LT-5 TUG

The LT-5, an ocean-going harbor tug built in 1943 at the Jakobsen Shipyard in Oyster Bay, New York, was constructed specifically to serve in the European Invasion. Serving under the United States Army Transportation Corps, she was one of many support vessels that towed barges of ammunition and supplies in convoys across the English Channel to the beaches of Normandy in 1944. From her 1944 log: on June 6 she left Exmouth with a convoy; on June 7 she sighted the French coast, dropped anchor, and awaited orders; on June 8 she experienced repeated air raids; and on June 9 at 20:30 hours, with planes overhead and everyone shooting, her starboard gunner got a F.W. (Focke Wulfe). She then left barges tied to a sunken LST and proceeded away from the beach. As indicated by the kill mark on her stack, the gunner shot down the enemy plane using one of two 50-caliber machine guns located off the top deck. For her valor during WWII, the LT-5 received battle ribbons displayed above the pilothouse. After the war, she was renamed the John F. Nash and served as a harbor tug under the US Army Corps of Engineers for over forty years on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Retired in 1989, the LT-5 was acquired by the Port Authority in 1991. The LT-5 is the last remaining vessel of its type associated with the D-Day landings.

Oswego, New York · United States