The Indonesian Navy decommissioned the two of its remaining World War II-era landing ship tanks, the KRI Teluk Ratai (509) and KRI Teluk Bone (511) at Surabaya in August 2019.
The two were formerly a US Navy Landing ship tanks and given to Indonesian Navy in the ’60s and 70s. Both ships were actively involved in almost every military operations of the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) such as providing military sealift capability and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations.
The ship has a length of 100 meters, 15.5 meters wide and capable of carrying 20 tanks and 200 troops. It is also armed with 40 mm cannon, 37 mm anti-air attack and 12.7 mm machine guns.
Meanwhile, the Philippines has also this kind of stuff, and now it is grounded in Ayungin Shoal to guard our country’s Exclusive Economic Zone. This landing tankship is known as USS LST-821 and renamed USS Harnett County (LST-821/AGP-281). After the Vietnam War, Harnett County was transferred to the Philippine Navy and named as BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57).
The Philippine Navy ran aground this Landing ship tank in 1999 on Ayungin Shoal and served as an outpost of the Philippine Marine Corps. As of now, the ship works as a guardian of our country’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
