USS La Moure County (LST-1194)

For other ships with the same name, see USS La Moure County.

La Moure County (LST-1194) USS La Moure County (LST-1194) underway, date and place unknown. Her retracted bow ramp can be seen on deck. Heavy transport helicopters operate from the flight deck aft of her unusual odd-sized staggered stacks. The vehicle deck in the Newport-class, as in earlier LSTs, extends nearly the length of the ship. Conventional vehicles land on the beach over the bow ramp, while amphibious types can debark offshore through a stern gate.
History
Name:	USS La Moure County
Namesake:	La Moure County
Builder:	National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, California
Laid down:	22 May 1970
Launched:	13 February 1971
Commissioned:	18 December 1971
Decommissioned:	17 November 2000
Struck:	17 November 2000
Fate:	Sunk as a target, July 2001
General characteristics
Class & type:	Newport-class tank landing ship
Displacement:	5,190 long tons (5,273 t) light 8,550 long tons (8,687 t) full load
Length:	523 ft 3 in (159.49 m)
Beam:	69 ft 9.5 in (21.273 m)
Draft:	Full load : 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) forward 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m) aft
Depth:	8 ft (2.4 m) forward, 14 ft 4 in (4.37 m) aft (full load)
Installed power:	3 × ALCO 251-C, 8-cylinder generator sets (750 kW)
Propulsion:	6 × ALCO 251-C diesel engines (3 per shaft), 16,000 shp (12 MW) 2 shafts, 2 controllable reversible pitch propellers, twin rudders 1 × 800 hp (597 kW) variable-pitch bow thruster
Speed:	21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried:	2 × LCPLs
Troops:	18 officers, 21 SNCO, 268 enlisted
Complement:	14 officers, 15 CPO, 226 enlisted
Armament:	2 × 3"/50 caliber guns Later replaced by : 2 × single 25 mm Mark 38 guns 1 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 8 × M2 Browning .50 caliber machine guns
Aviation facilities:	Helicopter landing deck

USS La Moure County (LST-1194) was the sixteenth of twenty Newport-class tank landing ship (LSTs) built for the United States Navy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Named after La Moure County, North Dakota, she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

La Moure County was laid down 22 May 1970 at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, California; launched 13 February 1971; and commissioned 18 December 1971 at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California. The ship's status was changed to Active Reserve Force on 30 September 1995. Damaged beyond economical repair on 12 September 2000 due to grounding at Caleta Cifuncho Bay, Chile, La Moure County was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register 17 November 2000 at Talcahuano, Chile.

Grounding & aftermath

The ship was accidentally run aground near the coast of Caleta Cifuncho Bay, Chile in the pre-dawn hours of 12 September 2000 during a routine amphibious training operation with a sister vessel, the Chilean Valdiva. A combination of the speed of the ship at impact and the incoming tide resulted in extensive damage to the bow, keel, screws (propellers), and rudders. Extensive internal flooding and the dumping 40,000 gallons of diesel fuel only served to complicate matters. She was unable to get off the rocky point under her own power, and wave action continued to cause even more damage to the hull and keel. Eventually, the ship was towed off the rocks by a Chilean seagoing tugboat that was in the immediate vicinity.

With the ship's screws mostly missing and the rudders and steering gear destroyed, the crew continued emergency repairs in Cifuncho Bay, a few hundred yards from the impact point, to make her seaworthy for the 700-mile (1,100 km) tow to Talcahuano, Chile. The ship's commanding officer was relieved of duty and replaced via helicopter a few days later. The attached Marine force onboard was transferred to the US naval ship Tortuga (LSD-46) shortly after that. After getting underway 28 October, she arrived at Talcahuano on the 31st, under tow by the Chilean icebreaker Oscar Viel Toro. This was her final port, as repairs to her severely damaged hull and machinery were judged to be uneconomical. Within a few weeks, 90% of the crew was returned to the United States. A total of forty officers and enlisted personnel remained behind to see the now-derelict ship towed to the Chilean Naval Base at Talcahuano for decommissioning.

In July 2001, having been stripped of all usable material, the damaged hulk was towed out to sea, and sunk as a target during UNITAS 2001, at , about 130 nmi (240 km; 150 mi) west of Valparaíso, and now rests at a depth of 1,841 fathoms (3,400 m).

LST La Moure County during accident was towed off the rocks by the Chilean Fleet tugboat "ATF 66 Galvarino" and received the rescue and salvage support immediately and several days after the incident from this vessel modified before for this purpose.

References

• The Virginian-Pilot, articles by Jack Dorsey; "Norfolk-based Navy ship hits reef off coast of Chile"- Sept 13th 2000, "Navy may have to scrap ship that ran aground off Chile"- 6 October 2000, Navy Chief orders one-day safety standdown after accidents" Sept 16th 2000; Navy Times, articles from September to November 2000, and November 2001.

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  USS La Moure County (LST-1194) at anchor in Cifuncho Bay, where she lay from 12 September to 28 October 2000.

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  The ex-USS La Moure County (LST-1194), sunk as a target, 10 July 2001. As part of the annual UNITAS exercise she was towed offshore and expended as a target. She is seen here during the first phase of the SINKEX, a gunfire exercise.

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  The ex-USS La Moure County (LST-1194): overhead view showing the ship later in the UNITAS exercise, burning after several missile hits. She was eventually finished off by submarine-launched torpedoes.