Columbia, followed by local operations off California. Sumter had a restricted availability period at the Todd Shipyard in San Pedro from 21 November 1971 until 7 January 1972. The ship continued local operations until deploying to the western Pacific on 31 March, for a tour that did not end until 6 December 1972. Sumter then returned to Long Beach for an upkeep period. Sumter sailed from Long Beach, on 6 January 1973, for the east coast of the United States. The ship transited the Panama Canal on 19 January and arrived at Little Creek, Virginia, her new home port, on 29 January. The following six months were spent in periods of upkeep and independent steaming cruises. On 29 August, Sumter sailed to Morehead City, North Carolina, where the LST embarked Marines, and then steamed to join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Sumter called at ports in Spain, Turkey, Sardinia, Sicily, Italy, Crete, and Greece before returning to Little Creek on 10 December 1973. On 12 February 1974, Sumter sailed to Morehead City to embark Marines for exercises in the Caribbean Sea and returned to Little Creek on 8 March. In April the LST made a voyage to Boston and, the following month, held additional exercises in the Caribbean before returning to her homeport on 3 July. Sumter sailed from Little Creek, on 16 August 1974, en route to the Mediterranean and a second tour with the 6th Fleet into 1975. Sumter earned two engagement stars for service in the Vietnam War. The LST continued to alternate operations between the east coast of the United States and deployments in the Caribbean and Mediterranean into 1978. 17 August 1986 Sumter sortied to embark Marines at Morehead City to begin the first phase of Deployment Northern Wedding 1986. On 28 August the ship crossed the Arctic Circle en route to the Norwegian fjords. This cruise continued with visits or transits of Norway, Scotland, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, England, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Eastern Mediterranean, Sicily, Italy, France and Spain. The LST was decommissioned on 30 September 1993. Republic of China Navy service Sumter was leased by the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) on 1 July 1995 and sent to Newport News Shipbuilding for a refit. There the vessel's main armament of 3-inch guns were removed and replaced with two twin Bofors /60 gun mounts. Cheng Feng III electronic countermeasures, WD 2A electronic warfare