The Ohio River is a busy water highway. Barges transport goods and equipment up and down the river. Pleasure boats and yachts come out to play on the weekends. Serious anglers launch their fishing boats before dawn. Party barges and paddle-wheelers cruise along at a leisurely pace allowing their passengers to enjoy the beautiful scenery while dining.
But once in a while something unusual passes by. That was the case with the
LST Memorial 325 when it passed by my house on Aug. 29, 2015 heading up river to Pittsburgh. It caused quite a stir with some who had not been forewarned about its journey passing through Cincinnati. Comments and pictures exploded on Facebook. Alarm: "Are we under military attack?!", shock and awe.
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| LST 325 passing by my front door |
LST stands for Landing Ship, Tank. It was used to land tanks, soldiers and supplies on enemy shores during WWII. This particular LST was known as LST-325 during WWII, USNS LST-325 during its arctic operations in the 1950's, and later L-144 (A/G Syros) while it was in the service of the Greek Navy.
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| Heading up to Pittsburgh. |
It is now the last fully operational WWII LST and has been employed as a floating museum complete with gift shop and tours. Its homeport is Evansville, Indiana but at this writing
LST 325 is winding up its Pittsburgh tours and will be heading back here to Cincinnati to conduct tours September 12th to 16th on the riverfront adjacent to the Great American Ballpark. Tours are roughly 60 minutes long and include the Main Deck, Troop Berthing, Tank Deck, Mess Deck, Galley, Stern of ship (Guns and Anchor), Wheel House, Officer's Country and the Captain's Cabin. There are three sets of stairs down and three sets of stairs up. Questions and photographs are welcome.
