Landing craft

Landing craft are boats and seagoing vehicles used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII.

In the days of sail, the ship's boats were used as landing craft, but the introduction of steamships led to ship's boats shrinking in size, which required the creation of specialist designs for landing purposes.

The High Summer of the landing craft was the latter half of WWII, when a large number of different designs were produced in large quantities by the United Kingdom and USA.

Because of the need to run up onto a suitable beach they were flat-bottomed, and many designs had a flat front, often with a lowerable ramp, rather than a normal bow. This made them difficult to control and very uncomfortable in rough seas.

The control point (bridge was far too fancy a description for the facilities of the LCA and DUKW) was normally situated at the extreme rear of the vessel as were the engines.

In all cases they tended to be known by an acronym derived from the official name rather than the full title.

Types

The smallest landing craft were the US-designed DUKW, basically an amphibious truck, and the Landing Vehicle Tracked, an amphibious armoured personnel carrier. These were operated by Army personnel, not naval crews. They had a capacity of about 3 tons.

Then came the British Landing Craft Assault (LCA) small craft intended to be transported around by larger vessels then lowered into the water off the target beach. Typically they could carry 36 fully-armed soldiers.

The US Landing Craft Vehicle/Personnel (LCVP) was more flexible - it could carry 30 troops or small vehicles such as Jeeps.

Landing Craft, Mechanized were larger capable of carrying one small tank or 100 troops.

Landing Craft Personnel, Large (LCPL) was similar to an LCVP, but without a ramp. It was more maneuverable and seaworthy, and sometimes came with an enclosed cockpit. It was often used as a command boat.

None of the above was capable of making a voyage longer than about 6-12 hours, mainly through fuel limitations.

Then came the Landing Craft Infantry (LCI), capable of making serious voyages under its own power (some were sailed directly from the United Kingdom to take part in the Operation Torch landings, and US Navy LCIs island-hopped across the Pacific). LCIs were about 160 feet long and 23 feet wide and carried around 250 troops. There were several sub-types of the craft, with the LCI(L) (large) infantry carrier dominating; but LCIs also served as rocket (LCI(R)) and mortar (M), and gunboat (G) platforms, as well as a flotilla flagship (FF). While still intended to run up on the beach, these tended to have a normal type bow with stepped ramps each side for the troops to disembark. The LCI was re-classified Landing Ship Infantry (LSI) in 1949.

Of a similar size was the Landing Craft Tank, which could carry up to 4 Tanks or other vehicles. These had a ramp at the front which was dropped for the vehicles to get ashore. Behind the ramp was an open space known as the Tank Deck. There were several different designs and sizes varied.

The next step was the Landing Ship Tank. This carried rather more vehicles than the LCT (20 in the US-built versions) and had normal looking bows, although the bows were actually formed by doors which were opened for the unloading ramp to drop. Fully loaded, these displaced more than 3,000 tons, rather more than most Royal Navy destroyers of the period.

Finally there was the Landing Ship Dock, which had a large open compartment at the back. Opening a stern door and flooding special compartments allowed this area to be open to the sea and LCI-sized vessels could enter or leave.

Initial British nomenclature used different type names leading to alternate names such as Assault Landing Craft, Infantry Landing Craft and Tank Landing Craft.

Due to their rather small size the majority were not given names and were simply given serial numbers, e.g. LCT 304. The LSDs were an exception to this being much the same size as a small cruiser. Three British-built LSTs were named as well, HMS Boxer, Bruiser and Thruster which were somewhat larger than the US design; they also had proper funnels.

Armament

DUKWs, LCAs and LCMs had no fixed armament, but there were ways for troops on board to use their own weapons.

LCIs and LCTs carried weapons such as the Oerlikon 20 mm cannon each side of the bridge structure. LSTs had a somewhat heavier armament.

Special purpose craft

Some Landing craft were converted for special purposes either to give defence for the other landing craft in the attack or as support weapons during the landing.

Landing Craft Assault (Hedgerow)

The LCA(HR) was a conversion of the British LCA which carried 24 spigot mortars, the Royal Navy's Hedgehog anti-submarine weapon instead of personnel. The mortars were fired as a barrage onto the beach to clear mines and other obstructions. Having discharged its mortars and its duty the LCA(HR) would then leave the beach area. They were towed to the beach by larger craft such as the LCT which would carry the assault teams of the Royal Engineers with their specialist vehicles and equipment to complete the beach clearance.

Landing Craft Flak

The Landing Craft Flak (LCF) was a conversion of the LCT intended to give anti-aircraft support to the landing. They were first used in the Dieppe Raid early in 1942. The ramp was welded shut, and a deck built on top of the Tank deck. They were equipped with several light anti-aircraft guns - a typical fitting was eight 20 mm Oerlikons and four pom-poms and had a crew of 60. Royal Navy examples had mixed crews, with the operation of the craft being the responsibility of RN crew and the manning of the guns being done by Royal Marines. They carried two naval officers and two marine officers.

Landing Craft Gun

The Landing Craft Gun (LCG) was similar and was intended to give supporting fire to the landing. Apart from the Oerlikons as per a normal LCT they had two 4.7 inch destroyer guns. Crewing was similar to the LCF. LCGs played a very important part in the Walcheren operation in October 1944.

Landing Craft Rocket

Finally there was the Landing Craft Rocket, known as the Landing Craft Tank (Rocket)LCT(R) to denote that it was a modified LCT rather than LCR.

This had a large set of launchers for the British RP-3 60 lb (27 kg) rockets mounted on the covered-over tank deck. The full set of launchers was 'in excess of' 1,000 and reloads to the tune of 5,000 rockets were kept below. The firepower was claimed to be equivalent to 80 light cruisers or 200 destroyers.

The method of operation was to anchor off the target beach, pointing towards the shore. The distance to the shore was then measured by radar and the elevation of the launchers set accordingly. The crew then vanished below (apart from the commanding officer who retreated to a special cubby hole to control things) and the launch was then set off electrically. The launch could comprise the whole lot or individual ranks of rockets.

A full reload was a very labor-intensive operation and at least one LCT(R) went along side a cruiser and got a working party from the larger ship to assist in the process.

Amphibious mechanized utility and landing craft

The mechanized utility and landing craft, more commonly known as an amphibious landing craft or boat. This was the kind used during the second world war, and while the mechanized landing crafts of today are similar in construction, a lot of improvements have been made. Normally using diesel engines, the best amphibious landing boats (such as the LCM 8 of the US Navy) are capable of a military lift of 183 metric tons at a speed of 22 km/h, carrying even heavy equipment like M1 Abrams tanks with little trouble. Amphibious landing craft normally mount several machine guns or similar weapons for the defense of troops and/or vehicle crews inside.

Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC)

The air cushioned landing craft, or fully amphibious landing craft, is a more modern variation on the amphibious landing boat. These craft are based on small to mid sized multi-purpose hovercraft, also known as 'over the beach' ('OTB') craft. This allows troops and material to access more than 70% of the world's coastline, while only approximately 15% of that coastline is available to conventional landing craft. Typical barriers to conventional landing craft are soft sandy beaches, marshes, swampland, and loose surfaces. Air cushion technology has vastly increased the landing capability of the craft, providing greater speed and flexibility over traditional landing craft.

Like the mechanized landing craft, they are usually equipped with mounted machine guns, although they also support grenade launchers and heavy weapons.

These vehicles are commonly used in the United States Navy, which first received them in 1984, the Russian Navy, and some other modern fighting forces, such as the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. Forces that may use the LCAC may include The Royal Marines.

External links

References

U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History, by Norman Friedman

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