Crusty old sailors

Anchored on the Ohio river on the Evansville, IN waterfront, is an old ship. Now what's interesting to me about this ship is the story of the men who saved it from the scrap yard.

This ship is the LST 325. It landed men and equipment on the beaches at Normandy.


After the war, the ship was given to Greece as part of the lend/lease program. They used it until 1999 and then consigned it to the scrap heap.

A group of US Navy guys decided to rescue it and bring it home. The thing that's so amazing, is this group of guys fought in WWII. Now you don't have to do hard math to understand these guys were all over 70.

The ship was in deplorable condition. So these men (about 100) went to Greece and over a few months time made it reasonably sea worthy. Essentially nothing had been done to it since it was built in 1942.




This is the first deck down. Sherman tanks were shackled to this deck for the voyage to Europe. Two rows of tanks ran from bow to stern.



The ship was designed to run right up onto the beach. A ramp on the tank deck lowered for the equipment to drive directly on to the land.

This ship is flat bottomed, sort of like a giant pontoon. Imagine it rocking and rolling across the Atlantic.

And it's slow. Our guide joked that LST stood for long, slow, target.


The top deck was used to transport vehicles with tires; jeeps, trucks, ambulances. Here's a picture as the ship was approaching a landing beach. The dark smoke hanging over the boat in the distance is enemy fire.

These ships ferried men and equipment from England to France, and seriously injured soldiers and German war prisoners back to England.

This was our tour guide in the wheel house.

He was not one of the twenty-nine men who sailed the ship home. (The rest of the men flew home.) The really amazing end of this story is that the youngest man on the return trip was 72; the oldest about 88. It took them nearly six months to nurse the old war horse from Greece, through the straits of Gibraltar and finally to Mobile, Al. Then they sailed it up the Mississippi to the Ohio for it's berth in IN.

Now you might think that's the end of the story. Maybe you picture the old ship settled in the mud for tourists like us to visit. But no. This group of men, including our guide, take the ship out every year. She's been to Clinton, WI, Peoria, IL, and a couple of other places. The destination for 2010 is Pittsburgh, PA.

Slowly but surely, with no funds from the Gov't, but with plenty of sweat from volunteers, they're refurbishing the ship.

If you get to Evansville, IN or Pittsburgh next summer, stop in for a tour. The story of these crusty and brave old sailors is awe inspiring.