D-Day Landing Craft (eBook)

How 4,126 'Ugly and Unorthodox' Allied Craft made the Normandy Landings Possible

Andrew Whitmarsh (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
464 Seiten
The History Press (Verlag)
978-1-80399-446-8 (ISBN)

Infos

'This is a marvellous book. The research is very thorough and it will answer all my questions.' - RICHARD WILLIS, Normandy veteran, first lieutenant on LCT 898 on D-Day 'Brings to life ... the planning and execution of the largest amphibious landing which the world has ever seen ... My grandfather... would have been most impressed by this detailed research.' - CAPTAIN WILL RAMSAY, grandson of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Allied Naval Commander, Expeditionary Force D-Day, one of the most decisive moments of the Second World War, could not have happened without thousands of landing craft. Yet their role, and that of their crews, has often been overlooked. During a combined operation that involved aerial and naval assaults, as well as amphibious landings on a vast scale, more than 132,000 Allied troops landed on the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944. Through their efforts, the tide of the war turned for the final time to favour the Allies. There is no overstating the contribution of the landing craft and their crews on the first day of Operation Neptune, and yet it is often overlooked. In D-Day Landing Craft, historian Andrew Whitmarsh turns his attention to these vital vessels that ensured the operation's success. He describes events on each of the five Allied beaches on D-Day from the perspective of landing craft, landing ships and their crews. He examines why there were so many different types of landing craft and how they were built over several years in both the UK and North America, despite many competing war production requirements and operational demands. This closely researched and well-illustrated account is essential to anyone who wants to fully understand the course of D-Day, and the nature of Allied preparations for the campaign.

ANDREW WHITMARSH has worked as a curator in military history museums for over 25 years, and since 2001 as the curator of The D-Day Story (until 2018, known as the D-Day Museum) in Portsmouth. He has written a number of articles and two books for The History Press, Portsmouth at War and D-Day in Photographs. He is a regular public lecturer on the topic, with a number of TV and radio appearances about D-Day.

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Glossary

A note on landing craft numbers: In the Second World War, landing craft and LSTs were so numerous that they were only given numbers rather than names, such as ‘LCT 7074’. For British and Commonwealth vessels, this is known as the pennant (or pendant) number; the US term is the hull number. Officially, British landing craft numbers were preceded by ‘HM’, and US numbers by ‘USS’, but that was often omitted in everyday usage. In some cases, both a British- and a US-built craft existed that had the same pennant number, but they were different marks and were not connected in any way. US minor landing craft carried on board a ship had numbers derived from the hull number of that ship: for example, the LCVPs on USS Thurston (APA-77) were numbered ‘P77-1’ to ‘P77-24’. Also see LTIN and mark number.

APA:	‘Auxiliary Personnel, Attack’, a troop transport ship (US Navy).

AVRE:

Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers, a British Churchill tank converted for specialist engineering roles.

Beach/Beach Area/Beach Sector:

In 1944 terminology, Utah and Omaha were areas rather than beaches; a beach was much smaller, such as Uncle Red in Utah Area. However, this book follows the now commonly accepted usage of describing five landing beaches and referring to smaller areas as beaches or sectors.

Bow door:

Another name for the ramp at the front of landing craft, which was dropped to allow the troops on board to go ashore. Ramp is generally used here.

Breaching team:

On Anglo-Canadian beaches, specialist tanks which were landed around H-Hour to clear routes through beach obstacles and off the beach, working with obstacle clearance personnel on foot.

Broach-to:

When a vessel is swung side-on to a beach by wind or currents, in which position it might need assistance to get off the beach again.

BUCO:

Build Up Control Organisation.

COSSAC:

Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander.

D−1, D+1 (etc.):

One day before or after D-Day.

D-Day:

The day on which a military operation begins. Here, it is of course used to mean 6 June 1944.

DD tank:

An amphibious tank, used on all five beaches on D-Day.

DSOAG:

Deputy Senior Naval Officer, Assault Group; the naval commander controlling a section of the landings. At Gold Beach, King Green and King Red each had a DSOAG.

DUKW:

A US-designed amphibious truck.

Eastern Task Force (ETF):

The naval forces for Gold, Juno and Sword beaches.

ETOUSA:

European Theater of Operations (US Army).

FDT:	Fighter Direction Tender; an LST converted for controlling fighter aircraft.

First lieutenant:

The second-in-command of a British or Commonwealth landing craft; a role rather than a rank.

Flotilla:

In the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy, a unit of typically up to twelve craft (or up to sixteen for those not involved in the assault). A flotilla was led by a flotilla officer, with a small support staff. In US forces, a flotilla was a larger unit, formed from two or more twelve-craft groups.

FOO:	Forward Observation Officer (British); an artillery officer and his team controlling gunfire.

Force:

Forces U, O, G, J and S were the naval forces that delivered the assault troops to the five beaches. The initial of each force matched the first letter of each beach: Force U was for Utah Beach. Forces B and L were the follow-up forces for the western (US) and eastern (Anglo-Canadian) beaches respectively and arrived later on D-Day.

GAT:	Gap Assault Team. A combined US Navy and US Army team for beach obstacle clearance.

Group:

This term was used with a variety of meanings: a convoy of landing craft that crossed the English Channel together (sometimes one convoy was divided into multiple groups); an Assault Group was a larger formation of all craft operating off a beach sector; for US forces, a unit of around twelve craft.

H−1, H+1 (etc.):

The time before or after H-Hour, for a particular beach. Unless stated, the time is in minutes.

H-Hour:

The time at which the assault landings began, which varied across the five D-Day beaches.

HQ:	Headquarters.

Kedge anchor, kedge hook:

The anchor on the stern of a landing craft, dropped as the vessel approached the beach and used for unbeaching.

Knots:

Nautical measure of speed, in nautical miles per hour. A nautical mile is 1.15 miles; one knot is 1.15 miles per hour.

Launching Position:

The location at sea at which amphibious DD tanks were to be launched from the LCTs carrying them.

LBE:	Landing Barge, Emergency Repair.

LBF:	Landing Barge, Flak.

LBK:	Landing Barge, Kitchen.

LBO:	Landing Barge, Oil.

LBV:	Landing Barge, Vehicle.

LBW:	Landing Barge, Water.

LCA:	Landing Craft, Assault.

LCA(HR):

Landing Craft, Assault (Hedgerow).

LCA(OC):

Landing Craft, Assault (Obstacle Clearance). A craft carrying British LCOCU obstacle clearance personnel.

LCC:	Landing Craft, Control.

LCE:	Landing Craft, Emergency Repair.

LCF:	Landing Craft, Flak.

LCG(L):

Landing Craft, Gun (Large).

LCH:	Landing Craft, Headquarters.

LCI(L):

Landing Craft, Infantry (Large).

LCI(S):

Landing Craft, Infantry (Small).

LCM:	Landing Craft, Mechanised.

LCOCU:

Landing Craft Obstacle Clearance Unit (an obstacle-clearance team, not a type of landing craft).

LCP(L), LCP(Sy) or LCP(R):

Landing Craft, Personnel (Large), (Survey) or (Ramped).

LCS(L):

Landing Craft, Support (Large).

LCS(M):

Landing Craft, Support (Medium).

LCS(S):

Landing Craft, Support (Small).

LCT:	Landing Craft, Tank. Where there is a number in brackets following, the number indicates the ‘mark’ of the variant of LCT. For example, LCT(3) means LCT Mk.3 (Mark 3).

LCT(A):

A modified LCT(5) with additional armour in places – hence ‘A’ for Armoured – and a ramped platform near the bow so two tanks could fire from the craft.

LCT(AVRE):

Landing Craft, Tank (carrying Churchill AVRE tanks and other obstacle clearance forces). This was a role determined by the load carried, not a type of LCT.

LCT(CB):

‘CB’ stood for ‘Concrete Buster’, which referred to the Sherman Firefly tank carried by each craft on a ramped platform near the bow on D-Day, so the Firefly’s 17-pounder gun could be fired from the LCT to destroy concrete bunkers. Like the LCT(A), it was a modified LCT(5), but lacked the former’s extra armour.

LCT(DD):

Landing Craft, Tank (carrying DD amphibious tanks). This was a role determined by the load carried, not a type of LCT.

LCT(HE):

Similar to the LCT(A), it was an LCT(5) with a ramped platform near the bow, from which two tanks could fire. It lacked the additional armour applied to the LCT(A). ‘HE’ indicated that the craft...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 23.5.2024
• Verlagsort: London
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Militärfahrzeuge / -flugzeuge / -schiffe
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
• Schlagworte: 6 June 1944 • 80th anniversary • d day • dday • D-Day • landing boats • landing craft • landing craft vessels • landing ship • Military Logistics • military preparation • normandy campaign • Normandy Landings • World War 2 • World War Two • ww2 • WWII
• ISBN-10: 1-80399-446-0 / 1803994460
• ISBN-13: 978-1-80399-446-8 / 9781803994468