The LST-325, Haze Gray And UnderWay

The World War II vessel LST-325, which drew wide notice when an aging crew of veterans sailed it across the Atlantic, is to depart May 17 on a journey to Boston and back, its last voyage before leaving for its new home port in Indiana. "We're going to escort the USS Constitution on June 11 in Boston Harbor," said Robert Jornlin, of Earlville, Ill., the Captain of the LST-325. Jornlin said a crew of about 40 volunteers will man the LST-325 on a trip around the southern tip of Florida and up the Atlantic Coast to Boston. It will escort the USS Constitution, which was built in 1797 and is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy, on one of its rare excursions across the harbor. The LST-325 is scheduled to return to Mobile on July 4. Jornlin said he's hoping to take the LST-325 out of Mobile "sometime in the middle of July" to its new home port at Evansville, Ind. The World War II ship arrived to a cheering throng in Mobile on Jan. 10, 2001, after a 6,400-mile voyage from Greece that included a dangerous winter crossing of the Atlantic -- all with a crew of 28 whose average age was 72. The LST-325