 Decommissioned at the Inactive Ship Facility, Orange, Texas, on 16 October 1970, "Wahkiakum County" was transferred to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) at Brooklyn, New York on 10 April 1972.Reclassified as a United States Naval Ship (USNS) -- indicating non-commissioned U.S. Navy service with a largely civilian crew—and as T-LST-1162, the now-USNS "Wahkiakum County" operated with MSC as a cargo ship until struck from the Navy List in 1973; sources disagree on the date on which she was struck, claiming it was either on 11 January 1973 or on 11 November 1973.She was then laid up.