LST 325

[nashvillen]

Not a LST used in the pacific theatre, but a LST nonetheless! She is in Nashville this week and my wife and I are going to tour her this weekend after the Titan's game.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... ck_check=1

We will take plenty of pictures to post here!

[Schanilec]

Cool!

[Justus2]

It is a very neat ship (and my avatar)! It visited Peoria last year, well worth the trip. I have a soft spot in my heart for the LSTs, my grandfather was too old to join the Army in WWII, but went to work building LSTs in Seneca, IL (Shipyard on the Prairie) and then they would float them down the river to New Orleans.

[Skyros]

Darn I was just in Nashville last weekend. I always miss the good stuff. They used to use LSTs as the fery from New London Ct to Orient Point NY. Boy did they bounce around even light weather.

[cdnice]

I saw a documentary on either the Military channel or Discovery, hero Ships on the volunteers working on this ship, was very good.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1238186/

[nashvillen]

Photos as promised (all taken with my phone camera as I forgot my regular camera, some good, some not so good, my phone does not like CF bulbs...):







These above five were taken from the pedestrian bridge on the way to the Lions/Titans game. A little grainy from zooming in. The last one looks better, but more city than LST [:(]







These five are approaching the ship after the game. Note the long line! Number 3 and 4 are waiting in line. The last is a "famous" General that served in the ETO... Lots of kids got their picture taken.






These three are of the Tank Deck. I shook every crewman's hand and told them how I really appreciated the opportunity to be on such a historic vessel. One fellow asked me how much I knew about these ships. I told him I had read some books and done other research about quite a few vessels of WWII. He asked me when D-Day was. I asked him which invasion. Sicily, Normandy, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, etc. He smiled an understanding smile. If he only knew the group I hung out with! [&o]





Maintenance rooms. Nice assortment of tools and machines to work on almost anything to keep the ship going!



Secondary engine room. Sealed with thick plexiglas, no way to get down there to take better pictures. [:(]



Winch in the aft end of the Tank Deck.



Crew making dinner! There are forty-five members of the crew while she was in Nashville. They eat and sleep on the ship while they are there.





Aft AAA weapons. The last one was restored as an Eagle project!



Me on the Main Deck looking towards the bow. The aft galley/officers country/bridge superstructure is behind me.







These five are some my wife took, her camera worked better in the Tank Deck. All but the first were from the Tank Deck and are medical related. (She is a Nurse) The first one was above the Bridge and we assume it is from the Greek Navy history of this ship.

[rjopel]

Cool

[mikkey]

nice, thanks for sharing, nashvillen

[CaptDave]

Nice pictures of the vessel. And the one of you is sufficient to prove you're a model railroader!

[nashvillen]

What is it that gave it away? The CSX camo cap or the girth? [:D]

[jmalter]

thx for the pics, nashvillen.

LST 325 visited Pittsburgh last year, Dad & I went down to check it out. tons of folks were lined up to go aboard when we arrived, so we just crashed the line at around the 25% mark. needless to say, we were getting the hairy eyeball from our neighbors - then a guy from the crew came down on patrol, asking, "Any veterans here?"

my aged parent was pleased to say yes, & the crewman told us to go right up to the front! we were aboard in short order, & enjoyed the tour v. much. i was just fascinated to walk around in the 'living history'.

coupla' things i'd like to note:
- the pic of the shield w/ the Greek letters denotes her name in the Greek navy, "Syros".
- her 'ships papers' name is now "M/V LST Memorial", and interesting tales of her journey back from Crete to Mobile are available at the site lstmemorial.org
- BPOil (of gulf-spill ill-repute) donated the diesel fuel to fill her tanks for the trip home.

[morganbj]

The "general" looks like a douchebag. Gig line crooked, footgear too large, tie not correct, ...

... and it seems to me that's the wrong uniform for a high ranking flag officer in the ETO.

If he's supposed to be Patton, he should be tossed overboard and replaced. [8|]

[KPAX]

This helps to put things in perspective seeing the pictures.

As an Allied player we get, what like 1-2 or these a day!

So just consolidate and move them around without really thinking much about them – “Heck, they are not combat ships, just move them and forget about them”.

Yet 10,000’s of men served on them, and what, like a million sit on them wafting to be unloaded on some far away beach, with a name they had never heard of 6 months before all the time most of them hoping to see their 21st birthday!

Hats off to ALL you vets!

[KPAX]

Nash or anyone .....

Do you know how long it will be there and the hours it is open each day?

I will be down there in that part of the ocuntry in a week and would love to see it.

[nashvillen]

Sorry, she was scheduled to leave yesterday for Evansville, IN, her home port.

[KPAX]

Can she be toured in her home port?

How long will it take for the journey back?

EDIT found it ... thanks.

[Nikademus]

thx for posting the pics. Always forget how big these "Ships" are.

[wadail]

If you ever find yourself near Tulsa, OK it is worth the trip down to Muskogee, OK (As in "Proud to be an Okie from Muskogee") to visit the USS Batfish War Memorial Park. The centerpiece is a Balao class submarine launched in 1943.

[Nikademus]

I've visited a couple US Gato/Balao class subs in my time. Always a cool experience. Even got to visit a Cold War era Foxtrot sub once when it was in Seattle which was neat.

The sub I REALLY want to visit now is the U-505. One of these days i'll get out there. [:)]