USS Hunterdon County ( LST - 838 ) USS " Hunterdon County " ( LST - 838 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II , and later reconfigured and recommissioned for riverine warfare during the Vietnam War . Named after Hunterdon County , New Jersey , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . USS " LST - 838 " was laid down on 20 September 1944 at Ambridge , Pennsylvania by the American Bridge Company ; launched on 8 November 1944 ; sponsored by Miss Margaret Foster ; and commissioned on 4 December 1944 with Lieutenant Allan T . Larkins , Jr . , in command . Service history . World War II , 1944 – 1946 . After shakedown off Florida , " LST - 838 " loaded heavy construction equipment at New Orleans and departed on 5 January 1945 . Loading troops and additional cargo at Pearl Harbor , the landing ship sailed to the Mariana Islands , arriving at Guam on 4 March . She unloaded her cargo , then steamed to Saipan where she loaded equipment and embarked units of the 130th Naval Construction Battalion for the invasion of Okinawa , sailing on 25 March . " LST - 838 " arrived off the southern Okinawa beaches on 1 April . Despite determined efforts by the enemy , Allied forces succeeded in securing a beachhead . On D - Day , after was struck by a suicide plane , " LST - 838 " recovered 79 survivors from the heavily damaged ship . The landing ship stood off the coast of Okinawa until 13 April when she approached Green Beach to discharge Seabees and construction equipment . The following day during one of the many raids she shot down a Japanese aircraft . Departing Okinawa on the 16th , " LST - 838 " arrived at Ulithi six days later . For the rest of the war she transported men and equipment throughout the South and Western Pacific Islands . Following the end of the war , " LST - 838 " moved men and equipment to Japan for occupation duties . She remained in the Far East until 7 November , when she departed Yokohama for Guam ; then embarked 544 Army veterans and steamed to the United States , arriving at San Francisco on 23 December . She was decommissioned on 7 August 1946 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet . On 1 July 1955 she was redesignated USS " Hunterdon County " ( LST - 838 ) . Vietnam War , 1966 – 1974 . Recommissioned on 10 September 1966 at the Mare Island Navy Yard , Vallejo , California , " Hunterdon County " saw extensive service during the Vietnam War , operating as part of Operation Game Warden , a brown - water navy effort to keep the rivers free of Viet Cong infiltrators . On 12 May 1970 , it was the first U . S . Navy commissioned vessel to enter Cambodia , rearming and refueling helicopters that belonged to the U . S . Army and Navy , as well as the Air Force of the Republic of Vietnam . According to " The Jackstaff News , " the official Navy paper for " U . S . Naval Forces II , III , and IV Corps Vietnam " : The Hunterdon County was the first U . S . ship to cross the Cambodian border , 12 May [ 1970 ] , after President Nixon ' s decision to enter that country . It remained there and continued to provide support to the Vietnamese armed forces and their U . S . Army and Navy advisors longer than any other ship of its type , according to Navy officials . The ship ' s credits in Vietnam include capturing one of the largest Viet Cong caches in the Delta on 29 March 1969 , and establishing the record for the furthest transit of the Bassac River by a U . S . commissioned vessel in August of that same year . The ship was subsequently reclassified as Patrol Craft Tender USS " Hunterdon County " ( AGP - 838 ) . Transfer to Malaysia , 1974 . Transferred to Malaysia on 1 August 1974 under the Security Assistance Program , she was renamed KD " Sri Langkawi " ( A1500 ) for service in the Royal Malaysian Navy , and struck from the Naval Vessel Register the same day . Her final fate is unknown . Awards . " LST - 838 " earned one battle star for World War II service . Additionally , " Hunterdon County " earned seven battle stars , two awards of the Presidential Unit Citation , and four awards of the Navy Unit Commendation for the Vietnam War .