Twice a year, on-board LST 325, we host Work Weeks for our volunteers. While we have a wonderful group of local, regular volunteers, not all hands are on deck year round. We have plenty of volunteers around the United States, and during the Spring and Fall, we call them to Evansville for major projects. During this Fall Work Week, or Deck and Engineering crews have made some major headway in restoration and general maintenance on the ship.
Every morning during Work Week, our crew starts their day at 07:00 with breakfast courtesy of the 325 Galley Crew. After a good meal to start the day, the crew holds Quarters on the Tank Deck, the Colors are observed, and business for the coming day is discussed. The Deck and Engineering Crews break off, discuss their individual projects in depth, and then get to work!
There was certainly a lot of scraping, needlegunning, priming, and painting going on (as there always is), but there was certainly a good amount of cutting, grinding, and welding as well. New pipe was fitted for our fire mains towards the bow, ballast tanks were inspected to repair cracked seals, and restoration on the port-side head moves along!
Have a look below for some great shots of our volunteers as the help preserve our piece of living history!
The 325 Fall Work Week Crew: Class of 2017
"To The Colors"
John Tallent and crew discuss the business for the day.
We say goodbye to Paul Heintz and Jack Stephenson. Thank you for volunteering with us! Good luck to you, and we hope to see you again in the future.
Thanks again, Paul and Jack!
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Quarters continued:
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The Ward Room is a relaxing spot for our volunteers to take a much needed break from their hard work.
Dave Cassel is one of the many volunteers working on the seemingly endless amount of scraping on ship.
Much like scraping and painting, there is ALWAYS a ton of trash to deal with on ship. Paul MacKinnon prepares to dispose of another mound of garbage.
A healthy amount of scraping around the dumbwaiter on the Mess Deck
The Mess Deck, repainted and ready for chow!
Gilbert Renault on the fo'c'sle, preparing to winterize the area.
Paul MacKinnon and Rick Romano cover up the aft-starboard 40mm for the upcoming winter. By their faces, it seems to have gone well.
David Turner and Pat Habel working below in Aux Engine.
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Restoration of the aft-port head in Troop Berthing.
Bill Bigelow and Patrick Shubel discuss their strategy for continued work in the Port head.
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Patrick Shubel in a spectacular display of welding.
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Dan Cinowalt and Brian Congiardo spent the week working on pipework for a firemain on-board.
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Chuck Schroder and Paul MacKinnon stringing a new set of lights over the main deck
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The Wheelhouse has been in need of a new paint job for quite a while, and our volunteers have stepped up to accommodate.
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Susie Bloom spent several days needlegunning one of our old 20mm mounts on Port-side. With soem assistance from Dave Cassell, it's now been cleaned off, primed and re-painted.
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A quick peek into one of our Ballast Tanks, showing off the fresh piping from previous Work Weeks.
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Bill Stute shows off the newly re-lit area housing the Bow Ramp machinery.
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At our "Blue Building" our volunteers work to restore our DUKW, and perform some maintenance on one of our Higgins Boats.
Our baker, Pete Kish, demonstrates his gratitude to the Deck and Engineering crews for their hard work during Work Week.
Once again, a massive "THANK YOU" to all of our volunteers from all over the United States. Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to join us in Evansville, and thank you for all of the work you do to help keep the 325 sailing. Whether it's painting, welding, engine work, or guiding tours, well appreciate everything that you do for The Last Of The Class!
