USS LST - 356 USS " LST - 356 " was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . She earned three battle star s during the war and was decommissioned in July 1946 . In July 1955 , she was assigned the name USS " Bledsoe County " ( LST - 356 ) in honor of Bledsoe County , Tennessee , but never saw active service under that name . " Bledsoe County " was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in September 1960 and sold for scrapping in March 1961 . She was apparently sold into commercial service in 1962 instead , serving under several names over the next five years . In 1967 , she was acquired by the Indonesian Navy and renamed KRI " Teluk Tomini " ( 508 ) . In 2012 , the ship has pensioned and scrapped as scrap metal . Service history . " LST - 356 " was laid down on 7 September 1942 at the Charleston Navy Yard ; launched on 16 September 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . Harold Rivington Parker ; and commissioned on 22 December 1942 with Lieutenant George A . Jacquemot , USNR , in command . Mediterranean , 1943 – 1944 . Following shakedown in Chesapeake Bay and post - shakedown repairs at the New York Navy Yard , LST - 356 set out for the coast of Africa on 19 March 1943 . She stopped at Bermuda between 23 and 27 March and reached Senegal on 13 April . From there , she moved north and entered the Mediterranean Sea . For the next few weeks , she conducted shuttle runs between ports on the North Africa n coast ( Oran , Arzew , Tunis , and Bizerte ) before she took part in " Operation Husky " - the invasion of Sicily . For that assault , she beached at Beach Blue Two , in the " Cent " area on the afternoon of 10 July and unloaded her embarked tanks and other vehicles within an hour . Then , she turned to the task of unloading ammunition , gasoline , and general stores until directed to retract and lie to offshore . During the retraction phase , though , LST - 356 grounded on a sandbar on her port bow , rupturing a fuel tank in the auxiliary engine room . However , she managed to struggle free under her own power in about 20 minutes and then proceeded to the transport area . The following day , she resumed unloading , using her boats in the effort . Later , on the 12th , she assisted the in unloading her cargo despite frequent interruptions by enemy air raids . Beaching again on the 13th , the tank landing ship , helped by Army engineers , started to unload the remainder of her own cargo , and her crew completed the job on the 14th . Over the ensuing weeks , LST - 356 voyaged thrice to Sicilian ports bringing supplies into Scoglitti , Gela , and Palermo . During this time , she also carried a cargo of radar equipment and night fighter directing gear to the island of Ustica , some 40 miles north - northwest of Palermo . Before the year was out , the ship took part in her second amphibious action , " Operation Avalanche " , the invasion at Salerno , Italy . She arrived in the Gulf of Salerno on D - Day , 9 September , and immediately commenced discharging DUKW s . Upon completing this task some 40 minutes later , she lay to , ramp and bow doors secured , to await orders . During that period of inactivity , enemy planes appeared overhead , and the tank landing ship ’ s gunners joined in the fire to drive them off . LST - 356 launched pontoons and arrived off the beaching area at noon . She approached the beach under fire from shore batteries . Unloading her vehicles swiftly , LST - 356 , still under fire , retracted from the beach without difficulty suffering neither damage nor casualties . After retrieving her boats and embarking German prisoners of war , she returned to the rendezvous area . Underway again , LST - 356 , configured with a " flight deck , " began launching the first of four United States Army Piper L - 4A " Grasshoppers " for liaison missions . As she increased speed to flank , the first L - 4A took off , but narrowly missed the guardrail to the forecastle - mounted 40 - millimeter mount . The second took off two minutes later , but it struck the guardrail and fell into the sea off the starboard bow . Executing hard right rudder and stopping her engines , LST - 356 swung to starboard to avoid running down the splashed " Grasshopper . " Fortunately , a boat from the picked up the Army pilot , and the attack transport took him on board and treated his injuries . Determining the runway to be faulty , Lieutenant Jacquemot and the officer in charge of the planes decided against launching the other two L - 4As . For the rest of the day and throughout the night , LST - 356 remained in the vicinity , her crew at general quarters because of periodic enemy air attacks . On the 10th , LST - 356 set out in convoy for Bizerte and thereafter conducted follow - up trips from Bizerte to Salerno ; Tripoli to Salerno ; and Bizerte to Taranto , lifting both American and British troops and equipment . While engaged in one such mission on 15 September , LST - 356 came under " extremely heavy enemy shore - based gunfire " off Green Beach in the northern attack area . Shells landed on both sides of the ship , under the stern and on the beach immediately off the ramp ; but , except for a British Army passenger who suffered a severe leg wound , those embarked in LST - 356 again came through without a scratch . Invasion of France , 1944 – 1945 . Leaving the Mediterranean in the fall of 1943 , LST - 356 proceeded to England where she spent the ensuing months refitting and training for the Normandy invasion . While not part of the initial phase of " Operation Neptune , " she did take part in follow - up action . She sortied from the Thames in convoy , and arrived off Sword Beach early on the evening of 14 June , streaming her barrage balloon " to lethal height , " and made smoke during dusk and evening hours . Although sporadic air attacks punctuated the night , she withheld her fire in accordance with instructions from the beachhead commander . The following day , LST - 356 and six other American LST ' s received orders to proceed to " Queen Red " beach . An hour after high tide , the tank landing ship still had 10 feet of water at the ramp ' s end , making it obvious " " . . . that we would have to dry out in order to discharge our troops and vehicles " . " About an hour later , while waiting for the tide to recede , LST - 356 observed shellfire down the beach , from the direction of the Orne River , where the Germans were known to have placed artillery batteries . Within half an hour , the fire crept up the beach and began to fall close aboard . For the next four hours , LST - 356 lay exposed to the enemy guns , unable to return fire in her own defense since her 3 - inch gun had been removed during the recent refit . Around noon , the tide had withdrawn enough to permit unloading ; but a shell crater directly in front of the ramp held that task up until a woven steel mat was bridged the hole and allowed the first of 47 Canadian Army vehicles to cross it shoreward . Lieutenant Blanco made all passengers take cover behind the superstructure or under the trucks , and ordered his crew to remain under cover as much as their duties permitted . As a result there were no casualties . Within 50 minutes of the start , all vehicles had left the ship , and LST - 356 proceeded to the anchorage . A short time later , however , more long - range enemy shelling compelled her to move back out to sea , but not before a shell had whistled directly over her bow and penetrated the side of . In all , five LSTs took hits from the German guns and suffered damage . Between June 1944 and April 1945 , LST - 356 carried 39 loads of men and material across the English Channel . Decommissioning and sale , 1945 – 1960 . Sent home in May 1945 for a thorough overhaul , she remained at the Hoboken , New Jersey yards of the Bethlehem Steel Company , undergoing repairs and alterations until the end of July 1945 . Clearing New York on 9 August , LST - 356 conducted post - overhaul shakedown in Chesapeake Bay until late August . The tank landing ship then visited New York from 21 to 29 August . At the end of August , she sailed from New York on her way to deactivation in Florida . Pausing at Hampton Roads from 30 August to 13 September , the tank landing ship continued via Morehead City , North Carolina to Jacksonville , Florida . Reporting to the 16th Fleet on 26 September 1945 LST - 356 was decommissioned on 2 July 1946 and was berthed with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs , Florida . Although named USS " Bledsoe County " ( LST - 356 ) on 1 July 1955 the tank landing ship never returned to active service . Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 September 1960 and she was sold to the Mechanical Equipment Company of New Orleans on 8 March 1961 for scrapping . LST - 356 earned three battle star s during World War II .