photo by Alan Freed
photo by Alan Freed
On Friday, April 17, the Heinz History Center volunteers, in preparation for their upcoming WWII exhibit, visited Laughlin Memorial Library for a presentation by LST Navy Veteran, Gary Augustine.
Augustine spoke about the “Indispensable Ship: The Role of LST Ship Building.”
Augustine gave some of the following quick facts, according to Dean Stewart, who attended the event:
Volunteers from the Heinz History Center are learning more about the role of LST ship building in the Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania region with an emphasis on the American Bridge Company and Dravo Corp. They also took a walking tour of Hussey Copper in Leetsdale afterwards, which the public was invited to join.
"We will be offering this as a public program again in the near future," said Julie Mulcahy, library director. "Please keep checking back and when we get the details we will post. Thanks to the Heinz History Center for opening up their field trip for our local historians."
Augustine spoke about the “Indispensable Ship: The Role of LST Ship Building.”
Augustine gave some of the following quick facts, according to Dean Stewart, who attended the event:
- The overall length of an LST was 328 feet and the breadth was 50 feet.
- The fastest speed ever attained was about 18 knots and that was going down the launch ramp.
- They usually traveled at 8 to 9 knots.
- There were 1,052 LSTs built during World War II between Dravo and American Bridge, 25 percent were built locally.
- Ambridge Bridge employed 13,000 people during this period--approximately 21 percent were women, 11 percent were black.
Volunteers from the Heinz History Center are learning more about the role of LST ship building in the Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania region with an emphasis on the American Bridge Company and Dravo Corp. They also took a walking tour of Hussey Copper in Leetsdale afterwards, which the public was invited to join.
"We will be offering this as a public program again in the near future," said Julie Mulcahy, library director. "Please keep checking back and when we get the details we will post. Thanks to the Heinz History Center for opening up their field trip for our local historians."
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