Walked across the street skywalk from the Bally’s Tower Hotel (part of the Bally’s casino) to the USS Landin Ship Tank (LST) memorial museum. LST 325 is one of 1,050 LST’s built for WW II (some were even used in the Vietnam War). LST 325 is 328 ft long and 50 ft wide. AND COULD LAND 20 Sherman Tanks right up on the beach. She is flat bottomed and has a top speed of 11 knots (about 12.7 MPH). LST 325 served in the invasion of Sicily and Normandy. Although not built in Evansville Indiana, 167 of her sister LST ships were built right here in Evansville on the Ohio River. LST 325 is fully operational and does several sails each year (for promotional visits and in support of WW II reenactments), up and down the Mississippi from LaCross Wisconsin to Texas. She is currently getting ready to sail down to Texas for another routine 10 year drydocking (hull inspection/repainting). There is only one other LST (393) open for tours and she is on Lake Michigan at Muskegon Michigan. LST 393 museum ship is currently in need of very expensive drydocking repairs, and her fate is still up in the air. LST 325 here in Evansville has about 1,500 active members that on & off support the upkeep of the ship, with about 50 of those that are hardcore members/workers. The tour (guided) cost $15 PP and was very well done.

The Allied invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and France during the Second World War war would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, without its large fleet of Landing Ship Tanks or LSTs. By the time I began seriously studying the Normandy invasion in the 1990s, I was quite disappointed that these incredible vessels had all been dismantled or sold off to other countries and disappeared. Not any more. In the late 1990s, dedicated veterans of these incredible vessels located several in a Greek Naval yard and managed to get one back to the United States. The LST 325 memorial opened in Evansville, Indiana, in the early 2000s. It is the last operational LST in the world. This Veteran of North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy is a one of America's most important historical artifacts. The hour and a half-long tour is conducted by passionate "crew members" who work on the vessels all year and take on tours up and down America's inland waterways in the fall. It is a great experience for history buffs, veterans, and anyone seeking to discover what is the best of American history. Highly recommended!!

The guided tour was excellent and our very knowledgeable tour guide told us many stories about the ship and its crew throughout the years. He easily answered all of our questions. The ship is very well maintained and actually sails once a year to other ports, so everything on it works like it did in the 1940’s when it was built. It’s amazing to be able to walk on a ship that was actually at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

The ship visited our town in September and since many ships from D-day left from the town where my husband grew up in England we decided to check it out. It turned out to be a fascinating and informative tour. The volunteers were ever so helpful. We both highly recommend it. Be prepared, there are stairs and some areas that are tricky but we saw people from 2 to 80s climbing around and enjoying the experience.