Last remaining WWII LST

Docked at the Chattanoogal waterfront today. The very last remaining operational Landing Ship Tank in existance. She draws 7' unloaded, and would roll like a cheap date without a load of tanks in her belly.

Neato! I remember building a plastic model of an LST as a kid. (Along with a Battleship, Carrier, Destroyer, PT Boat and others that I can't remember)

It reminds me of a girl in high school. Her initials were LST, and that's what we called her. It was not because she resembled a LST. Her real name shall remain with me.

Moonstruck said:

Docked at the Chattanoogal waterfront today. The very last remaining operational Landing Ship Tank in existance. She draws 7' unloaded, and would roll like a cheap date without a load of tanks in her belly.

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they had 4 engines on each shaft they were twin screw, i had the pleasure of working on the engines they were DDs na with one gear box, no trannys they had vaviable picht props. the gear box for the shaft was in the middle of the four engines, 2 were right hand and the other 2 were left hand, 8 engines all runing made some noise down there, way back when,a long time ago lol

Moonstruck said:

It reminds me of a girl in high school. Her initials were LST, and that's what we called her. It was not because she resembled a LST. Her real name shall remain with me.

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Which reminds me of a gal that I knew in Japan (stationed there). The guys all called her "afterburner." Don't ask.

LCS 102 was brought into Mare Island Strait a few years ago. A group of guys are restoring her to original WWII condition. LCS stands for Landing Craft Support. She would run up on a beach (first dropping its stern anchor on the way in) and lend support to the troop craft to follow. After an area of beach was cleared she would winch herself out to deeper water. They say that pound for pound and foot for foot she was the heaviest armed vessel in the war.

What kind of anchor?

Giggitoni said:

LCS 102 was brought into Mare Island Strait a few years ago. A group of guys are restoring her to original WWII condition. LCS stands for Landing Craft Support. She would run up on a beach (first dropping its stern anchor on the way in) and lend support to the troop craft to follow. After an area of beach was cleared she would winch herself out to deeper water. They say that pound for pound and foot for foot she was the heaviest armed vessel in the war.

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I'll bet the guys manning that foredeck gun didn't think she was armored enough!!!!

Did I see hoops on the anchor?

Blue, you're a trouble maker! Cape you're just as bad. Neat ships.

My 2ed ship was the USS Saginaw LST-1188. Shallow draft lots of roll and oh did I mention SLOW.



This is what she looked like with the bow ramp down.

Regarding the LST 325- We had a local retired crew member of this vessel who was involved with the return to America from the Greece Navy's return to U.S.Navy a few years back. Seems the crew was made up of original members throughout her life. The fellow's name was Joe Sadler and as I recall he was a chief.

Joe was a favorite in Ketchikan, He dressed in uniform and marched every fourth of July.
A town hero for sure and we were all proud to know him.

The story of the resurrection during the re-fit in Greece was a thriller. A bunch of old geezers pilfering and hunting for parts and such prior to the voyage and the voyage itself being documented in our local paper as a travel log was worth reading. These old boys had an absoulte ball sharing old times and challenges of bringing an old rust bucket across the ocean. What better way to live a "Bucket List" agenda!
Here is the site for the LST-325:

LST Memorial 325

Thanks for the memory

Al Ketchikan- (Bridge to Nowhere) Alaska

Here's a great photo taken of 325. She participated at Normandy.

capt jerry said:

they had 4 engines on each shaft they were twin screw, i had the pleasure of working on the engines they were DDs na with one gear box, no trannys they had vaviable picht props. the gear box for the shaft was in the middle of the four engines, 2 were right hand and the other 2 were left hand, 8 engines all runing made some noise down there, way back when,a long time ago lol

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This LST has EMD 567's. Not sure if it started life with the quad DD's, but it has 567's now. Did some reading and the 567 went into production in the mid to late 30's, so it is possible they are original engines. Amazing that a large percentage of our locomotives and tugs are running basically the same engines some 75yrs later.

Joe Sadlier- Obit LST-325




Joe Sadlier
Posted: Sunday, April 26, 2009

Former Juneau and Ketchikan resident Joseph Byron Sadlier died April 16, 2009, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Seattle, Wash. He was 82.

Born Jan. 6, 1927, in Juneau, he quit high school to join the Navy in the last year of World War II. He and a Juneau friend headed south on a boat when Sadlier was 17, hitchhiked to San Diego and joined the U.S. Navy.

He served from 1943 to 1946, assigned to an amphibious vessel known as an LST - landing ship, tank - out of Pearl Harbor. Sadlier's first ship loaded a combat team and caught the battle of Okinawa.

Following his wartime service and for the rest of his life, Sadlier made sure young people knew why his generation fought in World War II by visiting classes and working with the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post to improve veterans' memorials here and in Metlakatla. He came to Ketchikan in 1981 and owned the Stedman Barber Shop.

After he retired from barbering, Sadlier drove the borough bus for 16 years, quitting only after he became ill in November. A Navy cook, he was still famous locally for his delectable cookies.

One highlight of his life was being chosen to be among the 29 veterans with an average age of 72 who prepared and sailed the LST-325 from Greece to Mobile, Ala., from late 2000 to early 2001. The ship is now a museum and memorial in Evansville, Ind.

Sadlier served as the ship's cook on the trans-Atlantic voyage, which began Dec. 12, 2000, and ended Jan. 10, 2001.

"I was working seven days a week, making two meals a day and trying to hang on to everything while cooking because of all the rough weather," he said when he arrived back in Ketchikan.

The voyage was not the entire story. The veterans arrived in Greece and worked four months to get the ship seaworthy.

"We took on a cockroach-ridden ship ... a dead ship," he said. "There was no water and power. The wiring was torn out. There was water in the bilges and the engine room that was above the deck plates. We took a derelict ship and in four months we put it all back together again."

Sadlier was a photogenic man with a hearty laugh and occasionally bawdy sense of humor. He was featured on a History Channel documentary of the voyage. He was greeted as a hero when he returned to Ketchikan, the only Alaskan on the LST-325 crew.

He said how wonderful it was to return to American soil after living in troops' quarters with no amenities for months. Though it had been 56 years since most of the crew had been to sea, "when we got back on that ship, it all came back," Sadlier said.

The journey itself had moments that brought tears to Sadlier's eyes as he recounted them.

"I tell you, when we were at sea, I probably saw some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets that you could imagine," he said the day he got home to Ketchikan. "I sincerely mean this: There was times you could reach out and touch God, that's how beautiful it was."

That same year, Sadlier was named grand marshal of Ketchikan's July 4 parade, prompting him to joke that the only remaining accomplishment to make the year complete would be an invitation to model underwear for Fruit of the Loom.

A month after returning home from the voyage, he received something he'd been missing for nearly 60 years: a high school diploma. Gov. Tony Knowles came to Ketchikan's VFW hall to present the diploma to Sadlier on what Knowles had declared "Joe Sadlier Day in Alaska."

The sheepskin was presented under a 2000 bill allowing the state Department of Education to award diplomas to WWII veterans who hadn't finished high school.

He was active in the VFW and his family lists as his hobby simply, "Community involvement."

He is survived by sons, Pat Sadlier of North Carolina and Shawn Sadlier of Milwaukie, Ore.; and daughter, Connie Stoneburner of Redmond, Wash.

A celebration of life was held Saturday, April 25, at the Ketchikan Veterans of Foreign Wars.

His remains will be buried at the U.S. Veterans Administration's Sitka National Cemetery.

Better yet here is the video on the LST 325


enjoy a real sea story!!!

Al-Ketchikan (Bridge to Nowhere) Alaska

Born Jan. 6, 1927, in Juneau, he quit high school to join the Navy in the last year of World War II. He and a Juneau friend headed south on a boat when Sadlier was 17, hitchhiked to San Diego and joined the U.S. Navy.

He served from 1943 to 1946, assigned to an amphibious vessel known as an LST - landing ship, tank - out of Pearl Harbor. Sadlier's first ship loaded a combat team and caught the battle of Okinawa.

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Hmmm, based on his reported age and birthday, he enlisted in 1944, which was not the last year of the war, last full year, but not the last year, since WWII ended in 1945. So he did not serve from 43 to 46 unless something else is wrong in the story. Maybe he stretched the truth about his age and enlisted at 16. Twould not be the first time someone said they were older to enlist.

At least they did not call him a troop. I just saw a ship's crew called troops on a news report.

My dad was on an LST in the early sixties and he said if you were on the bow of the ship and looked aft, you could see the deck flexing. There was a story in about LSTs in the June 2014 Naval History magazine and one of the comments was from an LST sailor show said in quartering sea you could see the hull twisting. If there was a full cargo of vehicles on the weather deck, it would look like the vehicles where driving over a hilly countryside.

Sometimes in heavy weather welds would rip open.

Most LST's were built in cities on the Ohio river from Pittsburg to Evansville, Indiana. The ship had a 4-7 foot draft when fully loaded but only 1.5 feet empty. There was a shortage of LSTs for DDay and the landings had to be delayed and landings for Anvil in the Med. 300 LSTs were needed for Normandy but they were in very short supply which hampered planning for hte landings. The LSTs were critical to amphibious assaults but were very critical for DDay. They were so critical that only a very few LSTs were in the initial landings since they were going to be needed ferrying soldiers and equipment from England. Supply the units on the ground was critical and only the LSTs could provide the supplies during the early days of the landing.

Most of the crew had never been on the ocean and officers were often 90 day wonders right from college. The crew might be lucky to have some experience petty officers to run things.

Without the LSTs DDay could not have happened. Simple little ship but very important. It was an 18 hour trip from England to Normandy and the LSTs went back and forth for a month or so feeding the ground units.

Later,
Dan

My father wasn't discharged from his second up until 1946. By that time he was in Japan (combat photographer). The military didn't cease to exist just because the war was over.

Through Monday approx 14000 people paid to tour LST 325. Two more days to go. Who would have thought?

It is just hard to imagine the magnitude of men and equipment to win that world war. Awesome!!!!!!!

Moonstruck said:

Through Monday approx 14000 people paid to tour LST 325. Two more days to go. Who would have thought?

It is just hard to imagine the magnitude of men and equipment to win that world war. Awesome!!!!!!!

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I like to read history which has been put on the back burners because of boat reading.

A few years ago a B17 flew into an airport near us for a visit. I have been near B17's before at airports and the 8th Air Force museum in Savannah GA. The 8th AF museum is right next to I95 and is a must see if one has the time. Make the time, if you don't have the time, and you are driving by. We have stopped at least twice and we need to stop a few more times to see it all.

Anywho, when the B17 visited we were able to get on the plane and "walk" around which was one heck of a learning experience. The first thing I noticed is that many of the men on the plane had trouble walking from the back of the plane to the front because they were too large. One has to walk over the bomb bay on a small 2x6 sized piece of metal held by V struts. The V struts would, shall we say, "filter" people from moving forward.

The men flying these planes were certainly in shape but having to move around the plane with a flak jacket, flight suit and parachute must have been cumbersome at best. HOW they managed to bail out of the nose of the plane still amazes me. I guess if your choice is to get through the small hatch or die, you get through the small hatch.

The other thing that jumped out at me was the thinness of the B17's skin. Not that a thick skin would stop a rifle round but it sure was thin. Made me wonder how it was able to fly. At the museum, they have a wing section from a plane shot down over Europe which shows the strength of the plane in spite of the thin material.

We visited the plan on a warm but humid morning. I had to strip off my back pack to move around in the plane and I was dripping wet in shorts and a polo shirt. The plane was like an oven as it heated up in the morning sun. That plane in the south Pacific would have been even worse.

Watching the B17 take off and fly was just awesome. Decades ago I saw a B17 and B24 flying at an airport. They buzzed the runway a couple of times and the sound of those eight engines was awesome. The sound of hundreds of those planes flying over head must have been awesome or very frighting depending on which side you were on.

The visiting B17 flew over a local lake. I would loved to have seen the faces of the people on the lake that day. Can you imagine being out on a boat or at the beach and seeing a B17 fly over?

Later,
Dan

Yeah, I have done the 8th AF Museum a couple of times. Will plan to go again. I have seen the B-17, B-24, and B-29. My grandson is in college now, but I have a picture of him in the pilot seat of the B-29 when he was about 2 1/2 yrs old. I hope he will treasure that when he is older.

Because the B-29 was pressurized, one would get back to the rear of the aircraft via a small tube through the bomb bay. Of course, no waist gunners on the 29.

I am in awe of what it took to win that war.

Every year now for the last several they have had a fly in for vintage planes at old Naval Air Station Wildwood New jersey. They give rides for several days...something like $400 a pop.

I am treated to from several to dozens of low altitude flyovers by a B17 and B24 as they tend to fly up the beach and then down the ICW where I keep my boat....or something similar.

Always a thrill...hope another generation will carry the torch and the bill so they can continue. Living history is the best convincer that studying history is worthwhile.

My dad was on an LCI(G) in the Pacific, Landing Craft Infantry-Guns (Close In Fire Support vessel) for D-Days of Saipan, Tinian, Peleliu, Angaur, Kerama Retto, Okinawa, and Ie Shima. He was a motor mechanic and they had the same two sets of 4 GM diesels, 4 per shaft, 1600 BHP, twin variable pitch propellers. When you see old footage of an invasion they were the ones firing salvos of rockets. When the rockets were gone, they rode along the beach firing 40mm, 20mm and .50 cal at resistance. God bless their generation.

psneeld said:

Every year now for the last several they have had a fly in for vintage planes at old Naval Air Station Wildwood New jersey. They give rides for several days...something like $400 a pop.

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The B17 we visited had rides for $400. Now it is $450. After I seeing the crew use a dolly to move out gallons of oil for the engines I was not complaining about the cost. Don't want to know what the fuel cost.

There was a family of four that got on the plane for a ride. Ouch money wise but one heck of a memory!

A lot of old guys were there getting rides. One was a B17 crewman, he was in iffy physical shape and I am sure that was the last flight he would make. I was talking to one guy who had some health problems. He had some slight shakes, Parkinson? and he knew time was short. He had sold his truck so he could go on a lifetime Elk hunt out west and he was getting on the B17 come he..ll or high water.

We went to see the B17 on both days it was at the airport. There was always a good sized crowd even though it was a rural airport. The crowd crew after the plane had gone on a few flights and circled the field.

I sure hope they can keep those planes flying. They need to keep flying...

Later,
Dan

There are other 'survivors' around. Although they certainly don't look like LST325!

Here is one I know of: https://www.longislandferry.com/CommonHtml/f_C_Hen.html

There is one more on the west coast. But I cant find info now. Keep digging.
Good post!

This talk of airplanes reminds me of a visit the 'confederate air force' (now known as the Commemorative Airforce) made to Cape Cod a couple years ago.

The weekend was full of paid rides, and take offs and landings. My family and I just so happened to be driving by the airport when all three planes were lined up, getting ready to take off for the next airport in the agenda. First some small plane took off. Then the B-24 took off. The noise and racket it made while throttling up (flaps, ailerons, and all surfaces) were clanging and banging around. Then Whoosh it took off.
Then the B-17 spooled up. What an impressive machine (even 50 years later) Smooth, clean, almost silent, and then whoosh she was gone too! It was quite a contrast seeing the development of the different machines and their efficiency. Sort of makes me want to find a book about Doolittle's raid!

If you had relatives that fought in or have an interest in the Pacific war, a visit to the National Museum of The Pacific War in Fredericksburg, TX is a must see. Plan on at least a day and the surrounding town and winery's are fantastic also.

National Museum of the Pacific War

Moonstruck said:

Docked at the Chattanoogal waterfront today. The very last remaining operational Landing Ship Tank in existance. She draws 7' unloaded, and would roll like a cheap date without a load of tanks in her belly.

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I may be wrong, but I thought there was an LST on display in Muskegon, Michigan. Can someone else confirm or deny?

Bill Blask

Yes there are two LSTs that remain, and one is in Muskegon, MI, docked on Muskegon Lake.

The history of this ship, how it got there, and the veterans that raised money and spent their time restoring her is on this website.

LST 393 - Home

It is now a museum as well as available for hosting local events. I play in the West MI Concert Winds, and we have played summer concerts on the upper deck.