User:Crpike
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Career (USA) |   |
|---|---|
| Name: | LT-5 |
| Owner: | H. Lee White Maritime Museum |
| Operator: | Captain Lance Knapp |
| Builder: | Jakobson Shipyard, Oyster Bay (hamlet), New York |
| Launched: | November 22, 1943 |
| Commissioned: | Major Elisha K. Henson |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Large Tug |
| Type: | tugboat |
| Displacement: | 305 tons |
| Length: | 115’ |
| Beam: | 28’ |
| Draft: | 14’ |
| Propulsion: | Enterprise 8 cylinder diesel |
| Speed: | 12 knots |
| Crew: | 11 crew members |
| Armament: | Two 50-caliber machine guns |
LT-5 is a large tugboat acquired by the H. Lee White Maritime Museum from the Army Corps of Engineers in 1989. She originally serverd in the U.S. Army, taking part in the invasion of Normandy. She is the only known essentially unmodified example of the LT-type left in the U.S. Her heroics during the Normandy invasion led to the awarding of National Historic Landmark status in 1991.
Contents |
[edit] Historic Landmark
LT-5 is berthed on the West Pier in the Oswego Harbor where she is made available for public viewing through the H. Lee White Maritime Museum. The LT-5 is open seasonally from May through September.
Once the Museum acquired the LT-5, it raised $60,000 to cover the costs of necessary dry dock repairs to the hull and other systems in Hamilton, Ontario. Under the direction of former U.S. Navy salvage and rescue diver Captain Lance Knapp, a volunteer crew worked for 3 years to restore the vessel to fully operational condition.
[edit] Army Core of Engineers
While many of the Army's remaining tugs were decommissioned, sold or scrapped, LT-5 was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers out of Buffalo, NY serving from 1946 until 1989 as a Great Lakes harbor tug.
[edit] U.S. Army service
Built to serve during WW II, USAT LT-5 moved military cargo under the Army Transportation Corps. She served in both the Atlantic and Pacific. On February 3, 1944, she sailed for Great Britain to assist in the preparations for Operation Overlord. LT-5 arrived off the Normandy coast on June 7 as part of Operation Mulberry.
LT-5 (Major Elisha K. Henson) saw duty during the Normandy Invasion of WWII ferrying supplies and ammunition across the English Channel. On June 8th while moored to a sunken LST, LT-5 was subjected to air attacks. Her log book for June 9 records that at 20:30 hours, "planes overhead. Everyone shooting at them. Starboard gunner got an F.W." (German Luftwaffe fighter, the Focke Wulf.)
[edit] External Links
http://www.hleewhitemarinemuseum.com/LT.html
[edit] Reference
http://www.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/NY01.pdf
