Editing Landing craft (section)

{{Short description|Seagoing watercraft}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
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| caption1 = [[Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel]] (LCVP) used in the [[Invasion of Normandy]] in [[World War II]]
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| caption2 = Dutch landing craft
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| caption3 = Finnish [[Jehu-class landing craft]]
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| caption4 = The Soviet-built [[PTS (amphibious vehicle)|PTS-M]] is an unarmoured, fully tracked landing craft that was designed to transport troops or equipment inland.
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'''Landing craft''' are small and medium seagoing [[watercraft]], such as boats and barges, used to convey a [[landing force]] ([[infantry]] and [[Military vehicle|vehicles]]) from the sea to the shore during an [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious assault]]. The term excludes [[Amphibious warfare ship|landing ships]], which are larger. Production of landing craft peaked during [[World War II]], with a significant number of different designs produced in large quantities by the [[United Kingdom]] and [[United States]].

Because of the need to run up onto a suitable beach, World War II landing craft were flat-bottomed, and many designs had a flat front, often with a lowerable ramp, rather than a normal [[bow (ship)|bow]]. This made them difficult to control and very uncomfortable in rough seas. The control point (too rudimentary to call a [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]] on [[Landing Craft Assault|LCA]] and similar craft) was normally at the extreme rear of the vessel, as were the engines. In all cases, they were known by an [[abbreviation]] derived from the official name rather than by the full title.