USS Vernon County (LST-1161) was a United States Navy, in commission from 1953 to 1973. She saw extensive service in the Vietnam War before being transferred to the Venezuelan Navy, where she became Amazonas (T-21).
Construction and commissioning Vernon County was designed under project SCB 9A and laid down as USS LST-1161 on 14 April 1952 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation and launched on 25 November 1952;, sponsored by Mrs. Hugh White, the wife of the then-governor of Mississippi, Hugh L. White. USS LST-1161 was commissioned on 18 May 1953.
Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean operations, 1953–1958 After conducting her shakedown cruise, LST-1161 operated off the United States East Coast out of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek at Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Morehead City, North Carolina, through mid-February 1954. She subsequently deployed twice to Caribbean operating areas during 1954. During an exercise at Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, between 11 April 1954 and 7 May 1954, she participated in the filming of the movie Away All Boats.
LST-1161 entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 28 July 1954 for extensive modifications. Once those alterations and repairs were completed, she headed for Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek at Virginia Beach, arriving there on 19 December 1954.
LST-1161 was renamed USS Vernon County (LST-1161) on 1 July 1955.
Vernon County operated with the Amphibious Forces of the United States Atlantic Fleet, alternating between Norfolk, Virginia, and Little Creek as her home ports. During her years of operations from those places, she deployed regularly to the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean areas.
Pacific operations, 1958–1964 In 1958, Vernon County was transferred to the United States Pacific Fleet, sailing via the Panama Canal to her new assigned home port, San Diego, California. She operating from San Diego for over a year and a half, conducting regular periods of underway training and local operations off the Southern California coast.
Vernon County changed home ports again in 1960. On 16 June 1960, she departed the United States West Coast bound for her new home port, Yokosuka, Japan. Together with seven other tank landing ships, Vernon County comprised Amphibious Squadron (PhibRon) 9. They reached Yokosuka on 6 August 1960.
Vernon County subsequently formed an integral part of the amphibious forces supporting the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), participating in SEATO's Operation Tulungan in May 1962. In so doing, she became one of the first American amphibious vessels to transport U.S. Marines to Thailand.
Her first years in Yokosuka saw her participate in many major amphibious exercises, including those named "Pony Express" and "Sharp Edge." After an upkeep period in June 1962, Vernon County transported U.S. Marines from Subic Bay in the Philippines, to Iwakuni, Japan; she paid a port call at Karatsu, Japan, reportedly the first American warship to visit Karatsu since the Korean War (1950–1953).
February 1963 saw Vernon County at Kobe, Japan. In March 1963 she visited Tspying and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and she spent much of April 1963 at Subic Bay. In June 1963, she participated in Operation Flagpole, a joint United States Seventh Fleet–Republic of Korea (ROK) naval exercise. Before returning to Yokosuka, she called at Shimonoseki, Japan; Naha, Okinawa; and Keelung, Taiwan.
After her return to Yokosuka and subsequent refresher training at Numazu, Japan, Vernon County took part in Operation Litgas in company with other SEATO naval units. Subsequently, returning to Hong Kong, via Yokosuka, she visited Kobe in mid-July 1964.
Vietnam War service
Tonkin Gulf Incident For a few days, Vernon County trained in nearby Sagami Bay. She was there when the Tonkin Gulf incident occurred and Vernon County embarked U.S. Marines and steamed for South Vietnam. For the next 60 days, as part of the force thrown into Southeast Asian waters ready for any contingency.
Vernon County was then relieved on station and proceeded back to Yokosuka, but the respite offered was, in retrospect, only a short one.
Operations off South Vietnam, January–April 1965 In January 1965, Vernon County again headed for South Vietnamese waters to provide amphibious support. Departing Yokosuka on 8 February 1965, Vernon County proceeded to Iwakuni, Japan and Naha, Okinawa, before pushing on to Da Nang, South Vietnam, where she arrived on 18 February 1965. Upon arrival, she disembarked Company C, 7th Engineer Battalion, to provide construction support for the MIM-23 Hawk light surface-to-air missile battery then being emplaced there, thus completing the Hawk deployment.
Over the ensuing months, Vernon County conducted various operations: loading, offloading, stand-by alerts, and the landing of and equipment on South Vietnamese shores. In April 1965, Vernon County supported the landing of U.S. Marines at Da Nang and brought Marine Corps cargo and equipment from Okinawa to Da Nang.
Operations at Chu Lai, 1965 Once the Da Nang landing was completed, Vernon County moved south and took part in one of the largest amphibious undertakings since the 1950 Inchon landings in South Korea when she participated in the 6 May landings at Chu Lai, South Vietnam. In that operation, three U.S. Marine Corps battalion landing teams and a U.S. Navy mobile construction battalion went ashore to initiate construction of an airfield.
Vernon County then conducted more cargo runs to ensure the steady flow of supplies and equipment to support the ever-expanding Chu Lai beachhead and the development of Chu Lai Air Base to support the operations of a Marine Air Wing. As U.S. Marine reinforcements arrived in the Western Pacific area, Vernon County continued to load and land supplies at Chu Lai.
While Vernon County was carrying out those duties, American military intelligence picked up evidence that a Viet Cong (VC) force was massing for an attack on Chu Lai. Accordingly, a joint U.S. Marine Corps-Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) operation was launched on 6 August 1965 to search for the VC. In that operation, code-named Operation Thunderbolt, the Marines and South Vietnamese soldiers did not find the VC in strength, meeting only scattered resistance. Nevertheless, the operation was deemed to be, in retrospect, a "Successful experiment in command and control." Subsequently, however, the interrogation of a VC deserter revealed the location of the VC 1st Regiment. It was, as thought, moving toward Chu Lai. Accordingly, another operation, code-named Operation Starlite, was planned expeditiously. Vernon County embarked elements of the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, (Battalion Landing Team) (BLT) 3, under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph E. Muir, at Chu Lai, and moved south along the South Vietnamese coast to An Thuong, where she put the Marines ashore in one phase of Starlite. The operation, involving amphibious, helicopter-borne, and ground forces, started out as a "search and destroy" operation but soon escalated into a battalion-sized offensive against the VC. Starlite thwarted the incipient VC move toward Chu Lai, some to the north, the main battle taking place in the Van Truong village complex. The Marines discovered communication equipment, numerous documents, munitions, rice, and propaganda – all leading intelligence men to estimate that the hamlet of Van Thuong had served as a VC command post. During the operation, Marines of the III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) annihilated the VC 60th Battalion and crippled the 40th Battalion. It was the first big battle of the Vietnam War for the Marines, who came away from Starlite confident in their ability to meet the enemy on the field of battle and defeat him.
Transportation operations, 1965–1966 Late in October 1965, Vernon County sailed for South Korea and, with other units of the Seventh Fleet, participated in the movement of the Republic of Korea Army "Tiger" Division to South Vietnam. Subsequently, she took part in direct lifts of equipment and troops to South Vietnam before returning to Yokosuka on 25 December 1965.
After operating locally out of Yokosuka and in South Vietnamese waters, primarily at Chu Lai, Vernon County replenished and underwent a period of upkeep at Subic Bay in the Philippines. She then returned to intracoastal shipping operations off the coast of South Vietnam and even penetrated the Mekong Delta to pay a port call at Saigon, South Vietnam. She returned to Yokosuka in early June 1966.
Vernon County trained briefly at Numazu, Japan, before going to Okinawa, and from there to Hong Kong to allow her crew liberty there. Returning to South Vietnamese waters from Hong Kong, she headed for Subic Bay, via Da Nang and Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, soon thereafter, for 13 days of upkeep in the Philippine Islands. Returning to Yokosuka after conducting lifts of men and materiel to Okinawa and Sasebo, Japan, Vernon County remained in port at Yokosuka until 21 September 1966.
Operation Market Time, 1966 Ordered back to South Vietnam, Vernon County operated in support of Operation Market Time, the coastal interdiction of communist supply traffic off the coast of South Vietnam, serving as "mother ship" for the Patrol Craft Fast used for those operations. Vernon County remained on station on Market Time duties until 29 November 1966. From there, she went on to Yokosuka, commencing a regularly scheduled shipyard overhaul on 8 December 1966.
Upkeep and training in Japan, 1966–1967 Completing those repairs and alterations on 15 March 1967, Vernon County ran sea trials and conducted refresher training before visiting Kobe in April 1967. Subsequently, the ship returned to Yokosuka, where she conducted more training during May 1967.
Riverine operations, 1967 Leaving Yokosuka on 6 June 1967, Vernon County was heading for Sasebo when she received orders directing her to return to South Vietnam. Upon arrival, Vernon County became a part of the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF), a joint U.S. Navy-U.S. Army assault unit conducting riverine search and destroy missions in the Mekong Delta region. While assigned to the MRF, Vernon County was a veritable picture of versatility: she carried ammunition for U.S. Army troops, fire support bases, and the U.S. Navy's Patrol Boat, River (or PBRs); she carried boats, clothing, batteries, and C rations for troops in the field; she carried purified water and supplied fuel to various riverine craft; she housed, fed, and entertained over 340 additional U.S. Army and U.S. Navy combat personnel; and she logged over 780 helicopter landings on her flight deck.
Relieved from MRF support duties on 20 August 1967, Vernon County headed for Chu Lai, and from there to Keelung, Taiwan. Reaching Keelung on 30 August 1967, she remained there until 4 September 1967 before moving on, ultimately returning to her home port, Yokosuka, on 8 September 1967.
Operations in Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines, 1967 Vernon County remained in port at Yokosuka until 5 October 1967, when she headed south for Ora Bay, Okinawa, to conduct two days of training with U.S. Marine Corps amphibious forces. Upon completion of training, she shifted to Subic Bay, where she loaded various items for churches, schools, and hospitals at Tacloban on the island of Leyte. She departed Subic Bay on 18 October 1967 and was to represent the United States at ceremonies on 20 October 1967 commemorating the Philippines campaign in World War II. A typhoon brewing in the vicinity, however, forced a cancellation of the ceremonies. Vernon County subsequently returned to Subic Bay, whence she sortied on 23 October 1967 for Yokosuka.
Arriving at Yokosuka on 1 November 1967, Vernon County remained in port there until 20 November 1967, at which time she got underway for Naha, Okinawa, and from there for Subic Bay.
Amphibious Ready Group Bravo, 1967–1968