USS Maricopa County ( LST - 938 ) USS " Maricopa County " ( LST - 938 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named after Maricopa County , Arizona , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . Originally laid down as " LST - 938 " on 14 July 1944 at Hingham , Massachusetts by the Bethlehem - Hingham Shipyard , Inc . ; launched on 15 August 1944 ; and commissioned on 9 September 1944 with Ensign W . H . Limes in command . Service history . World War II , 1944 – 1945 . Completion of shakedown in Chesapeake Bay brought assignment to the 7th Fleet . With " LCT - 1210 " aboard , she departed New York on 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 on 16 December . Having taken on supplies for a PT base on 7 January 1945 , she joined a convoy for the partially liberated Philippines , where she operated for next four months . On 10 March elements of the 41st Infantry Division were put ashore at Zamboanga on the southwest tip of Mindanao . Further south an invasion was pending and on 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 Australian 7th Infantry Division to the assault beaches at Balikpapan , Borneo , Dutch East Indies . Unscathed after the landing operations of 1 July and the follow - up resupply missions , she returned to the Philippines on 27 July . Post - war activities , 1945 – 1949 . As the war ended , the ship embarked occupation troops and discharged them at Tokyo on 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 on 12 July 1946 until December 1949 , " LST - 938 " served as Naval Reserve training ship first at Bayonne , New Jersey , and later at Gulfport , Mississippi . Deactivation followed at Green Cove Springs , Florida , where she decommissioned and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . 1951 – 1962 . The outbreak of war in Korea brought reactivation and she was recommissioned on 14 December 1951 , Lt . H . W . Childress in command . " LST - 938 " was based at the Naval Amphibious Base , Little Creek , Virginia , and served as a Marine Corps training ship . During the next 4½ years she carried out operations from Greenland to the Caribbean area . On 1 July 1955 she was named USS " Maricopa County " ( LST - 938 ) . Decommissioning and transfer . Following an inactivation overhaul at New York she reached Green Cove Springs on 2 December 1955 and decommissioned on 29 February 1956 . Late in October 1961 " Maricopa County " was towed to Philadelphia Navy Yard and prepared for a new career . Struck from the Navy List on 1 June 1962 she was transferred to South Vietnam and commissioned in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS " Da Nang " ( HQ - 501 ) on 12 July 1962 . Captured by the North Vietnamese around the time of the fall of Saigon , on 29 April 1975 , the ship was placed in service with the Vietnamese People ' s Navy and renamed " Tran Khanh Du " ( HQ - 501 ) . Awards . " LST - 938 " earned two battle star s for World War II service .