*Welcome to LST 393! This WWII era US Naval vessel now serves as a museum ship here in Muskegon, MI. The ship is open for tours, please see the website www.lst393.org for hours that the museum is open if you are interested in touring the ship.*
*Important! See the end of the description for the logging requirements of this virtual cache! Logs posted without the requirements met to the best of your ability will be deleted.*
WHAT IS AN LST?
The abbreviation LST stands for Landing Ship Tank, and it is an ocean going ship capable of shore to shore delivery of tanks, amphibious assault vehicles, and troops. The LST program was developed in response to a need for armored infantry divisions in invasions by sea. England's failed invasion at Dunkirk in 1940 prompted Prime Minister Winston Churchill to request that the United States design a ship that was large enough to traverse an ocean, but with provisions to quickly and efficiently unload armored vehicles (tanks) and personnel on an unimproved beach. The resulting ship design proved to be among the most successful in the history of the Navy.
The ships were designed with an innovative ballast system which allowed the flat-bottomed ships to sit lower in the water during ocean transit for seaworthiness purposes, then, by pumping the ballast tanks dry, to raise up in the water, facilitating shallow-draft landing operations. The ballast system was adapted from the systems used by fleet submarines.
The design for the first LST was submitted by John C. Niedermair in November of 1941. The sketch he made became the design for more than 1,000 L.S.T.'s. After a few alterations the final length was 328 ft., a 50 ft. beam, and a draft of 3 ft. 9½ in. She was able to ride higher in the water when in landing trim.
LSTs were a high priority during the war, the second-largest shipbuilding initiative in the history of Mankind. Before the tests were completed on the LST, construction had already commenced. The LST was built in a variety of "Cornfield Navy" shipyards, in rather unlikely locales: Seneca, Ill.; Evansville and Jeffersonville, Ind.; and Pittsburgh and Ambridge, Penn. The Navy was forced to modify bridges, through a "Ferry Command," to bring the LSTs to the oceans. About 670 LSTs were constructed inland.
Many other LSTs were built in existing Navy yards. In fact, the first LST actually took the berth of an already laid aircraft carrier keel at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation, so important was the LST construction program.
In total, eighteen shipyards produced more than 1000 LSTs in 3 years, a remarkable feat by any reckoning.
At the beginning of 1943, the schedule allowed four months from the time the keel was laid on a new LST to her final fitting-out and commissioning; that schedule was reduced to two months by the end of the war.
From June 1943 in the Solomons to August 1945, the LST was a key element in WWII. They participated in Sicily, Italy, Normandy, Southern France, the liberation of the Philippines, and the capture of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Out of 1,051 LST class ships built, more than a thousand survived through the end of World War II; several WWII LST's served through the Vietnam War era. Though slow by today's amphibious Navy standards, the ships were well designed for a variety of tasks besides the primary mission of armored invasion force delivery.
Even though the crew members nicknamed their ships "Large Slow Targets", "Long Slow Target", "Large Stationary Target" (when beached), the LST endured. There were only 26 losses to enemy actions. At the end of World War II the navy had a large inventory of LSTs. This remarkable warship that performed vital services in the fight for freedom now are almost extinct. Roughly half were scrapped, 20 percent were converted for commercial use, 18 percent were sold to foreign governments, 9 percent sunk, and a few went into private hands; their fate is unknown.
(The above text excerpted from www.lst393.org/history/lst-general.html)
USS LST 393
USS LST 393 is an LST-1 class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Out of the 1,051 LSTs that were built during the war, and the over 1,000 that survived to the end of the war, she is one of only two LSTs to survive in her original configuration. As you can see with her right in front of you, she now serves as a museum ship here in Muskegon, MI.
WORLD WAR II
LST 393 was laid down on 27 July 1942 at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company and launched on 11 November 1942. She was commissioned on 11 December 1942.
During World War II, LST-393 was assigned to the European Theater and participated in the following operations: the Sicilian occupation (July 1943); the Salerno landings (September 1943); and the Invasion of Normandy (June 1944). She won three battle stars for those missions.
LST 393 arrived in the Omaha Beach zone on the night of 6 June 1944. After off-loading Sherman tanks as well as other war material, the ship spent two days high and dry, trapped by Normandy's fickle tides. She made 30 round trips to Omaha Beach, bringing varied equipment and supplies to France and returning with wounded soldiers as well as thousands of German prisoners.
LST 393 was one of a few LSTs to be equipped with an airplane deployed and recovered via the Brodie landing system. A wire was rigged from bow to stern off the port side and an L-4 Grasshopper was able to take off and land using a snare pole.
After service in the invasion of France, LST 393 was assigned to return to the U.S. east coast for a refit. At that time, she was tasked to be included in the planned Invasion of Japan; she was then painted in tropical camouflage. She was on her way to the Panama Canal for a transit to the Pacific Ocean when the war ended in September 1945.
U.S. military records show the ship made 75 voyages to foreign shores and covered some 51,817 nautical miles in her first three years of service; her anchor touched bottom in 38 parts of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, England, Wales, Ireland, France and the Canal Zone. LST 393 is credited with carrying 9,135 soldiers – more than one-half of an Army division – and 3,248 vehicles ranging from Long Tom Howitzers to Jeeps. Records show she also carried 5,373 prisoners of war and 817 casualties.
POST-WAR FERRY SERVICE
Following the War, LST 393 returned to the United States, was decommissioned on 1 March 1946, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 14 March 1947. On 28 March 1948, the tank landing ship was sold to the Sand Products Corporation of Detroit, Michigan, for conversion to merchant service and renamed Highway 16. She would be a waterborne extension of the former U.S. Highway 16. That roadway—later replaced by Interstate 96—ran from Detroit to Muskegon in Michigan. The converted LST, with its distinctive bow doors welded shut and the tank deck adapted to carry new cars, served to span Lake Michigan to Milwaukee where US 16 began again.
MUSEUM SHIP
Two groups have attempted to restore LST 393 to its former glory. A Muskegon museum group went to work in 2000 and made some headway, along with some help from the Michigan LST Association. But that effort faltered after about two years.
In 2005, a group headed by Muskegon residents Dan Weikel and Bob Wygant asked for permission from owner Sand Products Corp. to pick up where the other group left off. Years of cleaning and painting resulted in a ship that could be toured. In 2007, extraordinary efforts led to the opening of the bow doors, which hadn't moved since they were welded shut in the late 1940s.
Development of the veterans museum has continued with the addition of thousands of artifacts as well as restoration of most areas of the ship. The effort led to the USS LST 393 Veterans Museum.
Thanks for taking the time to come by and see this part of our great nation's naval history. As stated previously, consult the website www.lst393.org for hours when the ship is open for tours. Ticket prices and the phone number are also listed on the website. She is closed during the winter months for tours, which resume each spring. Walk around the area and see the monument near the bow, get a closer look at the stern deck, and see the ship's anchor on the ground near the bow. If you decide to tour the ship if it's open while you visit, be mindful that it is a World War II vintage ship and access to the various decks is either by steep stairs or steep ladders. Unfortunately, as such, strollers and wheelchairs cannot proceed any further than the tank deck (the main point of entry).
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LOGGING REQUIREMENTS:
Email or send a message to me through the geocaching app the answers to questions 2-6.
1. Go to the posted coordinates (you have to anyway to answer the rest of the questions) and take and post a picture of your GPS or other personal item with LST 393 in the background. Get creative if you feel so inclined!
2. How many big guns mounted on the stern does the ship have that are pointing toward the parking lot?
3. What unique feature does this ship have at the bow since it is a troop and tank transport ship that normal cargo vessels don't have? (Hint: think about where you are directed to enter the ship if you tour it. You can also find this answer in the description, another hint is that they were welded shut for a long time; looking for two words, the parts that are open). Further hint: first word is 3 letters, 2nd word is 5 letters. b _ _ d_ _ _ _
4. What object from the ship is on the ground near the flagpole at the bow of the ship that is partially dug into the ground? It is attached to the ship by a heavy rope.
5. Look for the tall gray stone block near the tour entrance at the bow of the ship. Who are the 2 Muskegon County Medal of Honor recipients? Give their rank and full name as it appears on the plaque, including middle name or initial.
6. This location is the MART Dock. There is a freighter owned by the family that owns the dock that is laid up here. From the parking lot, look between the two brown brick buildings (the left building has a sign naming the business here) out toward Muskegon Lake. You will see this freighter, which is painted gray, laid up out there at the dock. What is the name of this ship? It is painted on the bow and below the pilothouse as well in big letters.
Not required, but also maybe if you feel like it, let us know something you found interesting about LST 393. For example, I think it's really cool to have this bit of World War II history right here in our own backyard, and that she served in one of the most famous battles of the war, the Invasion of Normandy on D-Day.
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We hope you enjoyed our first attempt at a virtual cache. A lot of the cool spots on the Lakeshore have already been tagged for virtual caches, but after the virtual at the Silversides (Hidden by VJ24, I highly recommend it if you haven't been out there yet, see GCAJFNY) was published, I thought of LST 393 and after some research decided to highlight this hidden gem and bit of history right here in our own backyard. Thanks for visiting!
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.