&sq=&lang=&file=File:USS_Sumter_(LST-1181)_stbd_beam_view.jpg) USS Sumter (LST-1181)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Sumter |
| Namesake | Sumter, South Carolina |
| Ordered | 29 December 1965 |
| Builder | Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down | 14 November 1967 |
| Launched | 13 December 1969 |
| Commissioned | 20 June 1970 |
| Decommissioned | 30 September 1993 |
| Stricken | 23 July 2002 |
| Identification | LST-1181 |
| Fate | Transferred to Taiwan through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), 29 September 2000 |
| Badge | &sq=&lang=&file=File:USS_Sumter_(LST-1181)_insignia,_in_1990.png) |
 Taiwan | |
| Name | ROCS Chung Ping |
| Acquired | 29 September 2000 |
| Commissioned | 8 May 1997 |
| Identification | LST-233 |
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type | Newport-class tank landing ship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 69 ft 6 in (21.2 m) |
| Draft | 17 ft 6 in (5.3 m) max |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) max |
| Range | 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Troops | 431 max |
| Complement | 213 |
| Sensors and processing systems |
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| Armament | 2 × twin 3-inch/50-caliber guns |
| Aviation facilities | Helicopter deck |
USS Sumter (LST-1181) was the third of twenty Newport-class tank landing ships in service with the United States Navy, which replaced the traditional bow door-design tank landing ships (LSTs). Sumter was constructed by Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was launched in 1969. The ship entered service in 1970, was assigned to the Pacific coast of the United States and deployed to the western Pacific twice during the Vietnam War. In 1973, Sumter was reassigned to the Atlantic coast and took part in operations in along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea. The LST was decommissioned in 1993.
In 1995, Sumter was acquired on loan by the Republic of China Navy (ROCN). The vessel was taken to Newport News Shipbuilding to be refitted before re-commissioning into the ROCN in 1997 as ROCS Chung Ping. The LST was acquired outright in 2000 and remains in active service.