>From the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships," 

(1969) Vol. 4, p.238





MARICOPA COUNTY





	A county in Arizona named after the Maricopa Indians 

who inhabited the Gila River valley of Arizona.





LST-938

Displacement:  1,625 t.

Length:  328'

Beam:  50'1"

Draft:  11'2"

Speed:  11.6 k.

Complement:  119

Armament:  8 40mm; 12 20mm

Class:  LST-511



	LST-938 was laid down 14 July 1944 by Bethlehem Steel 

Co., Hingham, Mass.; launched 15 August 1944; and 

commissioned 9 September 1944, Ens. H. W. Limes in command.



	Completion of shakedown in Chesapeake Bay brought 

assignment to the 7th Fleet.  With LCT-1210 aboard, she 

departed New York 18 October 1944 and rendezvoused with a 

convoy near Guantanamo en route the South Pacific.  Pausing 

briefly in the New Hebrides, LST-938 sailed on to Seeadler 

Harbor, Admiralty Islands, and commenced unloading 

16 December.



	Having taken on supplies for a PT base, 7 January 1945, 

she joined a convoy for the partially liberated Philippines, 

where she operated for next 4 months.  On 10 March, elements 

of the 41st Army Division were put ashore at Zamboanga on 

the southwest tip of Mindanao.  Further south, an invasion 

was pending and 28 April LST-938 departed Leyte and steamed 

to Cairns, Australia.  Illustrating the cooperative nature 

of the war effort, LST-938 transported elements of the 7th 

Australian Infantry Division to the assault beaches at 

Balikpapan, Borneo, Dutch East Indies.  Unscathed after the 

landing operations of 1 July and the followup resupply 

missions, she returned to the Philippines 27 July.



	As World War II ended, the ship embarked occupation 

troops and discharged them at Tokyo 15 September.  LST-938 

continued to serve in the Japanese occupation until 

30 November.  Her next assignment placed her on duty along 

the China coast until 13 May 1946.  The ship then departed 

Tsingtao and returned to the United States.



	From her arrival on the east coast 12 July 1946 until 

December 1949, LST-938 served as Naval Reserve training 

ship, first at Bayonne, N.J., and later at Gulfport, Miss.  

Deactivation followed at Green Cove Springs, Fla., where she 

decommissioned and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.



	Police action in Korea brought reactivation and she 

recommissioned 14 December 1951, Lt. H. W. Childress in 

command.  Truce negotiations were already underway as 

LST-938 based at the Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, 

Va., and began her duties as a Marine Corps training ship.  

During the next 4 1/2 years, she carried out operations from 

Greenland to the Caribbean area.  On 1 July 1955 she was 

named MARICOPA COUNTY (LST-938).  Following an inactivation 

overhaul at New York, she reached Green Cove Springs 

2 December 1955 and decommissioned 29 February 1956.  Late 

in October 1961, MARICOPA COUNTY was towed to Philadelphia 

Navy Yard and prepared for a new career.  Stricken from the 

Navy list 1 June 1962 she transferred to Vietnam and 

commissioned as DA NANG (HQ-501) 12 July 1962.  She has thus 

returned to the Far East to continue the struggle for 

freedom and serves the Vietnamese Navy into 1969.



	MARICOPA COUNTY received five battle stars for World 

War II service.



	[DA NANG (HQ-501) was captured by the North Vietnamese 

around the time of the fall of Saigon on 29 April 1975.  

Referred to in at least one reference as TRAN KHANH DU, 

HQ-501 was still on active duty with the Vietnamese Navy as 

late as May 1999, although “Jane’s” says she is “seldom seen 

at sea.”]



“Jane’s Fighting Ships, 1977-78,” p.751; “1999-2000,” p.870

Internet Web Site:

	United States Naval & Shipbuilding Museum

		www.uss-salem.org/worldnav/asiapac/vietnam.htm#aux





Transcribed by Michael Hansen

mhansen2@home.com