USS LST-325

USS "LST-325" is a decommissioned tank landing ship of the United States Navy, now docked in Evansville, Indiana. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her hull designation (LSTs in service after July, 1955 were named after U.S. counties and parishes).

LST-325 was launched on October 27, 1942, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The ship operated in the North Africa area and participated in the invasions at Gela, Sicily and Salerno, Italy. On June 6, 1944, LST-325 became part of the largest armada in history by participating in the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach. It carried 59 vehicles, 31 officers and a total of 408 enlisted men on that first trip. On its first trip back to England from France, 325 hauled 38 casualties back to a friendly port. Over the next nine months, Navy records show LST-325 made more than 40 trips back and forth across the English Channel, carrying thousands of men and pieces of equipment that troops needed to successfully complete the liberation of Europe. The ship continued to run supply trips between England and France before returning to the United States in March 1945.

LST-325 was decommissioned in 1946 and sent to Greece on September 1, 1964, as part of the grant-in-aid program. The USS LST Memorial, Inc., a group of retired military men, acquired the LST 325 in 2000. They paid their way to Greece, made the necessary repairs to the ship and sailed it back to the United States, arriving in Mobile Harbor on January 10, 2001. In 2003, LST-325 made a sentimental journey up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The 10-day stop in Evansville, Indiana, allowed more than 35,000 people to take a tour. In May and June 2005, she sailed up the east coast under her own power for a 60-day tour of several ports, visiting Alexandria, Virginia, and Buzzard's Bay, Boston, Gloucester, Massachusetts. LST-325 is the last navigable LST in operation in the U.S. She is undergoing constant maintenance and restoration, and is in tip-top shape, according to her crew. On October 1, 2005 Evansville, Indiana, became her home port (although this ship still visits other ports each year).

Evansville Museum

During World War II, the Evansville, Indiana, riverfront was transformed into a 45-acre shipyard to produce LSTs. At its peak, the Evansville Shipyard employed a workforce of over 19,000 and completed two of these massive ships per week, becoming the largest inland producer of LSTs in the nation. Although the Evansville Shipyard was originally contracted to produce 24 ships, 167 LSTs and 35 other vessels were built in Evansville. LST-325 is now home ported in Evansville as a memorial to LSTs and the city's War effort.

External links

* [http://www.lstmemorial.org The USS LST Ship Memorial]
* [http://www.hnsa.org/ships/lst325.htm HNSA Web Page: USS LST-325]
* [http://www.cargolaw.com/presentations_lst325.html CargoLaw] details of the veterans' (average age 72!) epic journey, from the cargolaw website