View source for USS Meeker County

{{Short description|1944 LST-542-class tank landing ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=LST-980-unloads-an-LVT.jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''LST-980'' unloads an [[Landing Vehicle Tracked|LVT]] during "Exercise Camid III", for an "assault" on [[Bloodsworth Island]] in the Chesapeake Bay.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1970}}
|Ship name=* ''LST-980'' (1944–1955)
* ''Meeker County'' (1955–1975)
|Ship namesake= [[Meeker County, Minnesota]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Boston Navy Yard]], [[Massachusetts]]
|Ship laid down=22 December 1943
|Ship launched=10 February 1944
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=19 March 1944
|Ship decommissioned=16 December 1955
|Ship renamed=''Meeker County'', 1 July 1955
|Ship honors = [[Image:Bronze-service-star-3d-vector.svg|18px]] 1 × [[Battle star#Navy warships|battle star]] (World War II)
|Ship identification=*[[Hull classification symbol#Amphibious warfare type|Hull symbol]]: LST-980
*[[Hull classification symbol#Support type|Hull symbol]]: AGP-15
*[[International Code of Signals|Code letters]]: NKXT
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|X-ray}}{{ICS|Tango}}
|Ship fate=* Laid up in the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]], [[Green Cove Springs, Florida|Green Cove Springs Group]], 16 December 1955 
* Transferred to Atlantic Reserve Fleet, [[Philadelphia|Philadelphia Group]], October 1961
* Recommissioned into US Navy
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=23 September 1966
|Ship decommissioned=December 1970
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship struck=1 April 1975
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship honors =
10 × [[Service star#Campaign stars|campaign stars]] (Vietnam War)
|Ship nickname=
|Ship fate=* Sold for scrapping, 1 December 1975
*Sold and converted for commercial use, 1976
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country= Singapore
|Ship flag= {{flagicon|Singapore|civil}}
|Ship name= ''LST-3'' 
|Ship acquired= 1976
|Ship owner= [[Landing System Technology Pte. Ltd.]], [[Singapore]]
|Ship fate= Sold, 30 June 1978
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country= Greece
|Ship flag= {{flagicon|Greece|civil}}
|Ship name= ''Petrola 143'' 
|Ship acquired= 30 June 1978
|Ship owner= [[Maritime & Commercial Co.]], Argonaftis S.A., Panama
|Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|7629893}}
|Ship fate= Sold for scrapping, 7 August 1996
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfn|Navsource|2015}}
|Ship class={{sclass|LST-542|tank landing ship}}
|Ship displacement={{LST-542 class tank landing ship displacement}}
|Ship length={{LST-542 class tank landing ship length}}
|Ship beam={{LST-542 class tank landing ship beam}}
|Ship draft={{LST-542 class tank landing ship draft}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship power={{LST-542 class tank landing ship power}}
|Ship propulsion={{LST-542 class tank landing ship propulsion}}
|Ship speed= {{LST-542 class tank landing ship speed}}
|Ship range={{LST-542 class tank landing ship range}}
|Ship boats=  {{LST-542 class tank landing ship boats}}
|Ship capacity={{LST-542 class tank landing ship capacity}}
|Ship troops=16 [[Officer (armed forces)|officers]], 147 [[Enlisted man|enlisted men]]
|Ship complement=13 officers, 104 enlisted men
|Ship armament={{LST-542 class tank landing ship armament}}
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Meeker County'' (LST-980)''' was an {{sclass|LST-542|tank landing ship}} built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her hull designation. Later named after [[Meeker County, Minnesota]], she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.

==Construction==
Originally laid down as ''LST-980'' on 22 December 1943, at the [[Boston Navy Yard]]; the ship was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 10 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Orrion R. Hewitt; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 19 March 1944.{{sfn|DANFS LST-980}}

==Service history==

===World War II, 1944&ndash;1945===
In April 1944, after completing [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] exercises in [[Chesapeake Bay]], ''LST-980'' loaded equipment and got underway for [[Great Britain|England]], where plans for the [[Normandy Invasion|invasion of France]] had been stalled in debate over the need for shipping, a need and resultant disagreement so acute that Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] had quipped, "''The destinies of two great empires...seem to be tied up in some God-damned things called LSTs''."{{sfn|Morison|1957|p=28}}{{sfn|DANFS Meeker County|2015}}

Upon arriving in England, ''LST-980'' underwent further amphibious training and by early June, stood ready for "[[D-Day]]." On 5 June the ships of "[[Operation Overlord]]" sortied from the English coast and on 6 June, the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] landed on the [[Normandy]] beaches. Participating in the invasion, ''LST-980'' was bracketed by bombs, one of which, a {{convert|125|lb|adj=on}} dud, penetrated the hull and two bulkheads, killing one man and causing minor damage. After the establishment of the [[beachhead]], the landing ship remained in the area providing shuttle service between the United Kingdom and France. Carrying men and equipment to France, she returned to England with prisoners of war, transporting upwards of 900 at one time.{{sfn|DANFS Meeker County|2015}}
 
''LST-980'' returned to the United States in February 1945 and was assigned to training activities along the east coast for the remainder of the war.{{sfn|DANFS Meeker County|2015}}

===Post-war activities, 1945&ndash;1955===
Following the war she remained at [[Little Creek, Virginia]], and continued her training operations, extending them to the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. Those included participation in CAMID I, II, and III, joint [[United States Army|Army]]-Navy operations to acquaint [[US Naval Academy]] cadets and midshipmen with amphibious warfare. On 30 April 1949, ''LST-980'' departed Little Creek, for the [[Mediterranean]] and five months' duty with the [[United States Sixth Fleet|6th Fleet]]. Returning to her base on 4 October, she resumed east coast operations. With only three interruptions, two resupply missions to the [[Baffin Bay]] area in the summers of 1951 and 1952, and a two-month tour as support LST for [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] on [[Vieques Island]], in 1954, she continued to provide amphibious training to Naval and Marine Corps personnel until July 1955.{{sfn|DANFS Meeker County|2015}}

Renamed ''Meeker County'' on 1 July 1955, she steamed to [[New York City|New York]], in mid-July to begin inactivation. On 23 September, she arrived at [[Green Cove Springs, Florida]], to complete the process. Decommissioning on 16 December 1955, she remained in the Florida Group, [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]], until transferred to the [[Philadelphia]] Group in October 1961.{{sfn|DANFS Meeker County|2015}}

===Vietnam War, 1966&ndash;1970===
In 1965, an urgent need for amphibious types caused ''Meeker County'' to be reactivated. Modernized at [[Baltimore]], she recommissioned on 23 September 1966, underwent intensive training at Little Creek, and on 20 January 1967, departed for her new home port, [[Guam]]. She arrived at [[Apra Harbor]], Guam, on 7 April, and then sailed for [[South Vietnam]], for a tour of duty as a unit of Landing Ship Squadron 3. Operating from [[Da Nang]], she provided almost continuous support to combat operations in Vietnam into 1970.{{sfn|DANFS Meeker County|2015}}

===Decommissioning and sale===
Decommissioned in December 1970, at [[Bremerton, Washington]], ''Meeker County'' was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 1 April 1975. Sold for scrapping by [[Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service]] (DRMS), on 1 December 1975, she was in turn sold to [[Max Rouse & Sons]] of [[Beverly Hills, California]], and taken in hand by [[Marine Industries]], [[Tacoma, Washington]], for conversion to commercial use. Sold in 1976, to [[Landing System Technology Pte. Ltd.]] of [[Singapore]] (Lauritz Kloster, [[Norway]]) and renamed '''LST-3''', the ship arrived at [[Piraeus, Greece]], having been acquired by [[Maritime & Commercial Co. Argonaftis S.A.]], [[Panama]] (Greek flag) on 30 June 1978, and renamed ''Petrola 143''. After nearly two decades she arrived in tow at [[Aliağa]], [[Turkey]], for demolition by [[Seltas A.S.]] on 7 August 1996.{{sfn|Navsource|2015}}

==Awards==
''LST-980'' received one [[Battle star#Navy warships|battle star]] for World War II service, as ''Meeker County'' ten [[campaign star]]s for service during the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfn|Navsource|2015}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
'''Online resources'''
* {{cite DANFS 
  | url = https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lst-980.html
  | title = LST-980
  | publisher = Naval History and Heritage Command 
  | access-date = 27 June 2017
  | ref = {{sfnRef|DANFS LST-980}}
  }}{{PD-notice}}
* {{cite web
  |title= ''Meeker County''
  |work= Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  |url= https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/meeker-county.html
  |date= 7 August 2015
  |access-date=27 June 2017
  |ref= {{sfnRef|DANFS Meeker County|2015}}
  }}{{PD-notice}}
* {{cite web 
  | url = http://www.navsource.net/archives/10/16/160980.htm 
  | title= USS Meeker County (LST-980)
  |website=NavSource 
  | date= 1 May 2015
  | access-date= 27 June 2017
  | ref= {{sfnRef|Navsource|2015}}
  }}
'''Printed resources'''
* {{cite book 
  |last1= Morison 
  |first1= Samuel Eliot 
  |author-link1=Samuel Eliot Morison
  |title= [[History of United States Naval Operations in World War II]], Vol. 11: The Invasion of France and Germany 1944–1945 
  |date= 1957 
  |publisher= [[Little, Brown & Co.]] 
  |page= 28
  }}
{{Refend}}

{{LST-542 class tank landing ship|900}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meeker County (Lst-980)}}
[[Category:LST-542-class tank landing ships]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Vietnam War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Meeker County, Minnesota]]
[[Category:Ships built in Boston]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs Group]]
[[Category:Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group]]