USS Walworth County (LST-1164), previously USS LST-1164, was a United States Navy landing ship tank (LST) in commission from 1953 to 1971, and which then saw non-commissioned Military Sealift Command service as USNS Walworth County (T-LST-1164) from 1972 to 1973.
Construction and commissioning
Walworth County was designed under project SCB 9A and laid down as USS LST-1164 on 22 September 1952 at Pascagoula, Mississippi by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 15 May 1953, sponsored by Mrs. John A. Furr, and commissioned on 26 October 1953.
Operations in U.S. waters 1953–1956
LST-1164 departed Pascagoula on 20 November 1953, bound for Norfolk, Virginia. She conducted shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay and became a unit of Landing Ship Tank Division 23. The ship arrived at her home port of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia Beach, Virginia, on 3 December 1953. On 6 April 1954, LST-1164 departed the amphibious base for a brief stop at the United States Naval Reserve training center at Jacksonville, Florida. On 19 April 1954, the ship took part in simulated nuclear warfare strikes and returned to Little Creek on 25 May 1954.
LST-1164 spent June 1954 participating in amphibious exercises at Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. LST-1164 returned to Little Creek on 11 July 1954 for voyage repairs in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia, and towing exercises off Little Creek beach.
From 3 November 1954 through 24 March 1955, the ship participated in various exercises with the United States Marine Corps and the United States Army in the areas of Camp Pendleton, Virginia; Onslow Beach, North Carolina; and Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.
On 30 March 1955, LST-1164 entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a four-month overhaul. During that period, she was named USS Walworth County (LST-1164) on 1 July 1955. She returned to Little Creek on 5 August 1955 and conducted exercises in the Chesapeake Bay. The ship put to sea on 21 September 1955 for nuclear attack drills along the United States East Coast; gunnery practice in operating areas out of Jacksonville, Florida, and assault beaching runs with men of the 3rd Marine Regiment and their vehicles and combat equipment on the coast of North Carolina. Walworth County returned to Little Creek on 8 November 1955 and spent the following months in local waters with trips to Guantanamo Bay and the Caribbean.
In January 1956, as part of LANTRAEX-56, she left Morehead City, NC for Vieques, Puerto Rico carrying tanks in her well deck, trucks and construction equipment topside along with Marines from the 2nd Shore Party Bn. 2nd Marine Division.
First Mediterranean deployment 1956
Walworth County left Norfolk with a load of ammunition on 7 May 1956 and, two weeks later, arrived at the United States naval base at Port Lyautey, French Morocco. On 9 May 1956, she sailed for Greece and arrived at Piraeus on 30 May 1956 for operations with an amphibious task force of the United States Sixth Fleet which took her to principal ports of the Mediterranean Sea. Walworth County returned home to Little Creek on 26 September 1956. She spent the remainder of 1956 in local operating areas.
Panama deployment 1957
On 5 March 1957, Walworth County arrived at the Naval Base at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone. From there, she took survey parties to beaching sites in the Chagres River and other places in preparation for Operation Caribex which tested the mobility of American forces in defending the Panama Canal.
Operations in U.S. waters and Caribbean exercise 1957–1958
Walworth County returned to Little Creek from her Panama cruise on 16 March 1957 and put to sea on 10 April 1957 to participate in a three-phase operation involving the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Army, and the United States Air Force. The exercise—conducted on Vieques Island, Fort Lorenzo, Canal Zone, and Rio Hata — terminated on 28 April 1957; and Walworth County underwent extended upkeep in the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn, New York, from 14 May 1957 through 11 July 1957. She returned to Little Creek the following day and began local operations which lasted until 14 November 1957. At that time, Walworth County undertook exercises with amphibious warfare forces that included practice assaults with Marines on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands.