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L-179 Samos Tank Landing Ships

A total of 11 Tank Landing Ships of the LST-1 class were transferred or sold to Greece by the United States between 1943 and 1964. The Tank Landing Ship or LST was the only ship designed and built for the Navy with thecapability to land on beaches, unload troops and supplies and then retract off the beach. TheLST is 328 feet long and 50 feet wide. The lower deck or tank deck is 230 feet long, 30 feetwide and 12 feet high. It could carry 2100 tons of cargo.

LST 325, one of 1,051 LSTs built during World War II, is an amphibious vessel designed to land battle-ready tanks, troops, and supplies directly onto enemy shores. LST 325, built in a Philadelphia ship yard and commissioned on February 1, 1943, participated in the invasions of Sicily, Salerno, and Normandy. During the invasion of Normandy, the USS LST 325 made over 40 round trip missions between England and France ferrying troops, supplies, and the wounded.

In March 1945, LST-325 crossed the Atlantic from Belfast, Northern Ireland, to the U.S. Overhauled at New Orleans, she was fitted with Brodie gear for launching and recovering light observation airplanes. She briefly exercised with that equipment in August 1945, just before Japan's surrender ended World War II. After a trip to Panama in September-October, she went to Green Cove Springs, Florida, for inactivation and was decommissioned there in July 1946.

LST-325 was brought back into service in about 1951 to take part in the Military Sea Transportation Service's arctic operations. She later received a reinforced bow to better suit her for work in icy waters. LST-325 was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in September 1961 and turned over to the Maritime Administration for inclusion in the National Defense Reserve Fleet. Returned to the Navy in September 1963, she was modernized for further use under the Military Assistance Program.

Given to the Greek Navy in 1964 and serving as L-144 Syros, LST 325 was decommissioned in 1999.

In 2000, LST 325 was acquired from the Greek Navy by the USS LST Ship Memorial. The ship was repaired and sailed back to the United States, where it is the only near fully restored and fully operational LST and one of only a few surviving vessels that participated in the D-Day Invasion in 1944.

In 2001 it sailed to the U.S. from Greece under the command of a group of veterans with an average age of 72. Crew members and volunteers seeking to preserve the historical ship have done the upkeep and restoration since 2000. The veteran warship made stops around the country to raise awareness of the role and history of the Landing Ship, Tank (LST) in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The ship stands as a memorial to those who fought and died, as well as the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The LST 325 is the only ship of its kind that docks and is open for tours. Thousands of men served on them in the critical North Africa, Italian, and Normandy invasions. The brave young men who served on the LST-325 and its sister ships were in the golden years of their lives, and they were spearheading the campaign to restore the LST-325 to its original glory.