USS Iredell County

USS Iredell County (LST-839) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II.

[1] Originally laid down as USS LST-839 by the American Bridge Company of Ambridge, Pennsylvania, on 25 September 1944; the ship was launched on 12 November 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Arthur Lehner; and commissioned at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 6 December 1944.

There she prepared to support the invasion of Okinawa; and, after embarking Seabees and loading construction equipment, she sailed on 12 April for that strategic island, which lay at the gateway to the heart of the Japanese Empire.

The enemy's acceptance of Allied peace terms precluded an invasion, and the landing ship then operated between the Philippines and Japan, transporting occupation forces until mid-November.

In April 1969, she once again returned to Da Nang, via Subic Bay in the Philippines, and continued shuttling materials to Cửa Việt Base, Tan My, and Chu Lai.

She continued to serve the Pacific Fleet and participate operations underway in Southeast Asia until July 1970 when she was decommissioned and transferred (loaned) under terms of the Security Assistance Program to Indonesia.

Renamed KRI Teluk Bone, the ship was struck from the Naval Vessel Register and sold outright to Indonesia in February 1979 and still active in service with Indonesian Navy as of December 2018.