USSJerome County (LST-848) operating off the coast ofOahu, Hawaii, 15 June 1968
History
United States
Name	USSLST-848
Builder	American Bridge Company,Ambridge, Pennsylvania
Laid down	6 November 1944
Launched	21 December 1944
Commissioned	20 January 1945
Decommissioned	10 August 1946
Renamed	USSJerome County (LST-848), 1 July 1955
Recommissioned	7 December 1959
Decommissioned	1 April 1970
Honours and awards	5battle stars,Presidential Unit Citation,Meritorious Unit Commendation (Vietnam)
Fate	Leased toSouth Vietnam, April 1970
South Vietnam
Name	RVNNha Trang (HQ-505)
Acquired	April 1970
Fate	Escaped to thePhilippines, April 1975
Philippines
Name	RPSAgusan del Sur (1975), BRPAgusan del Sur (1980)
Acquired	April 1975
Decommissioned	1986
Fate	Sold for scrap 1992
General characteristics
Class and type	LST-542-classtank landing ship
Displacement	1,490 long tons (1,514 t) light 4,080 long tons (4,145 t) full
Length	328 ft (100 m)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	Unloaded : 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) forward 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) aft Loaded : 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) forward 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) aft
Propulsion	2 ×General Motors12-567diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
Speed	12knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 ×LCVPs
Troops	16 officers, 147 enlisted men
Complement	7 officers, 104 enlisted men
Armament	8 ×40 mm guns 12 ×20 mm guns

USSJerome County (LST-848) was anLST-542-classtank landing ship built for theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. Named afterJerome County, Idaho, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

USSLST-848 was laid down on 6 November 1944 atAmbridge, Pennsylvania by theAmerican Bridge Company;launched on 21 December 1944, sponsored by Mrs. F. D. Porter; andcommissioned on 20 January 1945.

Following shakedown offFlorida, LST-848 departedNew Orleans on 24 February for thePacific. After touchingBalboa, Panama in theCanal Zone and West Coast ports, she proceeded toHawaii, arriving atKalua Harbor on 9 April. For the next six weeks, she engaged in amphibious exercises in the Hawaiian Islands before sailing to theMarianas. Arriving atGuam on 11 June,LST-848 shuttled troops and equipment from the Marianas toOkinawa for the duration of World War II.

WhenJapan accepted Allied peace terms, thereby ending the war, the landing ship was assigned to transport occupation forces in theFar East. Operating between thePhilippines and Japan,LST-848 carried troops, vehicles, and cargo to support American forces in the Pacific. She departed Japan in early December and, after stays atSaipan andPearl Harbor, arrived atSan Francisco on 11 February 1946. Following operations along the West Coast, she sailed toAstoria, Oregon early in April and decommissioned atVancouver, Washington on 10 August 1946.

While berthed with the Columbia River group,Pacific Reserve Fleet,LST-848 was namedUSSJerome County (LST-848) on 1 July 1955.

Jerome County recommissioned on 7 December 1959, then completed a shakedown along the Pacific coast. On 14 May 1960 she departed fromSan Pedro, Los Angeles for mid-Pacific missile operations out ofMidway Island. After five months in support of the U.S. missile program, she returned toSan Diego late October. During 1961,Jerome County participated in amphibious training exercises along theCalifornia coast; then on 12 January 1962 she sailed for the mid-Pacific. Assigned to "Operation Dominic", she performed weather studies, charting, and communications during the U.S. nuclear tests of that year. The veteran LST returned to San Diego on 18 August to resume amphibious training exercises. From August 1962 until August 1965Jerome County usually operated along the West Coast in addition to two mid-Pacific deployments.

Following the increased American commitment to assist theSouth Vietnamese government in their struggle againstCommunist aggression,Jerome County sailed forSoutheast Asia on 10 August 1965. ArrivingChu Lai, South Vietnam on 11 September, she supported U.S. operations in Asia for the next three months. The landing ship returned San Diego on 22 December.Jerome County sailed again for the Far East on 3 March 1966 and arrived atDa Nang, South Vietnam, on 8 April. She unloaded her cargo and continued shuttling supplies, ammunition, and equipment in and out of the war zone until departing fromSubic Bay on 1 September for home. She arrived at San Diego on 13 October and operated along the West Coast for the remainder of the year and into 1967 preparing for future action.

In mid-1969 a planned fourthSoutheast Asian deployment was cancelled, andJerome County was instead prepared for transfer abroad. Decommissioned again on 1 April 1970 she was turned over, via lease, to theRepublic of Vietnam Navy that same month. She became the Republic of Vietnam Navy shipRVNNha Trang (HQ-505) in April 1970. Five years later, at the fall ofSouth Vietnam, she escaped to thePhilippines and subsequently became thePhilippine Navy'sRPSAgusan Del Sur (LT-54). The ship was decommissioned by 1986, and was discarded by the Philippine Navy about 1992. Her final fate is unknown.

LST-848 earned one award of thePresidential Unit Citation, one award of theMeritorious Unit Commendation, and fivebattle stars for theVietnam War.

 This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be foundhere andhere.

• "LST-848Jerome County".Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved26 July 2007.

• Friedman, Norman (2002).US Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History.Naval Institute Press.ISBN 1-55750-250-1.

• History of USSJerome County (LST-848)

• LST-542-class tank landing ships
• Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Philippine Navy
• Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Republic of Vietnam Navy
• World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States
• Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States
• Vietnam War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States
• Jerome County, Idaho
• Ships built in Ambridge, Pennsylvania
• 1944 ships

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships