LST

What does LST stand for?
Local Services Tax.
Let's Start Talking.
London, Liverpool Street.
Linux Support Team.

For Walt Kowalski and I, yesterday it stood for Landing Ship, Tank. A landing ship, tank is the naval designation for vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore. these ships are the largest ever designed/built to place tanks, troops, & cargo onto a hostile beach, then retract. 1,051 were built for WWII, 70% were built on the Ohio and Illinois Rivers.

We didn't have to go to an unimproved shore, only the North Shore.  This one came up the Ohio River and parked on the North Shore.  It was nice to spend the day as tourists in our own city.

 

This LST was built in Pittsburgh in the 1940s and was used on June 6, 1944 in

 

The anchor is as big as my car, Little Red.

 
It was a floating museum.  They had photos of the ships in use in WWII.

 
The porthole to the galley and mess.

 
On deck was large enough to hold jeeps, guns, tanks, and even land a helicopter during the Korean War.

The hallway to the head (bathrooms and showers.)
 

 
Walt Kowalski, being over 6 feet tall, couldn't get over the size of the bunks.  He would have had to choose between his head hanging over or his feet hanging over the bunk. Up to 200 soldiers could sleep in the LST. 

 
It was difficult to portray the size of the ship in the photos.  The deck was 230' long and 14' high. It could hold 20 Sherman tanks. It's even more difficult to imagine that this is a small ship in comparison to the current aircraft carriers. 

And of course, we went on the hottest day of the year!  95 degrees!  It was hot, but it was totally worth the trip.