World War II landing ship returns to Pittsburgh (2024)

Two green helmets with scratches sit on a bunk. Metal dinner trays are stacked in the kitchen — the actual ones used by servicemen for meals. An old Jeep is parked on board with a Red Cross emblem and a Higgins boat hangs from the side.

These war articles belonged to those who served aboard the USS LST 325, a landing ship tank that was involved in the invasion at Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944, in Normandy, France. It was the largest amphibious invasion in military history; some 4,000 Allied troops were killed in the invasion.

The ship arrived in Pittsburgh on the North Shore around 4 p.m. on Wednesday traveling from Evansville, Ind., where it left on Saturday morning.

“This is truly a piece of United States history,” said Ken L. Rupp, the watch captain, cruise director and emergency medical technician for the vessel. “The mission is to educate everyone about the role the LST played to keep America free and provide an opportunity for veterans to show their family and friends the ships on which they served. For many, the LST is a memorial walk.”

The 328-foot craft will be docked on the river near Acrisure Stadium for visitor tours Friday through Tuesday. The last fully operational WWII landing ship tank previously visited Pittsburgh in 2015.

“We encourage everybody to come down and take a tour of the ship,” said Bob Kubota, captain of the ship, as he gave a tour. “It might make you think of your dad or grandfather being on this ship. Maybe he was on this ship. Maybe he slept in one of those bunks.”

Those bunks are stacked four high with about 20 inches of clearance and they don’t look very comfortable.

“This was probably the first time these servicemen were away from home,” Kubota said. “Just imagine the first time you are away from home and you are on a ship during a war in another country. And the next thing you know is that you are landing on the beach in Normandy. I can tell you that these guys were all very brave. They are the reason we’re here today.”

The ship was made in Philadelphia. A total of 1,051 of the ships were built in 17 shipyards in the US with the most — 167 — being built in Evansville, Ind. In Pittsburgh, Dravo Corp. and American Bridge built ships. The ships were critical during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War and assisted the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force and Merchant Marines.

This ship, which cost $1.3 million to build, was commissioned on Feb. 1, 1943. Between June 1944 and April 1945, the LST 325 made 44 trips between England and France, delivering supplies to Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, and the city of Rouen on the Seine River. It was decommissioned on July 2, 1946. In 1951, the ship was reactivated and assigned to the Military Sea Transport Service.

It was most recently owned by the Greek navy until a group of World War II veterans restored it. The ship eventually found a home in Evansville, Ind., where it is most of the year.

“The ship is extremely authentic,” Kubota said. “You can see the living conditions they had. I never realized until I got on this ship that World War II sailors ate off metal trays. We still have some of the trays sitting out so that everybody can see them.”

The ship was used to transport whatever was needed, Kubota said. He said the Navy would create miniature models to figure out how to fit everything on the vessel like puzzle pieces. U.S. naval architect John Niedermair created the landing ship tank. It had a flat bottom to land directly on shores, bow doors that open to allow a ramp to be lowered onto the beach and the capacity to hold 20 Sherman tanks — the main battle tanks designed and built by the U.S. for World War II — 200-400 troops and 30-40 wheeled and/or tracked vehicles.

They have a mailroom for letters from loved ones, which took months to arrive. There is a locker containing the belongings of a serviceman. The aforementioned Higgins boat, which has a droppable bow-ramp that was used to land troops on the beaches of France on June 6, 1944, hangs on the side.

There is a machine shop where if they needed a part they made it or they repaired something that was broken. They had chains to tie down items so they wouldn’t move when the ship was in motion. They got directions from a compass and used radios to communicate.

There are original weapons on board.

Rus Davies of Fairfield Township, who has been on the ship for such tours and was one of the volunteers who met the ship on the North Shore, said the ship is incredibly preserved.

“It tells the story of what veterans did to secure our freedom,” said Davies, whose father Robert Davies was in the U.S. Navy on the USS Bassett APD 73 during World War II.

After Pittsburgh, the ship will venture to Wheeling, W.Va., and Marietta, Ohio.

“There is a connection because the ship was built in Pennsylvania,” Rupp said. “I am from Wisconsin” — home of the Green Bay Packers — “but I love the Steelers who represent a hardworking blue-collar town.”

A retired U.S. Air Force veteran, Rupp is one of 45 crew members — about 60% of which are veterans — aboard the ship that travels at about 10 miles per hour.

“When you visit this ship, you will stand on the deck of a ship that was in the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944,” said Rupp, who traveled to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day in June. “It gives me chills when I think of being there in June. I can’t put it into words. To me, that isn’t a vacation spot. It’s a place to go back and remember. To be able to lay a wreath in the cemetery there … I thought of my dad, a World War II veteran. There were tears.”

The USS LST 325 is docked on the North Shore near Acrisure Stadium and Riverfront Park. It will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to Tuesday. Tours are self-guided. Cost is $15 for adults and $7 for children ages 6-17. Children under 5 are free.

Details: lstmemorial.org