MILITARY MATTERS: World War II Ship Displayed On Ohio River

CINCINNATI, Oh. (WTVM) - A massive World War II ship has become a museum and memorial ship to the men who bravely served their country aboard it. This still fully functional ship just docked in Cincinnati for a long weekend for people to enjoy.

The banks of the Ohio River just had a special visitor: the 328-foot-long landing ship tank, called the LST 325. Those who work onboard say it was one of just over 1,000 LST ships created and used during WWII and the conflicts in both Korea and Vietnam.

This specific ship was in the invasion at Omaha Beach on D-day, and was a key part of America’s operations overseas.

“It made 44 trips across the English channel in support of D-day or Operation Overgaard,” LST 325 crew member Ken Rupp said.

Rupp, a member of the ship’s crew, says often people who visit the ship say they have a relative who served in the military.

“We just had a lady that was telling a story that her father was on a LST that was torpedoed and she wanted to go to the galley to see where he was working when the ship was torpedoed,” he added.

That was the case for visitor Jay Mehn, who says his father’s service during WWII motivated him to come.

“I know his stories. He was in the battle called Leyte Gulf and a battle called Okinawa,” Mehn said.

The ship’s crew says the u-s never lost an invasion once LST ships made it possible to land tanks on the beach, a fact that amazed Mehn given the ship’s size.

He said, “I can’t even imagine it going up on the beaches of Normandy being so big and not getting hit, but obviously it did.”

This museum and memorial on the water is normally docked in Evansville, Indiana.

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