Editing Landing craft (section)

===Specialized vehicle landing craft===
[[File:The Royal Navy during the Second World War- the Dieppe Raid, August 1942 A11228.jpg|thumb|Two examples of the [[LCM 1]] on returning to ships during the 1942 [[Dieppe Raid]]]]

Following the [[Inter-Service Training and Development Centre]] 's (ISTDC) successful development of the infantry carrying LCA, attention turned to the means of efficiently delivering a tank to a beach in 1938. Enquiries 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 [[95th ton|tons burthen]] for Mechanised Landing Craft designs.<ref name="Maund"/> Another limit on any design was the need to land tanks and other vehicles in less than approximately {{cvt|2+1/2|ft|m|adj=mid|of water}}.<ref>Ladd, 1976, p.42</ref>

Design work began at [[John I. Thornycroft & Company|John I. Thornycroft Ltd.]] in May 1938 with trials completing in February 1940.<ref name="Fergusson"/> Constructed of [[steel]] and selectively clad with armour plate, this shallow-draft, [[barge]]-like boat with a crew of 6, could ferry a tank of 16 long tons to shore at 7 [[knot (unit)|knots]] (13&nbsp;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.

[[File:IWM-H-19057-Crusader-landing-19420426.jpg|thumb|left|A [[Crusader tank|Crusader I]] tank emerges from the Tank Landing Craft ''TLC-124'', 26 April 1942]]

Although the Royal Navy had the [[LCM 1|Landing Craft Mechanised]] at its disposal, in 1940 Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] demanded an amphibious vessel capable of landing at least three 36-ton [[heavy tank]]s directly onto a beach, able to sustain itself at sea for at least a week, and inexpensive and easy to build. [[Loben Edward Harold Maund|Admiral Maund]], Director of the Inter-Service Training and Development Centre (which had developed the Landing Craft Assault<ref name="globalsecurity">{{cite web|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/lct.htm|title=Landing Craft, Tank (LCT)|work=globalsecurity.org|access-date=17 January 2011}}</ref>), gave the job to naval architect Sir Roland Baker, who within three days completed initial drawings for a {{Convert|152|ft|m|adj=on}} landing craft with a {{Convert|29|ft|m|adj=on}} beam and a shallow draft. Ship builders [[Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company|Fairfields]] and [[John Brown & Company|John Brown]] agreed to work out details for the design under the guidance of the Admiralty Experimental Works at [[Haslar]]. Tank tests with models soon determined the characteristics of the craft, indicating that it would make {{Convert|10|kn}} on engines delivering about {{Convert|700|hp|abbr=on}}.<ref name="tinarmada">{{cite web|url=http://ww2lct.org/history/stories/tin_armada.htm |title=The Tin Armada: Saga of the LCT |author=Basil Hearde |work=ww2lct.org |access-date=15 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902182446/http://ww2lct.org/history/stories/tin_armada.htm |archive-date= 2 September 2011 }}</ref> Designated the LCT Mark 1, 20 were ordered in July 1940 and a further 10 in October 1940.<ref name="globalsecurity"/>

The first LCT Mark 1 was launched by [[Hawthorn Leslie and Company|Hawthorn Leslie]] in November 1940. It was an all-welded 372-ton steel-hulled vessel that drew only {{Convert|3|ft}} of water at the bow. Sea trials soon proved the Mark 1 to be difficult to handle and almost unmanageable in some sea conditions. The designers set about correcting the faults of the Mark 1 in the LCT Mark 2. It was longer and wider, with {{convert|15|and|20|lb|adj=on}} armoured shielding added to the wheelhouse and gun tubs.

[[File:LCT202.jpg|thumb|right|LCT-202 off the coast of England, 1944]]

The Mark 3 had an additional {{Convert|32|ft|adj=on}} midsection that gave it a length of {{Convert|192|ft}} and a displacement of 640 tons. Even with this extra weight, the vessel was slightly faster than the Mark 1. The Mk.3 was accepted on 8 April 1941. The Mark 4 was slightly shorter and lighter than the Mk.3, but had a much wider beam ({{Convert|38|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}) and was intended for cross channel operations as opposed to seagoing use. When tested in early assault operations, like the ill-fated Allied [[Dieppe Raid|raid on Dieppe]] in 1942, the lack of manoeuvring ability led to the preference for a shorter overall length in future variants, most of which were built in the United States.

When the United States entered the war in December 1941, the U.S. Navy had no amphibious vessels at all, and found itself obliged to consider British designs already in existence. One of these, advanced by K.C. Barnaby of [[John I. Thornycroft & Company|Thornycroft]], was for a double-ended LCT to work with landing ships. The [[Bureau of Ships]] quickly set about drawing up plans for landing craft based on Barnaby's suggestions, although with only one ramp. The result, in early 1942, was the LCT Mark 5, a {{convert|117|ft|adj=on}} craft that could accommodate five 30-ton or four 40-ton tanks or 150 tons of cargo. This 286-ton landing craft could be shipped to combat areas in three separate water-tight sections aboard a cargo ship or carried pre-assembled on the flat deck of a [[Landing Ship, Tank]] (LST). The Mk.5 would be launched by heeling the LST on its beam to let the craft slide off its chocks into the sea, or cargo ships could lower each of the three sections into the sea where they were joined together.<ref name="tinarmada"/>