USS LST-510

USS Buncombe County (LST-510) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Buncombe County, North Carolina, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. She currently serves as a ferry between New London, Connecticut, and Orient, Long Island. LST-510 was laid down on 27 September 1943 at Jeffersonville, Indiana, by the Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Company; launched on 30 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. C. P. Watson; and placed in reduced commission on 18 January 1944. Departing her builders' yard three days later, on 21 January, LST-510 proceeded down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, where she was placed in full commission on 31 January 1944. After fitting out, LST-510 carried out an abbreviated shakedown cruise to the vicinity of Panama City, Florida, returning to New Orleans in February for post-shakedown availability. On 1 March LST-510 loaded the 150-ton tank landing craft onto her upper deck. She then headed to New York City, where she embarked additional crewmen and took on board 600 tons of ammunition. From there, she proceeded via Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then left North American waters on 29 March in a 64-ship convoy. Like most passages of the North Atlantic during World War II, this one proved hazardous and chilling, both in the physical and the psychological sense. In one three-day period, she endured fog, sleet, and a wind that drove waves over her bow, and the occasional iceberg. U-boats caused the most concern for the convoy, torpedoing four ships in the convoy, one of them just away on LST-510s port quarter. On one occasion, maneuvers to evade the unseen enemy briefly threw the convoy into disorder in dense fog. To make matters worse, LST-510s engines broke down. All on board shared the certain fear that a torpedo would soon set off her explosive cargo until successful repairs allowed her to resume her harried voyage. LST-510 reached Derry, Northern Ireland safely on 13 April.