LST-325-- Part 4: U.S. Navy, Then It Was All Greek to Me

LST-325 broke in with the U.S, Navy, where it deployed to North Africa and was at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

But, from 1963 to 1999 the ship was in the Greek Navy  and named the RHS Syros, before it was bought by the Evansville, Indiana, non-profit.  Traces of its time in the Greek Navy can be found throughout the ship today.  Greek lettering is still on its bow and other places in the ship.

OPERATING IN A WAR ZONE

LSTs had to beach themselves to be effective disgorging its cargo, a traditional move to deep water wasn't an option.  The ship relied on a 3,000 pound anchor to help pull it out to sea.  Before making landfall, the anchor would be dropped.

Then a steel cable attached to the anchor would spool out as the LST made its final approach.  After it landed its cargo, the ship would then winch itself off the beach.

John Tallent said:  "It takes a lot to surprise me, but I'm consistently amazed at the ingenuity that went into these things."

--GreGen