USS Mahnomen County ( LST - 912 ) USS " Mahnomen County " ( LST - 912 ) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named after Mahnomen County , Minnesota , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . Originally laid down as LST - 912 by the Bethlehem - Hingham Shipyard , Inc . of Hingham , Massachusetts on 5 February 1944 ; launched on 22 April 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . Hazel B . Leppe ; and commissioned on 21 May 1944 with Lieutenant Lloyd R . White in command . Service history . World War II , 1944 – 1945 . Assigned to the 7th Amphibious Fleet , " LST - 912 " sailed in convoy on 25 June for the Admiralty Islands , via Bora Bora , Societies , and Nouméa , New Caledonia , arriving Seeadler Harbor , Manus on 23 August to unload her cargo of one LCT and sections of another . She steamed for New Guinea on 8 September , arriving $ 3 , Hollandia two days later for exercises until 22 September , when she departed for Morotai Island . Following her arrival the 27th , " LST - 912 " s guns helped drive off an enemy bomber which raided the harbor area . On 29 September " LST - 912 " proceeded to Soemoe Island to embark men and equipment of the 113th Naval Construction Battalion for transfer to Hollandia . Despite harassment of her task unit by three enemy aircraft the next day , she reached Hollandia on 5 October . Five days later she moved on to " Pie Beach " to take on Army troops and equipment for the invasion of the Philippines . The landing ship joined a task group off Hollandia on 16 October , and , entering Leyte Gulf on the 22nd , ran through the surf to land her soldiers at " White Beach . " " LST - 912 " then served as an emergency evacuation hospital , receiving six Army casualties the 23rd , before retiring to Hollandia six days later . On 3 November the tank landing ship sailed to Wakde Airfield on Wakde Island off the coast of New Guinea to embark troops of the 303rd Airdrome Squadron for passage to Leyte . Just as she finished debarking her troops at " Yellow Beach , " a Japanese A6M Zero roared in and began strafing the shore . Her guns quickly brought the plane down and " LST - 912 " headed for New Guinea , arriving Hollandia six days later . After loading equipment and personnel of the 79th Army Engineer Construction Battalion on 23 December , " LST - 912 " sortied with a task group for Lingayen Gulf the 26th , via Sansapor , New Guinea . On the evening of 7 January 1945 a Japanese destroyer closing the formation in the Surigao Straits was intercepted and sunk . At 02 : 55 Japanese planes attacked the task group and three hours later a " Val " careened into the LST killing four men , the vessel ' s only wartime casualties . Arriving off Lingayen Gulf on 9 January , " LST - 912 " discharged her cargo and men on " White Beach " the next day . The next two days were spent under constant enemy fire until she steamed back to Leyte Gulf , arriving the 17th to repeat the cycle . Back in Leyte Gulf on 5 February , " LST - 912 " took on units of the 13th AAF on the 17th ; landed the group at Mindoro Island , Philippines , the 22nd ; embarked parts of an Army Engineer Battalion of the 30th Quartermaster Company for the invasion of Palawan Island on 28 February ; and departed Mindoro the 26th . The ship received four Army casualties at Puerto Princesa , Palawan for passage on 2 March to Mindoro . She continued transport trips between Mindoro and Palawan until the 12th when she departed for Manila with the 866th Engineer Aviation Battalion on board , arriving the following day . Her next amphibious operation was Legaspi , Philippines , when she took LCM - 468 in tow on 28 March at Subic Bay , and arrived off Lemery , Luzon the 30th to embark the 158th Regimental Combat Team for the invasion of Legaspi on 1 April , the last amphibious operation in the Philippines . " LST - 912 " moved troop units in Legaspi through 8 April ; then steamed for Mindoro , arriving Marguin Bay on 11 April . After the landing ship debarked equipment at Zamboanga on 19 April , she departed for Pollac Harbor on 21 April to disembark supply troops seven days later for the continuing effort to liberate the Philippines . On the 29th " LST - 912 " moved on to the next naval objective , the Borneo landings . Following her arrival at Biak Island on 7 May , units of an RAAF airfield construction squadron came on board for an assault at Brunei Bay , Borneo on 10 June . While remaining off the beaches receiving casualties , she received orders on 18 July to transport Australian service personnel to the Kuala Belait area . She returned to Leyte Gulf on the 26th and was there when the Japanese surrender was declared on 15 August . Post - war activities , 1945 – 1955 . The LST was involved in occupation duties until December , visiting Morotai and Luzon , Philippines ; Sendai and Yokosuka , Japan ; and Guam before arriving at Iwo Jima on 20 December to load Army supplies for the United States . " LST - 912 " reached San Diego on 21 January 1946 . Reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet , she sailed via the Panama Canal for the Gulf of Mexico on the 30th , arriving New Orleans on 20 February to continue in commission with the 16th Reserve Fleet . On 30 October 1946 she was returned to active status and departed the Washington Navy Yard for two years of duty with the Amphibious Force at Little Creek , Virginia . Assigned to the 6th Fleet in July 1948 " LST - 912 " departed Morehead City , North Carolina on 5 September for Europe , arriving Tangiers the 23rd . She cruised the Mediterranean into 1949 , visiting Sicily ; Tripoli , Libya ; Bizerte , Tunisia ; Malta ; and Marseille , France , before returning to Morehead City on 6 February 1949 . From 8 to 16 March the landing ship participated in the annual Caribbean amphibious exercises of " Operation Springboard . " " LST - 912 " continued to conduct amphibious training out of Little Creek with occasional trips to the West Indies until 1955 . From 28 July to 13 August 1952 she was anchored off Thule , Greenland resupplying an American airfield as part of " Operation Bluejay . " " LST - 912 " was placed in reserve in January 1955 . On 1 July she was renamed USS " Mahnomen County " ( LST - 912 ) . On 25 August she decommissioned and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs , Florida . Vietnam , 1963 – 1966 . " Mahnomen County " recommissioned at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 27 March 1963 with Lieutenant ( j . g . ) John H . Withers in command . Assigned to Reserve LST Squadron 2 , she served for the next three years in the 5th Naval District , operating along the Atlantic coast from New York to the Bahamas . On 21 December 1965 " Mahnomen County " was again placed in the active fleet ; and on 27 January 1966 departed Little Creek for Charleston , South Carolina , arriving the 29th to embark Army supplies . The next day she sailed for Southeast Asia with the and , stopping at Pearl Harbor from 4 March to 21 April before continuing on to Vietnam via Okinawa , arriving Vung Tau on 27 May . She operated as a military transport and supply ship between Sasebo , Japan ; Subic Bay , Philippine Islands ; Kaohsiung , Taiwan ; and Phan Rang , Vietnam through the next seven months , supporting the effort to curb Communist aggression in South Vietnam . On 3 December " Mahnomen County " departed Kaohsiung for Vietnam , docking at Chu Lai on the 18th . On 30 December she was driven ashore by the 18 - foot surf and high wind of a typhoon . Attempts to refloat the wrecked LST during January 1967 were unsuccessful . " Mahnomen County " was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 July 1967 , and , stripped of any salvageable materials , her hull was demolished by the Navy Support Detachment at Chu Lai . Awards . " Mahnomen County " earned four battle star s for World War II service and two campaign star s for Vietnam War service .