Transcript
Visiting the LST 325 Floating Museum
Greetings, today we visit the LST museum, located on the Ohio River waterfront in Evansville, Indiana.
Greetings, in this episode we visit Evansville Indiana and the LST 325 museum.
Tied to a pier on the Ohio River in downtown Evansville, the LST 325 is one of two functional LST's left in the United States.
The LST
The acronym LST stands for the name Landing Ship, Tank. Soldiers that were transported on the ships claimed that the acronym stood for Slow Moving Target. This was not inaccurate as the 300' long ships only moved at about 10 knots, which is about 11.5 miles per hour. Enemy gunners used them as prime targets during an assault. The flat bottoms of the ships made for rough riding, even in calm seas. Seasickness was a common malady for soldiers traveling on the lST. After the craft landed and ordinance and soldiers deployed many times the ships remained beached and served as hospitals for soldiers wounded in the fighting. The ship could cross open seas as well as bays and rivers.
The Evansville Shipyard played a key role in the construction of LSTs. The Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co. contracted with the United States government to construct LSTs in early 1942. Evansville city residents found out that the city would have a shipyard on February 14, 1942 in an article published by the Evansville Courier. Construction on the shipyard took place on 40 acres of derelict river front property. The first LST was completed even before the shipyard was done. The workforce eventually reaching over 19,000 workers. The shipyard produced the boat at a pace of 2 per week, eventually building 167 LSTs. They also produced 24 ships and 35 other military craft of various types. The yard was the largest inland shipyard in the United States. The last ship was launched on December 12, 1945. A fire in January 1946 destroyed the facility.
Developed by the British for amphibious assaults, the LST's design allows it to beach itself on virtually any beach, deploy a ramp and unload various types of military equipment like tanks, jeeps, trucks and troops. The British and Americans then collaborated to come up with a common design for the ships. A door on the bow of the ship could open, after which a ramp was lowered onto the beach and the cargo unloaded. The keel of the ship was flat, allowing the ship to rest with its bow on the beach while the boat remained upright. LSTs were used in every war theater during the war from the European theater to the Pacific. The United States constructed 1000 LSTs while the British built 80 more.
The LST 325 was not constructed in Evansville. Workers laid the keel down on August 10, 1942 at the Philadelphia Shipyard. It was launched on October 27, 1942. The ship received its commission on February 1, 1943 with Lieutenant Ira Ehrensall in command. Ensign Clifford E. Mosier would replace him during its shakedown cruise in Norfolk, Virginia harbor. The ship's next destination was New York, after which it would sail for Oran, Algeria. There the crew practiced loading and beaching operations as it ferried both US and British troops and supplies between Arzew and Mostaganem. It first combat operations when it sailed for La Goulette in the Bay of Tunis, arriving on June 28, 1943, to participate in the invasion of Sicily. It would later support the invasion of Salerno, Italy. On November 12, 1943 the ship set sail for England, arriving on November 25, 1943. During the voyage the convoy that the ship accompanied came under attack by German bombers using their newly developed radio controlled bombs. The German squadron sank several transport ships and one passenger on the LST 325 was wounded by shrapnel. From December 1943 until March 1944 the ship and crew participated in training exercises on the English coast. In June 1944 the ship participated in D-Day as a transport for back up troops that landed on Omaha Beach. Over the next year it would make 43 round trips between England and France. After the war the ship returned to Norfolk, after being almost sunk by a rogue wave inflicted a large crack across the main deck. Engineers managed to repair the damage and the ship sailed on. From there it sailed to New Orleans where it was repaired during July and August 1945. It was destined to participate in the invasion of Japan, however Japan surrendered before the ship could depart. Instead it sailed to Panama and then returned for decommissioning July 2, 1946. She would be reactivated briefly in 1951, 1961 and 1963. She was transferred to Greece where she would serve in the Greek Navy from 1964 until 1999, when she was decommissioned for the last time. The The USS Ship Memorial, Inc. acquired the ship. The members of the group travled to Greece and made repairs to the ship. They sailed it across the Atlantic to Mobile, Alabama where she arrived on January 10, 2001. She sailed up the Mississippi and Ohio River and docked at Evansville for a 10 day stay. More than 35,000 people toured the boat during this time. After leaving Evansville, she made an excursion along the East Coast, stopping at Alexandria, Virginia, and Buzzard's Bay, Boston, Gloucester, Massachusetts during a 60 day tour. In 2018 the ship was moved to Evansville to serve as a museum. The ship still sails on an excursion cruise during the months of August through October. Cruise times and destination are determined annually.
The ship is open for tours as designate hours.
LST 325
812-435-8678
325office@lstmemorial.org
You can find a video version of this podcast on my Mossy Feet Books You Tube channel as well as my substack newsletter, History, Gardening and stuff. A link to the newsletter is on the web site.
Information about this site and many others sites in Indiana are found in my book Southwest Indiana Road Trips. The book is part of my 9 book Road Trip Indiana Series which has day trip destinations for every region and county in Indiana. Destinations include state and local parks, museums, wineries, farmers markets and even drive in theaters and bowling alleys.
You can find these books on my website, www.mossyfeetbooks.com. There are links to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple as well as many other online book sellers. You can also purchase the books direct from me. Residents of southeastern Indiana can find a large selection of my books at the Walnut Street Variety Shop on George Street in downtown Batesville, Indiana.
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