There are about 45 volunteers who sailed and docked the Navy ship at Heritage Port, and they entertained nearly 5,000 sightseers during their six-day stay.
The USS LST-325 is the last fully operational World War II-era landing ship tank. The crew sails her each summer while sleeping and eating on board, and when the ship is not docked, it travels 24 hours per day at about 8-10 m.p.h. The tour begins on the tank deck, a surface that measures 230 feet long and 28 feet wide. When active, 20 Sherman Tanks or 16 Marine Landing Vehicles could be transported on the level of the ship.
In the same area that once stored and transported military tanks now are historical displays concerning the ship’s service, and also a gift shop.
As a visitor continues the tour, they see both engine rooms, the mess deck, the galley, and the main deck. The ship’s upper deck is where the 40mm Bofor Gun can be found, and that area also leaders the visitors to “Officer Country.”
Near the end of the tour is a stroll through areas where the sailors once slept while navigating several seas of the world. The LST was designed to land battle-ready tanks, troops, and supplies directly onto an enemy’s shores, and the vessels have been utilized to transport members of all branches of the American military.
The USS LST-325 arrived to Wheeling in early September and, according to staff members, nearly 5,000 local folks toured the watercraft through Monday.
One of the displays depicts a communications officer that each of the Navy’s ship had while in service.
The narrow hallways on the LST-325 offer visitors a unique perspective from when the ship served during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
The sailors traveled on the LST-325 on bunks like the ones in the photo.
More than $2 million was spent on preservation projects on the ship over the last two years, according to the tour guides.
The current crew of the LST-325 have had a little fun with some of the members of the ship’s crew during this late-summer cruise.
The LST-325 has been equipped with modern technology to navigate the Ohio River very safely each year.
There was no waiting Monday to board the LST-325 late Monday morning, and the ship is scheduled to depart Wheeling on Tuesday after giving tours during the day.
The LST-325 was assigned to the Hellenic Navy for several years, and once decommissioned it was returned to the United States and now calls Evansville, Indiana home.
One of the displays on the LST-325 is a Lego model of the ship with crew members in their appropriate stations during at-sea combat.
During many of the tours, the crew said, 40-caliber ammo was “fired” so tour takers could get an idea of how loud battle was during the wars in which the LST-325 served.
