USS Curry County

USS Curry County (LST-685) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after counties in New Mexico and Oregon, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

History
United States
Name	USS LST-685
Builder	Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company, Jeffersonville, Indiana
Laid down	21 December 1943
Launched	18 February 1944
Commissioned	7 April 1944
Decommissioned	22 July 1946
Renamed	USS Curry County (LST-685), 1 July 1955
Stricken	1 November 1958
Fate	Sold into commercial service
General characteristics
Class and type	LST-542-class tank landing ship
Displacement	1,625 long tons (1,651 t) light 4,080 long tons (4,145 t) full
Length	328 ft (100 m)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	Unloaded : 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) forward 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) aft Loaded : 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) forward 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) aft
Propulsion	2 × General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 LCVPs
Troops	16 officers, 147 enlisted men
Complement	7 officers, 104 enlisted men
Armament	8 × 40 mm guns 12 × 20 mm guns

LST-685 was laid down on 21 December 1943 at Jeffersonville, Indiana by the Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Company; launched on 18 February 1944; sponsored by Miss Agnes J. Langley; and commissioned on 7 April 1944.

Service history

Following World War II, LST-685 performed occupation duty in the Far East until mid-April 1946. She returned to the United States and was decommissioned on 22 July 1946. On 13 January 1947 the ship was placed in service and used for Naval Reserve training out of Tompkinsville, New York. She was inactivated on 2 June 1950 at Green Cove Springs, Florida. On 1 July 1955 she was redesignated USS Curry County (LST-685). The tank landing ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 November 1958.

Sold for commercial purposes (date unknown), the ship was listed in the 1959 issue of La Marina Mercante Argentina edited by the Instituto de Estudios de la Marina Mercante Argentina as Sulmar, owned by Navemar S. A., Argentina, working between Argentine and Brazilian ports. Her final fate is unknown.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• "LST-685". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 29 May 2007.
• "LST-685 Curry County". Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved 29 May 2007.

See also

• List of United States Navy LSTs
• Curry County, New Mexico
• Curry County, Oregon