Veterans To Sail WWII Ship

Wednesday, December 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) â€” A group of aging Navy veterans plans to sail a World War II ship from the Mediterranean to the United States despite warnings from the Coast Guard that the vessel and crew may not be up to the task.

The 32 veterans â€” average age 73 â€” want to turn the ship, which was used to deliver troops to Normandy during the D-Day invasion, into a floating museum in Mobile, Ala.

But the vessel, the LST-325, lacks adequate safety equipment, its steering is in questionable condition, and the Atlantic Ocean is cold and stormy in December, Vice Adm. John E. Shkor, commander of the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area Command, wrote in a letter to the ship's captain, Robert Jornlin, last week.

He urged the crew to have the ship towed instead, or at least to postpone the voyage until all problems found in a Coast Guard inspection have been fixed.

``We would love nothing more than to have them return the LST-325 to the United States and make a museum of it,'' command spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Brendan McPherson said Wednesday. ``We would just like to see it done safely.''

Mike Gunjak, spokesman for the group and president of the United States LST Association, said: ``I can understand this admiral's concern, but the man knows nothing about an LST. He doesn't understand how good a shape the ship is in.''

Gunjak said towing the ship would cost about $600,000 â€” money the association doesn't have.

The men plan to leave the Strait of Gibraltar on Saturday, or Monday at the latest, and expect to arrive in Mobile by Jan. 13.

Shkor said a Coast Guard examiner found several safety problems, including inadequate lifesaving equipment, a main propulsion and steering system in questionable condition, lack of an emergency generator and uncertainty about the crew's capacity to respond to emergency situations.

But Gunjak said that the inspection found a few minor problems that have been fixed, and that the ship has the proper navigation equipment and adequate lifesaving equipment, including two 30-man liferafts.

The American ship was built in 1942. It was decommissioned in 1946, lent to the Greek government in 1964 and again decommissioned last summer.

The crew crossed the Mediterranean in 13 days from Athens to Gibraltar, despite two storms and some equipment problems. One man suffered heart problems and died on his way home.

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On the Net: http://www.uslst.org