USS ''Dukes County'' (LST-735) was an built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Named after

Dukes County, Massachusetts Dukes County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 20,600, making it the List of counties in Massachusetts#List of Counties, second-least populo ...

, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. In 1957 she was decommissioned and leased to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. In 1962 she was commissioned into

Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN, Chinese, 中華民國海軍) , colloquially known as the Taiwanese Navy ( Chinese, 台湾海军) by Western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Navy ( Chinese, 國軍海軍) ...

service.

Construction and career

''LST-735'' was laid down on 30 January 1944 at

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

by the

Dravo Corporation Dravo Corporation was an American shipbuilding company with shipyards in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh and Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded by Frank and Ralph Dravo in Pittsburgh in 1891. The corporation Initial public offering, went pub ...

Neville Island Neville Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its land area consists entirely of Neville Island, which is an island on the Ohio River. The population was 1,108 at the 2020 census. History The island was forme ...

; launched on 11 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. G. W. Fearnside; and commissioned on 26 April 1944 at

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana.

Service in the United States Navy

During World War II, ''LST-735'' was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the following operations: capture and occupation of

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

(August 1944);

Lingayen Gulf Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central (Luzon), Cordillera Central. The Agno ...

landing (January 1945);

Zambales Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales (; ; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is Iba, Zambales, Iba, which is located in t ...

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

(January 1945); and the assault and occupation of

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

Gunto (March through June 1945). ''LST-735'' was decommissioned in March 1946 and reactivated on 3 November 1950 when she performed service during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and after with Commander Mine Forces, Pacific. Assigned as a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

support ship in July 1951, she made a Korean War deployment in 1952-53 and had additional Western Pacific tours in 1953-54 and 1955–56. Renamed USS ''Dukes County'' (LST-735) 1 July 1955. ''LST-735'' earned four

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

s for World War II service and three for Korean service.

Service in the Republic of China Navy

The ship was subsequently decommissioned (date unknown) and leased to the

(

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

) in May 1957 and again renamed ''Chung Hsi'' (LST-219). She was outfitted in January 1962 as an

amphibious command ship An amphibious command ship (LCC) of the United States Navy is a large, special-purpose ship, originally designed to command large Amphibious warfare, amphibious invasions. However, as amphibious invasions have become unlikely, they are now us ...

and renamed ''Kao Hsiung'' (AGC-1, later LCC-1). Struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 1 November 1974, she was sold to Taiwan. Kao Hsiung later underwent refurbishment along with the rest of the ROCN's fleet of tank landing ships and is still serving with the ROC Navy and was visited in March 2012 by Fleet Master Chief John Minyard of Pacific Fleet Command. He reported that she is in outstanding condition and is battle ready. In 2016 she was selected to host as Mark 41 Vertical Launching System test bed for Taiwan. In November 2019 it was reported that she had been decommissioned and was being used as a test ship for the Hsun Lien naval combat system project and had been fitted with a large phased array radar system and the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System. In 2021 the vessel was fitted with the

Sea Oryx The Sea Oryx ( zh, t=海劍羚飛彈系統, p=Hǎi jiàn líng fēidàn xìtǒng) is a lightweight, infrared homing short-range air defense system developed for the Republic of China Navy, Republic of China (Taiwan) Navy. Based on the Sky Sword ...

missile system.

Gallery

File:LST-735.jpg, ''LST-735'' off

Wonsan Wonsan (), previously known as Wonsanjin (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwon Province (North Korea), Kangwon Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

''c''. 1953 File:LST-735 choppers on deck.jpg, ''LST-735'' off Wonsan, Korea ''c.'' 1953 with a

Sikorsky H-19 The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (company model number S-55) is a multi-purpose piston-engined helicopter that was used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwin ...

"Chickasaw"

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

(left) and a

Sikorsky H-5 The Sikorsky H-5 (initially designated R-5 and also known by company designations S-48, S-51 and VS-327Fitzsimons, Bernard, (general editor). ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 20, p ...

(right) File:高雄港船艦 - panoramio (1).jpg, ''Kao Hsiung'' on 28 June 2012 File:ROCN Kao Hsiung (LCC-1) Shipped in No.1 Pier of Zhongzheng Naval Base Left Front View 20130504.jpg, ''Kao Hsiung'' on 4 May 2013 File:Visitors in Front of ROCN Kao Hsiung (LCC-1) 20151024.jpg, ''Kao Hsiung'' on 24 October 2015

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dukes County LST-542-class tank landing ships Ships built in Pittsburgh 1944 ships World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Korean War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Dukes County, Massachusetts LST-542-class tank landing ships of the Republic of China Navy Ships built by Dravo Corporation