Landing Craft Assault

On 6th June the majority of Allied troops initially arriving on the Normandy Beaches landed in one of two craft; the American Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or the British Landing Craft Assault (LCA).

The Landing Craft Assault, was developed by Thornycroft in answer to a call for a new landing craft for the Royal Navy.  Following trials in early 1939 the Thornycroft design was adopted into service as the Landing Craft Assault.  It saw service throughout the war, during the Dunkirk evacuations a dozen LCAs rescued some 2,000 troops from the beaches.  It was later used during early Commando raids against Nazi-Occupied Europe and later in full scale landings in Europe, the Mediterranean and in the Indian Ocean.  

The LCA was comparable to the LCVP in a number of aspects; capable of carrying a platoon of infantry (36 men).  It was powered by two V8 Ford engines which gave it a speed of approximately 8 knots while and displaced 9 tons, it was 42 feet long by 10 feet wide, with enough room for 3 rows of seats (giving the passengers a more stable ride than the US LCVP).

Unlike its American counterpart the LCVP the LCA was protected by armour plate, securing it against much small arms fire.  It could be armed with either Lewis Guns or Brens, it could also be fitted out with spigot mortars.  The LCA's well was divided at the bow by a bulkhead mounting 2 armour plate doors to protect passengers when the forward ramp was lowered.  While the LCA was unable to transport vehicles like its American counterpart it was able to carry supplies and other equipment.  

During D-Day over 400 LCAs went into action with some specially modified to launch grappling hooks for troops climbing the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc.  During the landings the boats were used by British, Canadian and American troops, 184 boats were lost.

Sources:

Read about the LCVP here

The LCVP 'Higgins Boat'

On 6th June the majority of Allied troops initially arriving on the Normandy Beaches landed in one of two craft; the British Landing Craft Assault (LCA) or the American Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP).

Developed by Andrew Jackson Higgins in 1941, the design was based on several other similar designs including the Japanese Daihatsu-class landing craft and the British Landing Craft Assault.  The LCVP was built by Higgins Industries in New Orleans, displacing about 18,000 lbs and powered by a diesel engine the Higgins Boat was capable of up to 12 knots.  The LCVP had a large forward ramp, roughly the width of the craft that unlike other landing craft like the LCA could allow vehicles to be disembarked easily.  They were roughly 37 feet long and 10 feet wide.  They could be outfitted with a pair of .30 calibre Browning M1919s and were crewed by four naval personnel. 

By the time of the Normandy Landings the LCVP was well battle-proven as it had been used in every theatre of operations and had been instrumental in landing troops during Operation Torch in North Africa, as well as during the amphibious landings in Italy. Later the LCVP was used as part of Operation Dragoon in southern France and it was also used extensively in the Pacific during campaigns to capture Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.  The Higgins Boat was the workhorse of the US Army & Marines Corps, arguably the seaborne equivalent of the Jeep, it able to offload up to 36 troops, a Jeep or small truck or 8,100 lbs of supplies rapidly.  During Operation Neptune 840 Higgins Boats were available and landed the first wave before ferrying in reinforcements and supplies at the American Omaha and Utah beaches, 57 were lost during the operation.

Sources:

Read about the LCA here