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U.S. Navy. Via USSRankin.org |  ONI 226 |
| Tonnage | 6.75 tons light displacement |
| Dimensions | 36' by 10'9" by 3'6" 10.97m by 3.28m by 1.07m |
| Maximum speed
|
10 knots |
| Complement |
3 |
| Armament |
2 0.30 machine guns |
| Protection |
3 transverse 0.25" (63mm) bulkheads |
| Machinery |
1-shaft Gray diesel (225 hp) or
gasoline (225-250 hp) |
| Bunkerage |
120 gallons |
| Range |
50 miles or 80 km (gasoline) 130 miles or 210 km (diesel) |
| Capacity | 8,100 lbs (3700 kg) cargo or 36 troops |
| Production |
2193 |
Landing Craft, Personnel, Large was
actually a rather small craft,
with a very shallow draft, skeg protection for its propeller and
rudder,
and a strong bow section (a solid pine block)
that could be run up
over
fairly substantial obstacles. One of the earliest Allied landing craft designs,
it was based on the Eureka boat designed by Andrew Higgins in 1926.
Higgins claimed the Eureka had been designed for loggers and fur
trappers in the Louisiana bayous; British historians claimed it
was designed for bootleggers (illicit alcohol smugglers) and
moonshiners (illicit alcohol distillers) during the era of Prohibition.
The Marines were interested
but had no money for procurement until
1940, when the Navy concluded that ships' boats were
inadequate for landing
operations and
early Bureau of Ships landing craft designs proved unsuccessful.
The LCVP had already been produced in considerable
numbers for British service
when war broke
out in the Pacific. Because of its simple design and use of lumber rather than steel, it continued in
production even after the superior LCVP
was introduced.
The following table gives total production. About 30% 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
|
564 |
| 1942-1 to
1942-6 |
553 |
| 1942-7 |
307 |
| 1942-8 |
218 |
|
1942-9 |
222 |
|
1942-10 |
228 |
|
1942-11 |
212 |
| 1942-12 |
130 |
| 1943-1 |
37 |
| 1943-2 |
44 |
| 1943-3 |
18 |
| 1943-4 |
57 |
| 1943-5 |
0 |
| 1943-6 |
0 |
| 1943-7 |
0 |
| 1943-8 |
0 |
| 1943-9 |
0 |
| 1943-10 |
50 |
| 1943-11 |
50 |
| 1943-12 |
50 |
| 1944-1 |
50 |
| 1944-2 |
50 |
| 1944-3 |
50 |
| 1944-4 |
50 |
| 1944-5 |
50 |
| 1944-6 |
50 |
| 1944-7 |
100 |
| 1944-8 |
150 |
| 1944-9 |
150 |
| 1944-10 |
217 |
| 1944-11 |
172 |
| 1944-12 |
163 |
| 1945-1 |
150 |
| 1945-2 |
125 |
| 1945-3 |
125 |
| 1945-4 |
105 |
| 1945-5 |
125 |
| 1945-6 |
90 |
| 1945-7 |
80 |
| 1945-8 |
32 |
References
Hyperwar: Landing Craft Personnel (Large) (accessed 2007-12-29)
ONI 222 (1945-9-1)
USS
Rankin (accessed 2009-7-30)
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2006, 2009, 2012 by Kent G. Budge. Index
