An exhibit about Manitowoc’s connection to World War II is now on display at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.
Turning the Tide, the role of Manitowoc’s LCTs in World War II shows off pictures, artifacts, and models of LCTs or Landing Craft Tanks that were built for the war in Manitowoc.
Interim Executive Director Kevin Cullen thanked several people involved in getting the project off the ground, including Submarine Curator Karen Duvalle, who researched LCTs and Manitowoc’s connection to them.
Duvalle says Clipper City had a pivotal role in the boats’ construction.
“Manitowoc was the first to build LCTs in the states,” she explained. “They built the first Mark 5 class, the first 36 of those. And then (Manitowoc Shipbuilders) were asked to design and build the Mark 6 class.”
Cullen also thanked Steve Carter, a representative of the LCT Flotillas of World Wars II group.
He reached out to the museum about LCTs and offered to help bring in artifacts and help create the exhibit.
He tells Seehafer News, “My dad was a gunner’s mate on LCT 614. He lied about his age to get into the Navy. He joined at age 15. At age 16, he was strapped into a 20-millimeter cannon going into Omaha Beach on D-Day.”
Ron Swanson, who’s also a member of the Flotilla groups, says his father also served on an LCT in the war against Japan, but never saw combat.
Swanson highlighted one of the last living Flotilla members, Walt Slager, who served but had to deal with hardship in the Pacific.
“He and his crew were on an LCT on top of a larger Landing Ship Tank in Pearl Harbor, when there was an accidental fire that led to some explosions and a number of them were lost. He made it out,” he noted.
Both Swanson and Carter also explained they hope that visitors will be able to finally learn about a ship not shown in popular media like other boats were.
“This just shows another facet of what they produced here for the war effort right here in Manitowoc,” Swanson stated.
Carter continues saying, “We hope that we enlighten people that these boats existed, and they had a very, very, very important part to do in the war effort.”
The exhibit is on display down the stairs from the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coasts exhibit and through the Maritime History Gallery.
During Sunday’s opening, it was learned that an LCT still exists in Bayfield Wisconsin and it’s still in use during the summer.
