The last operational Landing Ship Tank (LST) from WWII in the United States, the USS LST 325, will be returning to Dubuque early September of 2023. Public tours will be available.

Following its first visit to Dubuque in August of 2018, the ship saw 16,620 visitors with 75% of those individuals from more than 50 miles outside of Dubuque. At the time, it was the 5th highest attended stop for the ship. “We are thrilled to bring this ship back to Dubuque. When it was in port in 2018, we saw a tremendous number of people coming to see it,” stated Keith Rahe, President & CEO of Travel Dubuque. “It’s no surprise an artifact like this was so popular and we look forward to bringing it back.”

 This ship served as a hospital ship returning wounded back to England from the beaches of Normandy. This particular LST was originally known as LST-325 during the second World War, USNS LST-325 during its arctic operations in the 1950’s, and later L-144 (A/G Syros) while it was in the service of the Greek Navy. It was acquired by The USS LST Ship Memorial, Inc., in 2000, and caught considerable public attention when the veteran crew with an average age of 72 brought it on a 6,500-mile journey from the Greek island of Crete to Mobile, AL. Today, this ship is permanently docked in Evansville, IN.

Once a year it travels to destinations throughout the United States for people to board and tour. More details on its stop in Dubuque will be released at a later date.