The LST-325, the last fully operational WWII Landing Ship Tank is making her way down the Cumberland River today on her annual cruise. The ship finished locking through Barkley Lock in mid-afternoon Sunday.
The LST-325 is the last remaining fully functioning LST in the country. She served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) in arctic operations in the 1950’s, and with the Greek Navy from 1964 until 2000. She was then brought back to the United States by a small, dedicated group of veterans during a harrowing month long journy in the winter of 2000/01. The LST-325 is now docked in Evansville, IN for 11 months of the year and cruises under her own power to visit other cities at the end of each summer.
Every year in late summer she sails to visit various other ports. In 2019 her volunteer crew will take her to Chattanooga, TN; Decatur, AL; and Aurora, IN.