05LCDR. Leonard, Warren Ervin, USN 1955 - 12 December 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
    Harold J. Leeper ET3 USS LST-1081 Photo Collection
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 1 March 2024