USS LST - 279 USS " Berkeley County " ( LST - 279 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named for counties in South Carolina and West Virginia , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . LST - 279 was laid down on 2 July 1943 at Ambridge , Pennsylvania by the American Bridge Company ; launched on 19 September 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Marion Ruth Warsack ; and commissioned at New Orleans , Louisiana on 25 October 1943 with Lieutenant Charles A . Palm , USNR , in command . Service history . World War II , 1943 – 1945 . After fitting out at the Naval Station Algiers , New Orleans , LST - 279 loaded supplies and ammunition before proceeding to St . Andrews Bay , Panama City , Florida for her shakedown cruise . While there , her crew practiced beach maneuvers and held communications and gunnery drills . In mid - November , she returned to New Orleans where the tank landing ship ( LST ) received minor alterations at the Pendleton Ship Yards . She then proceeded independently to New York , and from there on to Davisville , Rhode Island to load supplies and cargo . Moving on to Halifax , Nova Scotia in early January 1944 , she got underway in convoy for Europe later that month . After arriving at Plymouth , England on 7 February and unloading tank deck cargo , the LST engaged in various training maneuvers between Plymouth , Salcombe , and Dartmouth off the southern coast of England . Assigned to Flotilla 28 in May , the tank landing ship was placed under British operational control for the upcoming landings in France . She then spent the days immediately before the Normandy invasion in the western Solent , Southampton , undergoing further training with British troops . On 6 June 1944 LST - 279 moved from Southampton to Portsmouth , where she loaded British troops and vehicles before joining a convoy for Normandy . On the morning of 7 June , the tank landing ship beached and unloaded her charges in the Green sector of Juno Beach . Casualties then came on board for the return trip to Portsmouth . On her next convoy run , however , the tank landing ship ran into trouble . German E - boat s , operating from Cherbourg , torpedo ed the ocean tug and closed the LST convoy . Before nearby escorts drove off the attackers , one E - boat torpedo narrowly missed LST - 279 , passing 20 feet from her bow , but went on to damage instead . Over the next two months , LST - 279 made over a dozen more shuttle trips , carrying troops , ammunition , and supplies from England to the beachheads in France . Starting in August 1944 , she made routine operational trips from Portland , England , to the Normandy beaches and to the French ports of Rouen , Le Havre , Cherbourg , and Saint - Michel - en - Grève . By the time she departed for home in June 1945 , LST - 279 had made 74 Channel crossings in support of the Allied armies in Europe . After unloading cargo at Norfolk , Virginia the tank landing ship proceeded to New Orleans for maintenance availability and repairs . Following a short post - repair cruise to Galveston , Texas LST - 279 moved to Green Cove Springs , Florida on the St . Johns River in Florida , where she joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on 12 October 1945 . LST - 279 was decommissioned there on 27 June 1946 . Atlantic Fleet , 1951 – 1955 . On 20 July 1950 in consequence of the June 1950 invasion of South Korea by communist North Korea and the ensuing mobilization of units in the reserve fleet , the tank landing ship was tapped for activation the following year . On 5 April 1951 LST - 279 was recommissioned at Green Cove Springs and reported to the Atlantic Fleet for duty . The tank landing ship operated out of Norfolk for the next three and a half years , carrying out a variety of training missions and hauling cargo up and down the east coast . In January 1955 she sailed south , passed through the Panama Canal , and steamed to Long Beach , California . There , LST - 279 commenced inactivation procedures after being transferred to the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 1 February . LST - 279 was decommissioned at Long Beach on 14 June 1955 . China , 1955 – 1978 . On 30 June 1955 , the tank landing ship was transferred to the Nationalist Chinese Navy , in which she served as " Chung Chih " ( LST - 218 ) . Although named USS " Berkeley County " ( LST - 279 ) on 1 July 1955 she never returned to Navy service , and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 April 1960 . The tank landing ship served in the Taiwanese Navy until scrapped sometime during 1978 . LST - 279 earned one battle star for World War II service .