USS LST - 389 USS " Boone County " ( LST - 389 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named for counties in Arkansas , Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Kentucky , Missouri , Nebraska , and West Virginia , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . LST - 389 was laid down on 20 June 1942 at Newport News , Virginia by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company ; launched on 28 September 1942 ; sponsored by Miss Clara Elizabeth Ashe ; and commissioned on 24 November 1942 with Lieutenant George C . Carpenter , USNR , in command . Service history . Mediterranean , 1942 – 1944 . After shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay , during which she also served as training ship for crews to be assigned to other tank landing ships , LST - 389 departed Norfolk on 19 February 1943 , bound for Bayonne , New Jersey where she took on board one tank landing craft ( LCT ) , United States Army troops , and a cargo of medical supplies . Sailing with convoy UGS 6A on 19 March , she proceeded via Bermuda to North Africa and reached Nemours , Algeria on 13 April . Soon shifting to the Arzew Naval Base , Algeria the ship became the flagship for Captain Frank Adams , Commander , LST Group 5 , Flotilla 2 . LST - 389 was soon involved in the campaign to invade Sicily , a steppingstone to Italy . Sicily . At 0905 on 8 July 1943 she beached at Scoglitti , Sicily and unloaded part of her cargo before retracting at 1030 . The ship next beached at Bracette Point , Sicily at 1850 , and disembarked troops and unloaded mobile equipment before she pulled free of the beach at 1958 to anchor off Cape Scalambri . At 2200 that evening , she witnessed numerous flares , bomb bursts , and artillery fire over the beach , two or three miles ( 5 km ) away , indicating that fierce fighting was still in progress on shore . At 1000 the following morning , the tank landing ship got underway and soon thereafter , beached south of Bracette Point , where she then discharged her tanks and vehicles . That day , LST - 389 suffered damage in a collision when could not change course in time to clear her while retracting . The two ships scraped each other and LST - 5 ' s anchor ripped a large hole in LST - 389 ' s starboard side . Over the next few days , enemy air power did its best to thwart the landings . Almost continuous air attacks harried the ships offshore on the evening of 9 July . On the 12th , she spent most of the day loading ammunition . On the 13th , she beached at Beach Red 1 and spent much of the day there , unloading the remainder of her cargo . At 2150 that day , an enemy plane dropped four bombs nearby . The closest landed on her starboard beam about away , but it caused no damage . Underway for Bizerte on 16 July , LST - 389 arrived there two days later for 10 days of repairs . She then sailed for Licata , Sicily and from that port made three trips to Palermo to lift Army troops and vehicles . Late in August , LST - 389 was fitted with a pontoon causeway section to be used during the invasion of the Italian mainland . She got underway on 1 September and soon joined a convoy for Italy . On the night of 8 September , on her way to the landing beaches , LST - 389 observed two twin - engine German bomber s attack accompanying minesweepers , narrowly missing them . For the balance of the night , frequent air raids prompted equally frequent orders to general quarters , but the tank landing ship survived many near misses without a scratch . Salerno . On 9 September , Vice Admiral H . Kent Hewitt ' s Western Naval Task Force began landing Lieutenant General Mark W . Clark ' s Allied 5th Army on the shores of the Gulf of Salerno . At 0855 , LST - 389 received orders to proceed to beach " Blue " near Agripoli . After minesweepers had cleared a path , exploding three mines in the process , LST - 389 started in . As the ship moved shoreward , shells exploded in the water and on the beach from enemy guns , which earlier that morning had driven off six tank - laden LCT ' s . The ship ground onto the strand at 1241 , but soon received orders to move to the more tenable " Red " beach . Heavy German artillery and machine gun fire continued to pound and sweep " Blue " beach so severely that it was dubbed one of the two invasion points " most difficult for the invaders to negotiate . " Under heavy fire , LST 389 attempted to comply with the orders but could not . Stuck fast to " Blue " beach , the gallant tank landing ship then proceeded to carry out her original orders . Her crew deployed the pontoon unit ; and , a little over an hour later at 1354 , the first tank roared out of the ship ' s gaping bow doors . By the time she finally managed to clear the beach at 1509 , LST - 389 had endured much at the hands of German gunners . Some 60 shells had been fired at the ship . At 1313 , a shell demolished the captain ' s cabin while wounding a number of men . Fire sweeping the exposed bridge prompted its abandonment , but two volunteers remained to maintain uninterrupted telephone contact with all stations on board . The crew of her lone gun claimed to have silenced two or three of the deadly German 88 - millimeter guns . Even after leaving " Blue " beach , LST 389 came under attack , this time from enemy bombers . Eighteen bombs fell close by that night , but caused no damage to the ship . The next night , heavy air attacks upon the ships commenced at 2220 . Less than 20 minutes later , four bombs fell close aboard LST - 389 , and , over the next half hour , nine more exploded nearby . Meanwhile , the ship ' s 20 - millimeter batteries kept the intruders under constant fire and scored a " few " hits . On the other hand , a 20 - millimeter shell ( probably from an adjacent ship ) exploded on the main deck just forward of the wheelhouse , wounding two LST 389 crewmen . The next morning , 11 September , seven more bombs burst close aboard , again jostling the ship . At about 0930 , a glider bomb disabled the nearby light cruiser . Finally departing Salerno on 11 September , LST - 389 sailed to Milazzo , Sicily to await orders which came soon and took her back to Salerno with elements of the famed British 8th Army embarked . During the remainder of September , LST - 389 made four more such trips followed by several runs carrying troops and supplies between Tripoli and Salerno . Released from this duty on 2 October , the ship proceeded to Oran , Algeria for repairs to the damage she had received at Salerno . Invasion of France , 1944 – 1945 . Clearing Oran on 12 November LST - 389 sailed for England in MKS - 30 , a convoy which endured a glider - bomb attack , launched by German Dornier bombers , without suffering any losses . Shortly before Thanksgiving the ship , now a veteran of two major amphibious landings , arrived at Plymouth and waited for orders . Following a period in drydock there for minor repairs beginning on 13 December , LST - 389 departed Plymouth on 20 December and reached Falmouth the same day . On Christmas Eve , she started preparing for the invasion of France . " " With the beginning of 1944 . . . " " wrote the ship ' s historian , " " . . . the ship moved from place to place , beaching , retracting , learning the new methods of war " . " Finally ending up in the Welsh port of Milford Haven , LST - 389 stayed there for the rest of January and all of February before shifting to Swansea , Wales for more training . After operating there until 27 April , LST - 389 proceeded to Lisahally on the shore of Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland to receive six 40 - millimeter and six 20 - millimeter guns . Following more repairs and alterations at Milford Haven , LST - 389 spent the rest of May training for the assault on Hitler ' s " Atlantic Wall . " Loading Army vehicles and embarking troops at Falmouth on 2 June 1944 she got underway on 4 June and proceeded to the task force anchorage where the ship lay until setting out for France on the following morning . After anchoring in Baie de la Seine at 0927 on 7 June , she began resupply operations for the Normandy beachhead that afternoon . One of her LCVP coxswain s suffered wounds at 1645 when his craft was hit on its way to the beach . The next morning , German planes braved heavy antiaircraft fire to attack the shipping off the invasion beaches . Four bombs landed in the sea near LST - 389 causing " minor hull vibrations . " The tank landing ship unloaded her embarked vehicles that afternoon , 8 June , and survived another nocturnal bombing attack at 0034 on the 9th before getting underway for Southampton later that morning . For the rest of June , LST - 389 shuttled supplies and men between Southampton and various beaches along the northern coast of France . Her cargoes included food , medical supplies , and vehicles . After the port ' s capture by the Allies in July , she added Cherbourg to her itinerary and , railroad track s having been installed in her tank deck , began carrying rolling stock in early September . In the course of these train - ferrying operations , LST - 389 struck an underwater obstruction at Grand Rade , Cherbourg , on 12 November . Major leaks in her main engine room resulted . Unable to make any headway against the rising water , the tank landing ship , aided by two tugboats , was beached . Seven hours of shoring , patching , and pumping freed the engine room of unwanted water . With the aid of British tugs , LST - 389 then completed her ferry mission before " LST - 355 " towed her back to Devonport , England . Following major repairs in drydock , the ship received an overhaul alongside before resuming active service in mid - January 1945 . She again shuttled railroad car s and passengers between England and France . While returning from Le Havre to Portland , Dorset , early on the fog - shrouded morning of 5 February , LST - 389 was rammed by the civilian merchantman SS " Chapel Hill Victory " . The collision ripped a hole wide in the tank landing ship from main deck to bottom and killed one member of her crew . LST - 389 then proceeded to Portland under her own power . After a week at anchor off Portland , LST - 389 put into Plymouth for another drydocking which lasted into late March . LST - 389 next made one trip carrying vehicles to Cherbourg and two more to Le Havre before she had LCT skids installed on her main deck at Falmouth . Return to the US , 1945 . Picking up and a " general cargo " at Plymouth , LST - 389 put into Belfast , Northern Ireland on 8 May , the day after Germany surrendered . On the 11th , she sailed in a convoy bound for the United States and reached Norfolk on the last day of the month . Following overhaul at New York , the ship proceeded to Little Creek , Virginia on 5 September 1945 . Since the war in the Pacific had ceased in mid - August , LST - 389 ' s orders to proceed to that area of the world were cancelled . Instead , she returned to New York to pick up another LCT and then sailed for Jacksonville , Florida . Decommissioning and transfer , 1945 – 1960 . She arrived at the Inactive Fleet Berthing Area at Green Cove Springs , Florida on 9 October 1945 and reported for duty with the Inactive Fleet . Decommissioned on 12 March 1946 she was placed in reserve on 1 July 1946 . LST - 389 remained in reserve , first at Green Cove Springs and later at Charleston , Mayport , and again in Green Cove Springs , through the 1950s . While inactive , she was named USS " Boone County " ( LST - 389 ) on 1 July 1955 . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1959 and the tank landing ship was transferred to Greece in May , 1960 . She became the Royal Hellenic Navy ship HS " Lesbos " ( L - 172 ) . LST - 389 received three battle star s for her World War II service . Greek service . During her service with the Hellenic Navy , she was involved in combat action in Cyprus on July 20 , 1974 ( CO Lt Cdr E . Handrinos , HN ) . She was in the Paphos area on a scheduled mission , carrying replacement personnel to the ELDYK , the permanent Greek military force based in Cyprus . There she attacked the Turkish Cypriot garrison of Paphos with her 40 mm gun and forced them to surrender .