The world’s only operational Landing Ship Tank will arrive in La Crosse at Riverside Park on August 30. The ship will be open to tour August 31-Sept 4. Tour hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is $15 for adults (18+), $7.50 for children 6-17), with children under 6 years old free. World War II and Korea vets are free.
LST 325 is the last LST of the 1051 LSTs built during WWII still operational in its WWII configuration. The LST was a game changer in WWII according to Winston Churchill. It could deliver 20 tanks, 30 trucks, artillery and supplies to any unimproved beach, and discharge all of this without the use of port facilities.
LST 325 was commissioned on February 1, 1943, in Philadelphia. It headed to North Africa for its first action. In July of 1943, it made seven landings in support of Operation Husky, the Sicily invasion. It transported General Patton’s 7th Army during this period. Then, in September 1943, it made four landings in support of Operation Avalanche, the Salerno Invasion.
Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion at Normandy, took place on June 6, 1944. LST 325 took part in this operation with its destination being Omaha Beach. It subsequently made 22 round trips between England and France over the ensuing months.
While most LSTs were scrapped or sunk by our own navy after the war, LST 325 survived because it had been transferred to the Greek Navy in 1964, where it served until 1999. It was brought back to the U.S. in 2001 by a group of retired veterans and eventually found a home in Evansville, Indiana. Evansville made more LSTs than any other shipyard.
