Landing Ship, Tank (LST) Signals in Morse

The Beaver County Times reports Bob Pointer N9XAW flashed 'bye' - dash, dot, dot, dot;  dash, dot, dash, dash;  dot - in Morse code with a signal light from the third deck of LST 325 as it left a crowd lining the Ohio River at the New Cumberland Locks and Dam Tuesday evening.

“If there’s a ham down there, he’ll flash back,” said Pointer, a Navy veteran from Evansville, Ind., who served aboard an LST. “Every once in a while, we’ll get one who’ll answer us. Ham radio operators still use Morse code.”

Read the full Beaver County Times article at
http://www.timesonline.com/bct_news/news_details/
article/1373/2010/august/31/crowds-line-banks-to-see-lst-lumber-by.html

The LST (Landing Ship, Tank) is an amphibious vessel designed to land battle-ready tanks, troops and supplies directly onto enemy shores.

Ships of this type proved to be enormously useful during times of war and peace. 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,

WW2LST - USS LST 325 Amateur Radio Club
http://www.eham.net/qslmgr/result?Callsign=WW2LST

The USS LST Ship Memorial
http://www.lstmemorial.org/

Southgate 2005 - Ham Radio volunteers helping tornado victims
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/november2005/
indiana_volunteers.htm