USS LST - 393 USS " LST 393 " is an built for the United States Navy during World War II . She is one of only two LSTs to survive in original configuration ; 1 , 051 were built . The ship is presently being restored in Muskegon , Michigan , and serves as USS LST 393 Veterans Museum ( lst393 . org ) . Featuring many areas restored to World War II and exhibiting thousands of artifacts honoring American service persons , the museum is open May – October . LST 393 was laid down on 27 July 1942 at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company and launched on 11 November 1942 . She was commissioned on 11 December 1942 with Lieutenant John H . Halifax , USNR , in command . During World War II , LST - 393 was assigned to the European Theater and participated in the following operations : the Sicilian occupation ( July 1943 ) ; the Salerno landings ( September 1943 ) ; and the Invasion of Normandy ( June 1944 ) . She won three battles stars for those missions . LST 393 arrived in the Omaha Beach zone on the night of June 6 , 1944 . After off - loading Sherman tanks as well as other war material , the ship spent two days high and dry , trapped by Normandy ’ s fickle tides . She made 30 round trips to Omaha Beach , bringing varied equipment and supplies to France and returning with wounded soldiers as well as thousands of German prisoners . LST 393 was one of few LSTs to be equipped with an airplane . A wire was rigged from bow to stern off the port side and a tiny Piper Cub spotter plane was able to take off and land using a snare pole . After service in the invasion of France , LST 393 was assigned to return to the U . S . east coast for a refit . At that time , she was tasked to be included in the planned Invasion of Japan ; she was then painted in tropical camouflage . She was on her way to the Panama Canal for a transit to the Pacific Ocean when the war ended in September 1945 . U . S . military records show the ship made 75 voyages to foreign shores and covered some 51 , 817 nautical miles in her first three years of service ; her anchor touched bottom in 38 parts of North Africa , Sicily , Italy , England , Wales , Ireland , France and the Canal Zone . LST 393 is credited with carrying 9 , 135 soldiers – more than one - half of an Army division — and 3 , 248 vehicles ranging from Long Tom howitzers to Jeeps . Records show she also carried 5 , 373 prisoners of war and 817 casualties . Following the War , LST 393 returned to the United States , was decommissioned on 1 March 1946 , and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 14 March 1947 . On 28 March 1948 , the tank landing ship was sold to the Sand Products Corporation of Detroit , Michigan for conversion to merchant service and renamed Highway 16 . She would be a waterborne extension of the former U . S . Highway 16 . That roadway – - replaced decades ago by I - 96 — ran from Detroit to Muskegon in Michigan . The converted LST , with its distinctive bow doors welded shut and the tank deck adapted to carry new cars , served to span Lake Michigan to Milwaukee where U . S . 16 began again . Two groups have attempted to restore LST 393 to its former glory . A Muskegon museum group went to work in 2000 and made some headway , along with some help from the Michigan LST Association . But that effort ran out of steam after about two years . In 2005 , a group headed by Muskegon residents Dan Weikel and Bob Wygant asked for permission from owner Sand Products Corp . to pick up where the other group left off . Years of cleaning and painting resulted in a ship that could be toured . In 2007 , extraordinary efforts led to the opening of the bow doors , which hadn ' t moved since they were welded shut in the late 1940s . Development of the veterans museum has continued with the addition of thousands of artifacts as well as restoration of most areas of the ship . The effort continues to this day .