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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Dukes County (LST-735)
ex
USS LST-735 (1944 - 1955)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Charlie - Yankee
NGCY

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal
Second Row - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (3) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation
Third Row - Philippines Liberation Medal (2) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korean War Service Medal

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USS Dukes County (LST-735) was transferred to Taiwan and renamed ROCS Chung Hsi (LST-219)

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During World War II USS LST-735 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
For Okinawa only
LST Flotilla Sixteen, CAPT. N. W. Sears;
LST Group Forty-Seven, CDR. L. A. Drexler USN (23);
LST Division Ninety-Three and participated in the following campaigns

Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Saipan, 5 to 6 August 1944	Manila Bay-Bicol operations Zambales-Subic Bay, 29 to 30 January 1945
Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landing, 9 January 1945	Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 25 March to 24 June 1945

During the Korean War USS LST-735 participated in the following campaigns

Korean War Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 16 September to 17 October 1952 10 to 30 November 1952 1 to 11 December 1952 31 December 1952 to 31 January 1953 23 February to 31 March 1953	Korea Summer-Fall 1953 1 to 10 May 1953
Third Korean Winter 19 to 30 April 1953

Final Disposition, fate unknown

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Specifications:

Displacement

1,625 t.(lt)

4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)

2,366 t.

Length 328' o.a.

Beam 50'

Draft

light 2' 4" fwd, 7' 6" aft

sea-going 8' 3" fwd, 14' 1" aft

landing 3' 11" fwd, 9' 10" aft (landing w/500 ton load)

limiting 11' 2"

maximum navigation 14' 1"

Speed 11.6 kts. (trial)

Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons

Complement

13 officers

104 enlisted

Troop Accommodations

16 officers

147 enlisted

Boats 2 LCVP

Cargo Capacity (varied with mission - payloads between 1600 and 1900 tons)

Typical loads

One Landing Craft Tank (LCT), tanks, wheeled and tracked vehicles, artillery, construction equipment and military supplies. A ramp or elevator forward allowed vehicles access to tank deck from main deck

Additional capacity included sectional pontoons carried on each side of vessel amidships, to either build Rhino Barges or use as causeways. Married to the bow ramp, the causeways would enabled payloads to be delivered ashore from deeper water or where a beachhead would not allow the vessel to be grounded forward after ballasting

Armament (varied with availability when each vessel was outfitted. Retro-fitting was accomplished throughout WWII. The ultimate armament design for United States vessels was

2 - Twin 40MM gun mounts w/Mk. 51 directors

4 - Single 40MM gun mounts

12 single 20MM gun mounts

Fuel Capacity

Diesel 4,300 Bbls

Propulsion

two General Motors 12-567A, 900hp Diesel engines

single Falk Main Reduction Gears

three Diesel-drive 100Kw 230V D.C. Ship's Service Generators

two propellers, 1,700shp

twin rudders

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source / Contributed By
USS LST-735
1016073514	114k	A Japanese kamikaze crashes about 20 metres away from USS LST-735 off Kerama Retto, 2 April 1945. Photo was taken from the Escort Carrier USS Lunga Point (CVE-94). U.S. Navy photo from the USS Lunga Point (CVE-94) 1944-1945 cruise book, p. 91.		Robert Hurst
1016062204	199k	USS LST-735 and USS LST-622 moored at either Okinawa or Guam in 1945.		David Wright
	88k	USS LST-735 serving as mother ship for seven minesweepers, probably in a Japanese port, circa 1952-54. Ships nested alongside are: USS Gull (AMS-16); USS Firecrest (AMS-10); USS Condor (AMS-5); USS Merganser (AMS-26); USS Osprey (AMS-28); USS Competent (AM-316); USS Chief (AM-315). US Navy photo # NH 68589 Courtesy US Naval Institute, James C. Fahey Collection.		US Naval Historical Center
	58k	USS LST-735 off Wonson, Korea, circa 1953.		Wayne Schafer
	44k	USS LST-735 off Wonson, Korea, circa 1953.		Wayne Schafer
USS Dukes County (LST-735)
	86k	USS Dukes County (LST-735) with USS Kite MSC(O)-22 at Sasebo, Japan, October 1955.		Photo by Stan Cochran USS Kite
ROCS Chung Hsi (LST-219)
	30k	Ex-Dukes County (LST-735) in Taiwanese naval service as ROCS Chung Hsi (LST-219), date unknown. Official Chinese Navy photo from "Jane's Fighting Ships".		Robert Hurst
ROCS Kao Hsiung (AGC-1)
	94k	Ex-ROCS Chung Hsi (LST-219) underway as ROCS Kao Hsiung (AGC-1), date and location unknown.
ROCS Kao Hsiung (LCC-1)
	208k	ROCS Kao Hsiung (LCC-1) holding and open house, date and location unknown. Photos by Ching Chun		YU Chu
	274k
	302k
	151k
1016073512	45k	ROCS Kao Hsiung (LCC-1) underway, date and location unknown. United Daily News, China		Alan Chiu
	185k	ROCS Kao Hsiung (LCC-1), underway, date and location unknown. ROCS Kao Hsiung (LCC-1) was transformed in early 2019 into a sea trail platform for the major combat systems developed for ROCN's new FFG, including Passive Phase Array Radar(PESA), IFF, fire control system and a MK-41 launcher for Tien Kung III anti-air missile. The National Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) is developing a phased array Multi-Function Radar for the ROC Navy’s next generation frigate. The system will guide the vertically launched Hai Kung 3 and Hai Chien 2 air defense missiles also developed by the NCSIST. Two Mk 41 VLS were delivered to Taiwan earlier this year in support of this program. This photo was posted on a Taiwanese newspaper (UDN) website		Yu Chu and Raymond Cheung
1016073513	18k	Two Kuang Hua VI-class missile boats escorting the amphibious command ship, ROCS Kao Hsiung (LCC-1) (Ex-USS Dukes County (LST-735), on which the Taiwanese version of Aegis combat system is under testing, date unknown. Youtube video		Dave Shirlaw
1016073515	123k	ROCS Kao Hsiung (LCC-1) tied up pierside at Kaohsiung, 28 June 2012. Photo courtesy Foxy Who, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license		Robert Hurst
1016073516	163k	ROCS Kao Hsiung (LCC-1) undergoing repair overhaul, 4 May 2013, at Chiang Kai-shek Naval Port Pier 1 Photo by Xuan Shisheng, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.		Robert Hurst

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USS Dukes County (LST-735)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. Aldous, Theodore F. USN	26 April 1944 - March 1946
02	LTjg. Larsen, Herman Colle, USN	March 1946 - July 1946
	Decommissioned	1946 - 3 November 1950
03	LT. Smith, G. F.	3 November 1950 - ?
04	LCDR. Gaffney, William Stowell, USN	no dates
05	LT/LCDR. Mohr Phil Franklin, USN	1954 - 7 September 1956
06	LT. Keen, Timothy Joseph, USN	7 September 1956 - 20 May 1957

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
The USS LST Ship Memorial
LST Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 22 March 2024