World War II Tank Landing Ship Travels To Gulf Coast For Overhaul

Earlier this year, residents and mariners who live and work along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) between New Orleans and Port Arthur, Texas, might’ve caught a glimpse of a rare sight: a functioning World War II-era warship traveling down the canal, en route to Port Arthur for an overhaul.

USS LST-325, a tank landing ship that was commissioned on February 1, 1943, and deployed in World War II to the Mediterranean and the waters between the United Kingdom, France and Ireland, departed its current homeport of Evansville, Ind., on January 14, bound for Gulf Copper Shipyard in Port Arthur. After motoring down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, LST-325 transited Algiers Lock on the west bank of the Mississippi River in New Orleans on January 19 and continued on the GIWW toward Port Arthur.

According to the USS LST Ship Memorial in Evansville, LST-325, while at Gulf Copper, had its propellers overhauled and received a new coat of paint and new fixtures throughout. The Coast Guard also inspected the ship.

With drydock work complete, LST-325 reversed course, returning to Evansville on March 29, in time to host an eclipse viewing party on April 8.

While LST-325 was built at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Evansville Shipyard also built tank landing ships—a total of 167. According to the museum in Evansville, LST-325 is the last fully functional tank landing ship from World War II.

Caption for photo: LST-325 in Algiers Lock.  (Photo courtesy of Robert Swayze, assistant operations manager for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, New Orleans Engineer District)