LCTs

Landing Craft Tank (LCT) is a naval landing craft designed to transport and unload tanks and other heavy vehicles from ships to shore during amphibious assaults. LCTs were widely used by Allied forces in World War II, enabling armored landings on beaches in both the European and Pacific theaters. They complemented larger landing ships by delivering heavy equipment directly to the shoreline, often under fire, and then returning for reloads.

Design and capacity: LCTs were generally flat-bottomed, with a bow ramp and hinged doors to offload cargo directly onto a beach. They were constructed from steel and sometimes wood, with a shallow draft to approach low-tide beaches. Typical vessels carried one medium tank or several lighter vehicles, along with crew, fuel, and ammunition. Propulsion varied by builder but commonly involved diesel engines with multiple screws; ballast systems allowed the craft to adjust trim for landing operations. A range of marks and specialized versions existed to suit different theaters and tasks.

Operational history: LCTs entered service with the United Kingdom and the United States in the early 1940s and saw extensive use in Operation Overlord (D-Day) and subsequent Normandy landings, as well as in Allied campaigns in Italy, the Balkans, and the Pacific. They proved essential for moving armored units from transport ships to contested beaches and for rapid reinforcement of beachheads. After the war, many LCTs were retired, scrapped, or repurposed; some remained in service in the postwar period with various navies.

Legacy: The LCT concept influenced the development of later amphibious landing craft and laid groundwork for combined-arms amphibious operations at scale. Today, LCTs are studied in historical contexts as a key component of Allied amphibious warfare in World War II.