Upon arriving and setting anchor in the Camp LeJuene waters, we could not help but notice this ship. As is evident, it is a little past its prime so we were not sure if it was used for training purposes or what. It seemed to be so odd that it would just sit here in the little sheltered bay in such an un-restored state. So I set out to find out as much as I could about what it was and why it was here. The vessel is a WW II-era landing craft known as Landing Ship Medium-45. Known to the military as LSM-45, it is the last remaining ship of its kind still configured for its original purpose. Once decommissioned, the vessel was located in Omaha, Nebraska. Four years ago LSM-45 was moved to Camp LeJuene’s Hammock Bay. The route it took was truly outstanding for a ship of this size. It was moved by tug boat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, around the Florida Keys and up the Intracoastal Waterway to North Carolina. The plan was that the ship would be the main focus of a Marine Museum. However, these plans have since been disbanded. Currently negotiations are in place to move LSM-45 to a ship museum located on Lake Erie pending authorization from the Department of Transportation. If LSM-45 is allowed to be moved, it would be just shy of completing its own Great Loop journey.
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