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

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Named after

Dukes County, Massachusetts Dukes County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,600, making it the second-least populous county in Massachusetts. Its county seat is Edgartown. Dukes County comprises the Vine ...

, 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, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...

. In 1962 she was commissioned into

Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World W ...

service.

Construction and career

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

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

by the

Dravo Corporation Dravo Corporation was a shipbuilding company with shipyards in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded by Frank and Ralph Dravo in Pittsburgh in 1891. The corporation went public in 1936 and in 1998 it was bought out by Carmeuse for $ ...

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 1,084 at the 2010 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 ( , ,New Orleans

, 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 ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

(August 1944);

Lingayen Gulf The 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. The Agno River and the Balil ...

landing (January 1945);

Zambales Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales ( fil, Lalawigan ng Zambales; ilo, Probinsia ti Zambales; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Zambales''; xsb, Probinsya nin Zambales), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon re ...

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 Sub ...

(January 1945); and the assault and occupation of

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

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 {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

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 inch (4.8 mm) 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 ser ...

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, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

) 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 invasions. However, as amphibious invasions have become unlikely, they are now used as general comma ...

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 The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (Mk 41 VLS) is a shipborne missile canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System (VLS) concept was derived from work on the Aegis C ...

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

. In 2021 the vessel was fitted with the Sea Oryx missile system.

Gallery

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

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

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...

''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) was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom ...

"Chickasaw"

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

(left) and a

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

(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