The Landing Craft, Mechanised Mark 1 or LCM (1) was a
landing craft used extensively in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. Its primary purpose was to ferry tanks from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. Ferrying troops, other vehicles, and supplies were secondary tasks. The craft derived from a prototype designed by
John I. Thornycroft Ltd. of
Woolston, Hampshire
Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, Hampshire, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston.
The area has a strong maritime and aviation history. The former ...
,
UK. During the war it was manufactured in the United Kingdom in boatyards and steel works.
Constructed of
steel and selectively clad with armour plate, this shallow-draft,
barge
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
-like boat with a crew of 6, could ferry a tank of 16 long tons to shore at 7
knots
A knot is a fastening in rope or interwoven lines.
Knot may also refer to:
Places
* Knot, Nancowry, a village in India
Archaeology
* Knot of Isis (tyet), symbol of welfare/life.
* Minoan snake goddess figurines#Sacral knot
Arts, entertainme ...
(13 km/h). Depending on the weight of the tank to be transported the craft might be lowered into the water by its davits already loaded or could have the tank placed in it after being lowered into the water.
Narvik and
Dunkirk claimed almost all of the 1920s
Motor Landing Craft and, therefore, the LCM(1) was the common British and
Commonwealth vehicle and stores landing craft until US manufactured types became available. Early in the war LCM(1) were referred to commonly as Landing Barges by both the military and the press. Prior to July 1942, these craft were officially referred to as "Mechanised Landing Craft" (MLC), but "Landing Craft; Mechanised" (LCM) was used thereafter to conform with the joint US-UK nomenclature system. This being the earliest design in use at the time, it was more specifically called "Landing Craft, Mechanised Mark 1" or LCM(1).
Design
All landing craft designs (and landing ship designs for ships intended to beach) must find a compromise between two divergent priorities; the qualities that make a good sea boat are opposite those that make a craft suitable for beaching.
[Saunders 1943, p. 11.]
In 1938, following the
Inter-Service Training and Development Centre
The Inter-Service Training and Development Centre (ISTDC) was a department under the British Chiefs of Staff set up prior to World War II for the purpose of developing methods and equipment to use in Combined Operations.
The ISTDC came into bei ...
's (ISTDC) successful development of the infantry carrying
LCA and close support LCS, attention turned to the means of efficiently delivering a tank to a beach. Inquires were made of the army as to the heaviest tank that might be employed in a landing operation. The army wanted to be able to land a 12-ton tank, but the ISTDC, anticipating weight increases in future tank models, specified 16 tons burthen for Mechanised Landing Craft designs.
[Maund, p.13] The Mercantile Marine Department of the
Board of Trade informed the ISTDC that for the new craft to be carried aboard the ordinary heavy-derrick merchant ship, it would need to be limited to 20 tons, no more than 40 feet in length, and 14 feet in beam.
[Fergusson, p. 42] Another governor on any design was the need to land tanks and other vehicles in less than approximately 2 ½ feet of water.
Design work began at Thornycroft in May 1938, with trials completing in February 1940.
Although early LCM(1)s were powered by two Thornycroft 60 bhp petrol engines, the majority were powered by Chrysler in-line 6-cylinder Crown petrol engines, each developing 60 bhp at 3,200rpm (later units increased to 115 bhp at the same rpm). Piston displacement on the 60 bhp units was 250.6 cubic inches. Two sets of vents, port and starboard, provided air to the engine space. One set was immediately to the fore of the wheel house, and the second set approximately one-third of the craft's overall length from the stern.
LCM(4)
In the years 1943 and 1944, seventy-seven LCM(4)s were built. Outwardly, the LCM(4) was almost completely identical to a late model LCM(1) – the difference lay inside the pontoon. Here special bilge pumps and special ballast tanks allowed the LCM(4) to alter trim to increase stability when partially loaded.
Service history
Throughout the Second World War, LCM(1)s were used for landing Allied forces in many
Commando
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
operations, major and minor, in the European theatre. They also saw service in North Africa and the Indian Ocean. Major references do not record any service in the Pacific. The
Royal
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a ...
,
Royal Canadian and
Royal Indian Navies operated the craft, but soldiers of many Commonwealth and Allied nations were transported into battle aboard them. United States Army formations were dependent on these craft in the North African, Sicilian, and Italian mainland landing operations. Below are operations involving LCM(1)s, and descriptions of how the attributes of the craft, good or ill, suited operational circumstances.
1940
The Norwegian campaign
The first LCM used in an opposed landing disembarked a French light tank, a 13-ton
Hotchkiss H39
The Hotchkiss H35 or was a French cavalry tank developed prior to World War II. Despite having been designed from 1933 as a rather slow but well-armoured light infantry support tank, the type was initially rejected by the French Infantry becaus ...
supporting the
13th Demi-Brigade (13e DBLE) on the beach at
Bjerkvik
Bjerkvik is a village in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village is located at the end of Herjangsfjorden, an arm of Ofotfjorden. Bjerkvik sits less than south of the border of Troms county and about across the fjord from ...
,
above Narvik, on 13 May during the
Norwegian Campaign. The army commander, General
Antoine Béthouart
Marie Émile Antoine Béthouart (17 December 1889 – 17 October 1982) was a French Army general who served during World War I and World War II.
Born in Dole, Jura, in the Jura Mountains, Béthouart graduated from Saint-Cyr military academy ...
, responsible for capturing the area north of Rombaks, realized that a landing behind German lines in the Herjangsfjord was required to force the enemy to retire. The plan agreed involved LCAs making the approach journey under their own power, a pre-landing bombardment by ships, followed by the landing of three tanks – one from the LCM 1, and two from the older Motor Landing Craft (MLC), then the landing of an initial wave of infantry from LCAs, and then a follow on force carried in barges towed by motor torpedo boats. On 12 May, at about 23:40, Royal Navy destroyers commenced a bombardment of the town intended to destroy all buildings on the foreshore. The LCAs landed soon after 01:00, when the LCM had delivered its tank to the beach (the other tanks in MLCs were delayed). Though touchdown was in the early hours of the new day the
midnight sun
The midnight sun is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When the midnight sun is seen in the Arctic, ...
illuminated the battle. Once ashore, the 13e DBLE's companies deployed and was seen, from a distance, by
Admiral L. E. H. Maund, who had done much work in the LCM's development: The LCM, along with towed ship's boats and other landing craft types, then turned to landing the rest of 13e DBLE and its supporting elements.
The small flotilla of the LCM, MLCs, and LCAs had added greatly to the Allies' tactical latitude.
[Maund, p. 42] The LCM was lost to enemy action during the succeeding operations in Norway. It was not possible to hoist it onto available ships, so an attempt was made to tow it home behind a trawler, but the sea became too rough and the LCM had to be cut adrift and sunk.
[Fergusson, p. 44]
Dunkirk
One LCM
[Maund states two, but this may be a misreading of "British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1939–45", HMSO,1947, which does not differentiate between Motor Landing Craft and Mechanised Landing Craft. One of each type of MLC was recorded lost at Dunkirk.] was used in the evacuation of the BEF from
Dunkirk (
Operation Dynamo
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
). It safely came away from the beaches toward the close of the operation, but its army passengers and crew were transferred to a larger vessel in the Channel. The master of that ship chose not to take it under tow, but to sink it.
Still, the design had proven itself having successfully taken soldiers directly off the beaches.
[Maund 1949, p. 62]
See also
*
Inter-Service Training and Development Centre
The Inter-Service Training and Development Centre (ISTDC) was a department under the British Chiefs of Staff set up prior to World War II for the purpose of developing methods and equipment to use in Combined Operations.
The ISTDC came into bei ...
*
Landing Vehicle Tracked ("Amphtrack")
*
Landing Ship, Tank
Landing Ship, Tank (LST), or tank landing ship, is the naval designation for ships first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto shore with ...
(LST)
*
Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) – an overview article
*
Landing Craft Assault
Landing Craft Assault (LCA) was a landing craft used extensively in World War II. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by John I. Thornycroft Ltd. ...
*
LCM (2)
The Landing Craft, Mechanized Mark 2 or LCM (2) was a landing craft used for Amphibious warfare, amphibious landings early in the United States' involvement in the World War II, Second World War. Though its primary purpose was to transport light ...
*
Landing Craft Personnel (Large)
*
Landing Ship Infantry, as an example
HMS Glengyle
HMS ''Glengyle'' was a cargo ship that served in the Second World War as an infantry landing ship (large) of the Royal Navy. She carried Commonwealth and other Allied troops in amphibious operations. ''Glengyle'' was able to make good speed on ...
*
Ramped Cargo Lighter
The ramped cargo lighter or RCL was a landing craft used in many parts of the world during the Second World War. Designed in Canada and manufactured in Vancouver and Toronto, its primary purpose was lighterage work following assault landings. Th ...
, a Canadian designed and built landing craft
Footnotes
Notes
Citations
References
*''British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1939–45'' HMSO, 1947.
*Bruce, Colin J ''Invaders'', Chatham Publishing, London, 1999.
*Buffetaut, Yves ''D-Day Ships'', Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1994.
*Campbell, John P ''Dieppe Revisited: A Documentary Investigation'', Cass & Co. Ltd., London, 1993.
*Chappell, Mike ''Army Commandos 1940–45'', Osprey, Oxford, 1996.
*The Chief of Combined Operations ''Combined Operations Staff Notebook'', HMSO, 1945.
*Dunphie, Christopher & Johnson, ''Gold Beach'', Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 1999.
*Fergusson, Bernard ''The Watery Maze; the story of Combined Operations'',Holt, New York, 1961.
*Ford, Ken ''Dieppe 1942: prelude to D-Day'', Osprey, Oxford, 2003.
*Hall, Tony, Ed., ''D-Day'', Zenith Press, XXXXX, 2001.
*Ladd, JD ''Assault From the Sea: 1939–1945'', Hippocrene Books, Inc., New York, 1976.
*Ladd, James D. ''Commandos and Rangers of World War 2'' Macdonalds and Jane's, London, 1978. .
*Ladd, JD ''Royal Marine Commando'', Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd., London, 1982.
*Lavery, Brian ''Assault Landing Craft'', Seaforth Publishing., Barnsley, UK, 2009.
*Lund, Paul, and Ludlam, Harry ''War of the Landing Craft'', New English Library, London 1976.
*Maund, LEH ''Assault From the Sea'', Methuen & Co. Ltd., London 1949.
*Montgomery, Bernard. ''El Alamein to the River Sangro ''. EP Dutton & Co:London, 1949.
*Otway, T.B.H ''The Second World War 1939–1945'', Imperial War Museum, London, 1990.
* Porch, Douglas. ''The French Foreign Legion.'' New York: Harper Collins, 1991.
*Robertson, Terence ''The Shame and the Glory: Dieppe'', McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 1967
*Saunders, Hilary A. St. George ''Combined Operations: The Official Story of the Commandos''. New York: Macmillan, 1943.
*Thompson, R.W. ''At Whatever Cost. The Story of the Dieppe Raid'', Coward, McCann, New York, 1957
*Tooley, Robert ''Invicta'', New Ireland Press, Fredericton, NB, 1989.
*US Navy ONI 226 ''Allied Landing Craft and Ships'', US Government Printing Office, 1944.
External links
Photograph of MLC model in Science Museum{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries
Royal Navy
Landing craft
Military vehicles introduced in the 1930s