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National Archives #26-G-2386 |  ONI 226 |
| Tonnage | 26 tons light displacement |
| Dimensions | 50' by 14'1" by 3' 15.24m by 4.29m by 0.91m |
| Maximum speed | 11 knots |
| Complement |
4 |
| Armament |
2 0.50 machine gun |
| Protection |
0.25" (6mm) STS around the cab |
| Machinery |
2-shaft diesel (220-550 shp) |
| Range |
850 miles (1370 km) at 6.25 knots 500 miles (800 km) at 7.25 knots 140 miles (225 km) at 11 knots |
| Capacity | 1 30-ton tank or 30 tons
of cargo or 60 troops |
| Variants |
The LCM(R) carried 32 T-45 rocket launchers (for a total of 384
rockets) and 4x1, 2x2 0.50 machine guns. Others were field-modified to
carry a 37mm gun, two 20mm guns, and a pair of
twin 0.50 machine guns
in salvaged aircraft
turrets. |
Landing Craft, Mechanized, were small landing craft
capable of
transporting a tank or other vehicle
from an attack transport
to the
beachhead. They resembled sturdy LCVPs.
The LCM was originally known as the W-boat and was designed in 1941 specifically to be a tank lighter. However, the craft was criticized, particularly by the Marines, for having too deep a draft when loaded with a tank. The LCM was barely large enough to carry a Sherman tank in any case. Loading the tank into the LCM from the deck of a transport was difficult and hazardous, taking fifteen minutes under ideal conditions and likely twice that long in combat. As a result, the LCT became the principal tank landing craft and the LCM was pressed into service as a truck landing craft.
By late 1943, experience had shown that cargo must get
off a landing beach as quickly as possible. This required LCMs to carry
the trucks with which to move the cargo inland, and attack cargo ships were
modified to carry more LCMs. This was done by adding quadrupod masts to
allow some of the LCVPs to be replaced
with LCMs and others to be nested within the LCMs.
The following table gives total production. About 33% of this
was
allocated to the Pacific until the final year of the war, when most of
the amphibious fleet
began to be shifted to the Pacific.
| 1940-1941
|
125 |
| 1942-1 to
1942-6 |
84 |
| 1942-7 |
118 |
| 1942-8 |
307 |
|
1942-9 |
131 |
|
1942-10 |
203 |
|
1942-11 |
244 |
| 1942-12 |
168 |
| 1943-1 |
114 |
| 1943-2 |
156 |
| 1943-3 |
406 |
| 1943-4 |
143 |
| 1943-5 |
236 |
| 1943-6 |
146 |
| 1943-7 |
244 |
| 1943-8 |
401 |
| 1943-9 |
502 |
| 1943-10 |
585 |
| 1943-11 |
563 |
| 1943-12 |
523 |
| 1944-1 |
578 |
| 1944-2 |
641 |
| 1944-3 |
594 |
| 1944-4 |
470 |
| 1944-5 |
487 |
| 1944-6 |
446 |
| 1944-7 |
441 |
| 1944-8 |
421 |
| 1944-9 |
411 |
| 1944-10 |
293 |
| 1944-11 |
222 |
| 1944-12 |
206 |
| 1945-1 |
135 |
| 1945-2 |
133 |
| 1945-3 |
120 |
| 1945-4 |
102 |
| 1945-5 |
93 |
| 1945-6 |
99 |
| 1945-7 |
104 |
| 1945-8 |
101 |
References
Hyperwar:
U.S.
Navy Small Landing Craft (accessed 2007-12-29)
Leighton and
Coakley (1955)
USS Rankin (accessed 2007-12-29)
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