LST:New Photos for Bill & Sig by Buffalo1
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Description
Bill (bmac62) and Sig (junge1) suggested I get out and take some new pics. (Yes, I am still using my trusty Olympus film camera.) LST (Landing Ship Tank) 325 was visiting Chester, Illinois on the Mississippi River last weekend, so I took my camera out and went for a look see. Here she is fore and aft!
LST 325 was launched in October of 1942 at Philadelphia, PA. She served in the European Theater at the invasions of Sicily and Salerno in Italy before going to Britain for the invasion of France. She went ashore on Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944 and sailed the supply run from England to France for the next year. 325 was badly damaged in an Atlantic storm on her return to the USA, but was repaired and fitted with the "Brodie" system for launching and retrieving light spotter planes for the invasion of Japan. After the war she was decommissioned from 1946 to '51 then returned for Arctic service hauling supplies to build radar stations in Canada and Greenland until her second retirement in 1961. In 1964 she entered the Greek Navy as the "Syros," which is the name displayed in Greek on the top photo, and served until 1999. With a volunteer crew aboard, she returned to the USA in an epic 6,500 mile journey from Crete to Mobile Bay in 2000. LST 325 now makes her home in Evansville, Indiana on the Ohio River. She sails every summer as a living memorial to the "Greatest Generation" who built and sailed on these amazing ships.
Top Photo: The open bow doors lead to the main deck which could carry a variety of vehicles, including tanks, right on to the beach. Single and twin 40mm AA guns are visible. LSTs also carried up to a dozen 20mm AA guns on single mounts.
Bottom Photo: The stern shows the twin 40mm AA mount and a LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel) or "Higgins Boat" on the davits.
LSTs were called "Large Slow Targets" and the US Navy expected many to be lost in combat. 50+ in US and British service were lost to all causes of the 1100 LSTs that were built.
Comments (20)
sandra46
wonderful capture, it looks you enjoyed yourselves!
flavia49
fantastic image
Sea_Dog
Excellent shots and narrative.
brigadier
Great shot. Haven't seen one of those in many years.
junge1
These are fantastic shots of this LST. This Landing Ship has been around and the lettering must be Greek since it was where she had served last. I cannot imagine crossing the Atlantic, or Pacific, in this. Thanks for the extensive narrative Roger!
HADCANCER
No plane, No babe, are you sick?
erlandpil
fantastic image erland
neiwil
That is some barge, and what a history.... 50+ out of 1100 is not so bad, and testament to the build and defence quality of the boat.Great to see 325 in good hands and such good shape, a very vibrant living link to those dark times....
T.Rex
Thanks for the photos and the history. While they were called Large Slow Targets, they were so shallow in draft that torpedos passed under them (to the detriment of ships steaming beside them!). Much of the aircraft were concentrating on larger ships of value to spend dangerous flying time and munitions to attack these vessels. Yet, they were the most important ones, getting men and equipment on shore. If you have any more photos of this, would you please post them? As for the Olympus camera, I still use mine from 1981. Fine grain negative film scanned and reversed to positive in Photoshop turns out great. Keep up the good work! :-)
debbielove
Rog! I didn't even know there were any of these still sailing around! Brilliant! I am SO pleased that at least over there in my other 'home', they care about their troops and history.. Here, it is a sad case of our history is ignored, our equipment scraped or sold ASAP, and our troops treated as second class citizens.. Shame.. Well done for showing mate, Fave! Rob
Rainastorm
To cool, really...the size of this sucker is intimidating to a lil gal like me who knows nada about ships...but sure is breathtaking. Awesome post!
bmac62
Hi Roger! Thanks for the dedi mate and for pulling the ol' Pentax out for a rerun...kind of like what the old Navy vets did with ol' 325. I read about the guys that sailed her back home shortly after they recovered her. Another labor of love well done:) What does the sign say on the side? Looks like, "Fueled With......?"
texboy
and the fact they were flat-bottomed meant rough going in heavy seas.... most of the LST captains I met were Mustangs (came up from enlisted) and tough as nails.... good work, bud!
Buffalo1
Bill,the last word on the banner is biodiesel.
Lashia
Great capture- thanks for sharing! :) By the way, have you checked out the Halloween Photography Contest! "Zombie Apocalypse!"
jocko500
this is cool. never saw a bow open up on a ship before.
Richardphotos
a most interesting and superb capture
tallpindo
There were some new LST's built that carried vehicles to Desert Storm powered by some troublesome steam turbines. Most of the WW_II ones had 6 GM 6-71's.
rainbows
Wonderful captures and dedication, dear Rodge. Sterling work. Hugs for all day. Di. xx
tennesseecowgirl
Great images, I am glad you got out there to see this.