Tuesday, July 5, 2011

LST-393

The next stop of my tour was the Landing Ship Tank in Muskegon. This particular one is LST-393.Sort of a shot of the rear section of the ship. Basically, a Landing Ship Tank is a ship that is used to support an amphibious operation by carrying tanks, trucks and what not right to the beach. It would land right on the beach and unload it's cargo. At some point, it would pull off the beach get new loads.
This particular LST was used in the Sicily, Salerno and Normany Landings. As a result, she received 3 battle stars. After the war, she was sold to Sand Products of Detroit to be used as a cargo carrier. In 2002, she was acquired by the Great Lakes Naval Museum to be used as a museum ship.
As I said, she was used during World War II. These are some infantry weapons from that war. The top one is an M-1 Carbine. The next one is a Thompson Gun and the last is a Browning Automatic Weapon.
This is a telegraph (I think).
Different types of radios.
The flag that flew over the ship as she participated in the Normandy Landings. She was used on Omaha Beach.
The crew spaces. As you can see it was pretty crowded.
The helm.
Looking out at the foredeck. Fully loaded she could carry roughly 20 tanks or up to 217 troops.
Looking back at the pilot house.
Some of the gages in the engine room.
The engine telegraph in the engine room. This was used to acknowledge the orders from the helmsman.

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