USS De Soto County

USS De Soto County (LST-1171) underway in the Caribbean, circa 1958
History
United States
Name	USS De Soto County
Namesake	De Soto County
Builder	Avondale Marine Ways, Inc. Avondale, Louisiana
Laid down	September 1956
Launched	28 February 1957
Commissioned	10 June 1958
Decommissioned	17 July 1972
Stricken	8 May 1992
Honours and awards	Meritorious Unit Commendation 1 battle star (Vietnam)
Fate	Loaned to the Italian Navy, 1972
Italy
Name	Grado (L 9890)
Acquired	1972
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 1989
General characteristics
Class and type	De Soto County-class tank landing ship
Displacement	3,560 long tons (3,617 t) light 7,823 long tons (7,949 t) full load
Length	445 ft (136 m)
Beam	62 ft (19 m)
Draft	16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
Propulsion	6 × Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, two shafts, fixed pitch propellers
Speed	17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	3 LCVPs and 1 Captain's Gig
Capacity	28 medium tanks or vehicles to 75 tons on 288 ft (88 m) tank deck 100,000 gal (US) diesel or jet fuel, plus 7,000 gal fuel for embarked vehicles
Troops	575 officers and enlisted men
Complement	10 officers and 162 enlisted men
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 Mark 22 caliber gun mounts

USS De Soto County (LST-1171) was a De Soto County-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during the late 1950s. The lead ship of her class of seven, she was named after counties in Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

De Soto County was designed under project SCB 119 and laid down 15 September 1956 at Avondale, Louisiana by Avondale Marine Ways, Inc.; launched on 28 February 1957; sponsored by Mrs. C. Horton Smith; and commissioned on 10 June 1958.

Service history

For almost the entire length of her active service, De Soto County was assigned to the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet. She interspersed operations off the east coast of the United States with frequent deployments to the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. The De Soto County was also used by the Navy for a PR deployment to the Great Lakes in 1965. Many dignitaries were shown aboard, including Admiral John McCain. The tank landing ship saw brief service in the Vietnam theater of operations in 1969.

Grado (L 9890)

Decommissioned on 17 July 1972, De Soto County was transferred to the Italian Navy where she served as Grado (L 9890). Struck from the Naval Vessel Register 8 May 1992, the ship was sold for scrapping by the Italian government in 1989.

De Soto County earned one Meritorious Unit Commendation for service with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean and one battle star for Vietnam War service.

See also

• DeSoto County, Florida
• De Soto Parish, Louisiana
• DeSoto County, Mississippi
• ARA Cabo San Antonio (Q42) (DeSoto County-class based design for the Argentine Navy)

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• "LST-1171 De Soto County". Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved June 26, 2007.

This page was last edited on 26 November 2023, at 03:10