USS Bristol County

History
United States
Ordered	15 July 1966
Builder	National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
Laid down	13 February 1971
Launched	4 December 1971
Acquired	27 July 1972
Commissioned	5 August 1972
Decommissioned	29 July 1994
Stricken	29 July 1994
Motto	Shipshape 'n Bristol Fashion.
Fate	sold to Morocco, 16 August 1994
History
Morocco
Name	BDC Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah
Acquired	16 August 1994
Fate	In service
General characteristics
Class and type	Newport class tank landing ship
Displacement	5,190 long tons (5,273.3 t) (light),; 8,792 long tons (8,933.1 t) (full);
Length	522 ft (159.1 m) overall, 500 ft (152.4 m) at the waterline.
Beam	70 ft (21.34 m)
Draft	19 ft (5.79 m)
Propulsion	6 diesel engines, 16,000 brake horsepower, two shafts, Twin Controllable Pitch Screws; Bow Thruster - Single Screw, Controllable Pitch,;
Speed	20+ knots (37+ km/h)
Troops	Marine detachment:360 plus 40 surge
Complement	14 officers, 210 enlisted
Armament	4 × three-inch/50 caliber guns in two twin-barrel mounts {removed in a later alteration}; 1 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mount;

USS Bristol County (LST-1198) was a United States Navy Newport class tank landing ship.

Bristol County (LST-1198) was named after counties in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.^[1] She was laid down on 13 February 1971 at San Diego, California, by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company; launched on 4 December 1971; sponsored by Mrs. Robert Lee Town-send; and commissioned on 5 August 1972, Comdr. Donald L. Waggoner in command.^[1]

Following commissioning, Bristol County was assigned to the Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, with the home port of Long Beach. Her first full scale amphibious operation, BELL BANGO, took place at Camp Pendleton in 1973. Her first overseas deployment from January to July, 1974, including crossing the International Date Line and the Equator, for the first time. In the years that followed, the tank landing ship alternated amphibious training operations off the west coast of the United States with periodic, sustained deployments to the western Pacific. She maintained this cycle into the 1990s.^{[citation needed]}

In 1973 Bristol County's home port had been changed to San Diego's 32nd Street Naval Station; mooring at the southernmost piers 10, 11, 12 and rarely pier 13. During this period she was assigned to Commander, Amphibious Squadron Seven (COMPHIBRON SEVEN), which consisted of other ships in addition to Bristol County: the LPH USS Okinawa, LPD USS Juneau, LSDs USS Fort Fisher, Alamo and Point Defiance, and the LST Cayuga.^{[citation needed]}

Fate

Bristol County was decommissioned and struck 29 July 1994 and disposed of through the Security Assistance Program by cash sale to the Royal Moroccan Navy as BDC Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah (BSL-407) on 16 August 1994.^[2] The ship commemorates the 18th century sultan of Morocco Mohammed ben Abdallah.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.