USS LST-356

USS LST-356 was an LST-1-class tank landing ship built

for the United States Navy during World War II. She
earned three battle stars 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 ve 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.[1]

Charles Carroll (APA-28) 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 ghter 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
DUKWs. 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 ships gunners
joined in the re to drive them o.

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.

1.1

LST-356 launched pontoons and arrived o the beaching

area at noon. She approached the beach under re from
shore batteries. Unloading her vehicles swiftly, LST356, still under re, retracted from the beach without
diculty suering neither damage nor casualties. After retrieving her boats and embarking German prisoners of war, she returned to the rendezvous area. Underway again, LST-356, congured with a ight deck, began launching the rst of four United States Army Piper
L-4A Grasshoppers for liaison missions. As she increased speed to ank, the rst L-4A took o, but narrowly missed the guardrail to the forecastle-mounted 40millimeter mount. The second took o two minutes later,
but it struck the guardrail and fell into the sea o 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 Procyon (AKA-2) 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 ocer 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.

Mediterranean , 19431944

Following shakedown in Chesapeake Bay and postshakedown repairs at the New York Navy Yard, LST356 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 African 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 oshore. 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 On the 10th, LST-356 set out in convoy for Bizerte
in about 20 minutes and then proceeded to the transport and thereafter conducted follow-up trips from Bizerte to
Salerno; Tripoli to Salerno; and Bizerte to Taranto, lifting
area.
both American and British troops and equipment. While
The following day, she resumed unloading, using her engaged in one such mission on 15 September, LST-356
boats in the eort. Later, on the 12th, she assisted the
1

came under extremely heavy enemy shore-based gunre o Green Beach in the northern attack area. Shells
landed on both sides of the ship, under the stern and on
the beach immediately o the ramp; but, except for a
British Army passenger who suered a severe leg wound,
those embarked in LST-356 again came through without
a scratch.

1.2

Invasion of France, 19441945

EXTERNAL LINKS

1.3 Decommissioning and sale, 19451960

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.

Leaving the Mediterranean in the fall of 1943, LST356 proceeded to England where she spent the ensuing
months retting 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 o Sword Beach
early on the evening of 14 June, streaming her barrage LST-356 earned three battle stars during World War II.
balloon to lethal height, and made smoke during dusk
and evening hours. Although sporadic air attacks punctuated the night, she withheld her re in accordance with
2 References
instructions from the beachhead commander.

The following day, LST-356 and six other American [1] May 19, 2012 - Kapal kapal perang saksi sejarah, beLSTs received orders to proceed to Queen Red beach.
rakhir di kuburan besi tua.
An hour after high tide, the tank landing ship still had
10 feet of water at the ramps end, making it obvious
"...that we would have to dry out in order to discharge our 3 External links
troops and vehicles. About an hour later, while waiting
for the tide to recede, LST-356 observed shellre down
the beach, from the direction of the Orne River, where This article incorporates text from the public domain
the Germans were known to have placed artillery bat- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
teries. Within half an hour, the re crept up the beach
"Bledsoe County". Dictionary of American Naval
and began to fall close aboard. For the next four hours,
Fighting Ships. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
LST-356 lay exposed to the enemy guns, unable to return
re in her own defense since her 3-inch gun had been re LST-356 Bledsoe County". Amphibious Photo
moved during the recent ret. Around noon, the tide had
Archive. Retrieved 5 April 2007.
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 rst 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 LST-360. In all,
ve LSTs took hits from the German guns and suered
damage. Between June 1944 and April 1945, LST-356
carried 39 loads of men and material across the English
Channel.

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