Early Career
USS LST-1157 was laid down on 3 March 1952 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works and launched on 6 December 1952, sponsored by Mrs. John H. Spiller. She was commissioned on 14 March 1953 with Lieutenant Commander L. I. Reynolds in command.
Following shakedown training and operations out of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek at Virginia Beach, Virginia, LST-1157 departed Morehead City, North Carolina, on 25 September 1953 with a full load of United States Marines and amphibious vehicles for transfer to the United States Pacific Fleet and arrived in San Diego, California, on 25 October 1953.
Assigned to Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, LST-1157 operated out of San Diego into February 1954 before getting underway for the Central Pacific. She soon took part in moving natives from northern islands in the Marshall Islands to new homes in southern islands in May and June 1954. This lift involved the shipment of lumber for new homes, schools, and churches, as well as of the personal belongings and livestock of the natives. She returning to a routine of local operations on the United States West Coast upon arrival at Port Chicago, California, on 2 July 1954.
LST-1157 was renamed USS Terrell County (LST-1157) on 1 July 1955.
Terrell County departed the U.S. West Coast on 9 September 1955 for her first Western Pacific (WestPac) deployment. She operated out of ports in Okinawa and Japan before returning to the U.S. West Coast and resuming local operations.
Terrell County's second Western Pacific deployment commenced on 13 August 1957. In the succeeding months, she steamed a total of 25,600 nautical miles (47,411 kilometers), conducted three amphibious landing exercises and four troop lifts, and transported 500 vehicles and 1,500 men in five beachings and nine "marriages" to landing causeway sections. She also served as flagship for Landing Ship Squadron One.
The sudden flare-up of tension halfway around the world in Lebanon in 1958 temporarily interrupted Terrell County's routine. She sailed for Pearl Harbor and conducted emergency exercises in the Hawaiian area before the Middle Eastern crisis abated.
Departing the U.S. West Coast on 15 April 1959, Terrell County headed across the Pacific Ocean for her third Western Pacific deployment. She subsequently returned to San Diego in November and began an extensive overhaul.
On 16 June 1960, Terrell County departed the U.S. west Coast for her fourth Western Pacific cruise. In July, 1960 her permanent home port was changed from San Diego to Yokosuka, Japan. In the Far East, Terrell County participated in a wide variety of operations with beachings and landings of embarked United States Marines and their equipment. Occasionally, maneuvers with warships of other Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) member countries took place in locales ranging from Thailand to South Korea and from Borneo to the Philippine Islands. Liberties at Hong Kong and Tokyo brightened a sometimes uneventful deployment while typhoon evasions, too, were common occurrences.
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