Atlantic and Caribbean Service
Following commissioning, LST-1168 was assigned to the United States Atlantic Fleet with a home port at Norfolk, Virginia. She spent the remainder of 1954 in training, shakedown, upkeep, and independent ship exercises.
On 14 February 1955, LST-1168 departed Norfolk for a three-month tour of duty in the Caribbean, operating from the Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. While in the Caribbean, the ship visited San Juan and Ponce, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. Upon returning to Norfolk in May, she engaged in exercises and spent the summer of 1955 on United States Naval Reserve cruises and midshipmen training exercises. Her name was changed from USS LST—1168 to USS Wexford County (LST-1168) on 1 July 1955.
In late 1955, Wexford County entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for overhaul and remained there into April 1956. She completed overhaul and arrived at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia Beach, Virginia, on 4 April 1956. The ship then participated in United States East Coast operations until July 1956, when she deployed to the Caribbean. After stops at Vieques Island and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, she returned briefly to Little Creek, then set out for the United States West Coast via the Panama Canal.
Read more about this topic: USS Wexford County (LST-1168)
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