Marietta, Ohio Sternwheel Weekend Sept. 8-14

08-18-2010

 World War II ship to visit Marietta, Ohio during Sternwheel Weekend Sept. 8-14

 

MARIETTA, OH (August 17, 2010) - The USS LST 325, a World War II Tank Landing Ship, will visit Marietta Wednesday, September 8 through Tuesday, September 14, coinciding with the annual Ohio River Sternwheel Festival weekend. 

 

This 328 foot long ship is the only fully intact and operational LST remaining in the United States out of over 1,051 produced. It will be docked near the sternwheel gathering and will be open for public tours beginning Thursday morning daily through Tuesday afternoon. 

 

This will be the first time an ocean going US Naval ship of this type has been seen in Marietta since 1945 when they traveled downriver from Pittsburgh to New Orleans and the open sea. Residents and visitors to the Marietta area will be welcomed aboard for educational tours of the ship assisted by trained crewmembers. 

 

The LST ships were used during World War II, the Korea War and the Vietnam War. Their impressive size and construction made them the perfect vessel for world travel of cargo and troops. The ships main deck can accommodate 30 to 40 trucks, several tons of fuel, ammunition and supplies, and up to 500 soldiers. The ship that will visit Marietta, USS LST 325, was at Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and made 44 subsequent trips across the English Channel carrying vehicles and supplies to France and returning with wounded soldiers and prisoners of war. 

 

The USS LST 325 was built in 1942 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. It was one of the first to be built and served in three European campaigns; Sicily, Salerno and Normandy.  After duty with the Greek Navy from 1964 to 1999 it was repatriated and sailed back to the USA in 2001 by a hardy group of Navy Veterans, the average age of which was 72. It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

In addition to Marietta, LST325 will visit Wheeling, West Virginia. and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. before heading back to its home port of Evansville, Indiana.

 

For more information on Marietta, Ohio, visit www.mariettaohio.org.

 

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