The Landing Craft Personnel (Large) or LCP (L) was a

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

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 opposin ...

. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by the Eureka Tug-Boat Company of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, USA. Manufactured initially in boatyards in and around New Orleans, as requirements grew it was produced in a number of yards around the United States. Typically constructed of pine planks and

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

, and fitted with some armor plate, this shallow-draft boat with a crew of 3, could ferry an infantry

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

of 36 to shore at 8

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). Men generally entered the boat by walking over a

gangplank A gangway is a narrow passage that joins the quarterdeck to the forecastle of a sailing ship. The term is also extended to mean the narrow passages used to board or disembark ships. Modern shipping uses gangways to embark and disembark passeng ...

from the boat deck of their troop transport as the LCP(L) hung from its davits. When loaded, the LCP(L) was lowered into the water. Soldiers exited the boat by jumping or climbing down from the craft's bow or sides.

Origins

During the 1930s, the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

(USMC) sought boats practical for landing troops on beaches. In 1936, the USMC conducted experiments with new types of boats, lighters, and launches. Many craft were considered coming from the Navy's

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as well as commercial fishing boat designs. Included in these experiments were some prototypes where, upon beaching, a ramp was deployed over rollers on the bow. A few boats were overwhelmed by the surf and others did not prove practical, but the craft designed by the Eureka Tug-Boat Company of New Orleans was both a good sea boat and superior at beaching. The craft was based on the company's 1926

spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

-bowed craft used by

trappers Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management. History Neolithic ...

in the

bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

s of the

Mississippi River delta The Mississippi River Delta is the confluence of the Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, southeastern United States. The river delta is a area of land that stretches from Vermilion Bay on the west, to the Chandeleur Isla ...

. The boat's draft was rather shallow, , and it could cut through vegetation and slide over logs without ruining its propeller. It could also run up on shore and extract itself damage-free. As part of sales demonstrations, boats were often run up on the seawalls of

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...

. (The craft was also infamous among law enforcement along the

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

as a vehicle for

rum-runners Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The ter ...

.) The Marines' specifications at the time were for boats operated by a crew of 6 that could carry a

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

of 12 men. Such boats should be able to achieve , and to be hoisted on the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

's standard

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s. The general lines of the boat were accepted by the USMC, and in September 1940 Andrew J. Higgins, president of the Eureka Tug-Boat Company, was contracted to build a slightly larger craft to carry 24 fully equipped troops, or two squads. He produced the Eureka or Higgins boat. This was the craft first used in American

Fleet Landing Exercises The Fleet Landing Exercises, or FLEX were amphibious landing exercises conducted by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps between 1935 and 1941. The purpose of these exercises was to formulate a workable amphibious warfare doctrine ...

in 1941. Before the USMC received their boats, the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

’s need for a raiding craft brought the first enquiries for an even larger boat. Purchasing agents from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

had become aware of Andrew Higgins’ Eureka boats; enquiries were made and a film of the Eureka was sent to the Admiralty in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The

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occupation of

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had changed British procurement plans dramatically. The Admiralty's

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 bein ...

wanted a craft, intending the boat to carry a full British army

and two or three attached signallers or assault engineers. An initial order for 136 was placed, with the first 50 delivered to Britain in October 1940. Higgins had already built these boats on

spec Spec may refer to: *Specification (technical standard), an explicit set of requirements to be satisfied by a material, product, or service **datasheet, or "spec sheet" People * Spec Harkness (1887-1952), American professional baseball pitcher ...

and is said to have preferred this larger craft. Further US procurements were of this larger boat, and thus the LCP(L) was the forerunner of all American LCP types. The LCP(L)s were also known as Eurekas or R boats. Before 1942, The USMC referred to them as T Boats. They were American-made landing craft that could carry up to 36 troops. Unlike later landing craft, the LCP(L)s did not have ramps at the bow, so the troops had to jump over the sides to get out. The boats themselves were made of plywood but had armored bulkheads. They were invented by

native

Andrew Higgins Andrew Jackson Higgins (28 August 1886 – 1 August 1952) was an American businessman and boatbuilder who founded Higgins Industries, the New Orleans-based manufacturer of "Higgins boats" (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel, or LCVPs) during W ...

before the war and were designed with a shallow draft to operate in swamps. But, it turned out that the design was also excellent for operating on shallow beaches.

Manning the LCP(L)

In US Navy or US Coast Guard service, the craft's crew comprised two gunners and the coxswain. Though the gunners would normally occupy the two gunner's cockpits, forward, during landing, they had other duties also. One acted as the bowman while the other served as the mechanic. The coxswain was in charge of the boat and crew. His position was at the wheel directly behind the gunner's cockpits and only slightly off-set to the port side. From here he steered and operated engine controls. The craft's raked bow made beaching comparatively easy, and the craft came off without difficulty when unloaded, though it could snag on rocks or poor ground as any other small boat would. The LCP(L) could be loaded from the boat deck, before launching, ‘unless otherwise specified by the warning plate in the boat’,US Navy ONI for its construction as much as its light weight made this speeding up of the launching-load time possible. Other craft, especially those with a ramp like the LCV and LCVP were structurally weak in the bow and could not be loaded before lowering from davits; personnel being transported in these types climbed down scramble nets into these boat. The 3-man crew of a British LCP(L) were led by a Leading Seaman or Royal Marine Corporal coxswain who steered the boat and operated engine controls on the port side of the cockpit. Beside him was the Lewis gunner who also acted as bowman handling any rope-work forward. The third man was a mechanic who might also handle stern ropes. At other times LCP(L)s might be led or towed by coastal forces craft when a raid was within reasonable range of a sally port. A number of these raids were made in 1940 to 1942 by British forces, sometimes using LCP(L)s though more often going ashore by canoe. The first major landing from LCP(L)s in Europe took place in August 1942 when the Canadians with elements of the British army and Royal Marines landed at Dieppe. The fortunes of the LCP(L) flotillas showed here how units and even individual craft could have very different luck in a landing.

Successors

Two significant further developments of the LCP(L) were produced, also designed by

. These retained the dimensions of the LCP(L) to allow use from the same launch platforms. The first development was the Landing Craft, Personnel (Ramped) (

LCP(R) The landing craft, vehicle, personnel (LCVP) or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively by the Allied forces in amphibious landings in World War II. Typically constructed from plywood, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat could ferry ...

), which added a bow ramp to the LCP(L) design for faster egress. The concept came from the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Daihatsu-class ramped landing craft. The second development, the most-produced of the three, was the Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel ( LCVP). This widened the bow to the full width of the craft to maximize the ramp size and speed of egress. The LCVP is the craft most referred to as a "Higgins Boat", although its two predecessors and a

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...

design were also developed and produced by Higgins.

Notes

References

*DeFelice, Jim ''Rangers at Dieppe'' New York: Berkley Caliber, The Penguin Group, 2008, *Fergusson, Bernard ''The Watery Maze; the story of Combined Operations'', Holt, New York, 1961. *Friedman, Norman ''U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History'', Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2002. *Ladd, JD ''Assault From the Sea: 1939-1945'', Hippocrene Books, Inc., New York, 1976. *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. *Miller, John ''Guadalcanal: The First Offensive'', US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 1949. *Smith, W.H.B. ''Basic Manual of Military Small Arms'' Stackpole Books, Harrisburg PA *US Navy ONI 226 ''Allied Landing Craft and Ships'', US Government Printing Office, 1944.

External links

* * {{cite news , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rNoDAAAAMBAJ&q=Popular+Science+1935+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA334 , title = At Home A Float, part 2 , publisher =

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...