Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Production of landing craft peaked during World War II, with a significant number of different designs produced in large quantities by the United Kingdom and United States.
USS Currier (DE-700) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1960. She was sunk as a target in 1967.
USS Begor (DE-711/APD-127) was a Crosley-class high speed transport of the United States Navy.
The Shinyo were Japanese suicide motorboats developed during World War II. They were part of the wider Japanese Special Attack Units program.
The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used by the Allies to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during World War II. They were developed in response to a British request for seagoing amphibious assault ships capable of carrying and landing substantially more troops than their smaller Landing Craft Assault (LCA). The result was a small steel ship that could land 200 men, traveling from rear bases on its own bottom at a speed of up to 15 knots.
USS Samuel Chase (APA-26), launched as SS African Meteor, was an Arthur Middleton-class attack transport manned by the United States Coast Guard during World War II. She was named after Founding Father Samuel Chase, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence.
USS War Hawk (AP-168) was a La Salle-class transport and troopship of the United States Navy, built at the Moore Dry Dock Company in Oakland, California in 1942. The La Salle-class transport had a displacement of almost 14,000 tons and were designed to ferry troops and supplies to and from the war zone during World War II.
USS Owl (AMCU-35) was a LCI(L)-351-class large landing craft of the United States Navy, later converted to an AMCU-7-class coastal minesweeper.
USS Ortolan (AMCU-34) was a LCI(L)-351-class large landing craft of the United States Navy, later converted to an AMCU-7-class coastal minesweeper.
The Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1942 as a subsidiary of Brown and Root by brothers Herman and George R. Brown to build ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Brown Shipbuilding Company ranked 68th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.
USS LST-16 was a LST-1-class tank landing ship built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Like most ships in her class, she was not named and was known only by her designation. She was staffed by a U.S. Coast Guard crew throughout her service career.
USS LCI(L)-93 was an amphibious assault ship, commissioned in 1943 by the United States Coast Guard. It participated in the Operation Husky Landings in Sicily on 10 July 1943, as well as the landings at Salerno, Italy.
USS LCI(L)-189 was an amphibious assault ship commissioned in 1943 by the United States Navy and assigned to the Mediterranean theater during World War II. As part of Operation Husky, LCI(L)-189 participated in the allied landings in Sicily from 9–15 July 1943. From 9–21 September 1943 LCI(L)-189 took part in the Salerno landings during Operation Avalanche.
The amphibious Battle of Gela was the opening engagement of the American portion of the Allied Invasion of Sicily during World War II. United States Navy ships landed United States Army troops along the eastern end of the south coast of Sicily; and withstood attacks by Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica aircraft while defending the beachhead against German tanks and Italian tanks of the Livorno Division until the Army captured the Ponte Olivo Airfield for use by United States Army Air Forces planes. The battle convinced United States Army officers of the value of naval artillery support, and revealed problems coordinating air support from autonomous air forces during amphibious operations.
William Francis Trump served aboard a Landing Craft Infantry vessel during four amphibious assaults, during World War II. His vessel, the USS LCI-90, participated in the invasion of French North Africa, Sicily and Anzio in 1943, and in the Invasion of Normandy in 1944. It was during the Invasion of Normandy that Trump earned a Silver Star. He volunteered to venture onto the Omaha Beach and anchor a safety line for the 200 soldiers his vessel carried to follow ashore. Trump had to make his way past heavily mined beach fortifications, while under heavy enemy fire. His helmet was creased by a German bullet.
USS LCI(L)-90 was an amphibious assault ship manned by a United States Coast Guard crew. She was commissioned in 1943 and was used to land troops in the landings on French North Africa, Sicily and Anzio in 1943, and at Omaha Beach during the Invasion of Normandy in 1944. She participated in the invasion of Okinawa, where she was attacked by a Japanese kamikaze fighter. Her two commanding officers were both Lieutenant junior grade, of the Coast Guard. William Trump a seaman who volunteered to go ashore before the troops, at Omaha Beach, and lay out a cable through a safe path to shore, was awarded a Silver Star. According to a soldier who landed from LCI-90 during the Invasion of Normandy, the vessel's doors were damaged by enemy fire. During the Invasion of Okinawa LCI-90 was damaged by a kamikaze, after she had landed her soldiers, and one seaman was killed.
Project Hula was a program during World War II in which the United States transferred naval vessels to the Soviet Union in anticipation of the Soviets eventually joining the war against Japan, specifically in preparation for planned Soviet invasions of southern Sakhalin and the Kuril islands. Based at Cold Bay in the Territory of Alaska, the project was active during the spring and summer of 1945. It was the largest and most ambitious transfer program of World War II.
Albina Engine & Machine Works was a shipyard along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was located in the Albina area of Portland along N. River Street and N. Loring Street. Albina Engine & Machine Works was founded in 1904. The shipyard produced a number of freighters during World War I, but operated mainly as a repair yard during the 1920s and 1930s. The Albina yard expanded its workforce and production during Portland's World War II shipbuilding boom. It specialized in producing subchasers, vessels designed to combat German U-boats. Albina Engine & Machine Works also built Landing Craft Support boats and cargo ships. Business declined in the post-war years, and Albina Engine & Machine Works was sold to the Dillingham Corporation around 1971.
Splinter fleet or Splinter navy was a nickname given to the United States wooden boats used in World War II. The boats served in many different roles during the war. These boats were built in small boatyards on the West coast and East coast, Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. They could be built quickly, in just 60 to 120 days. Most of the boats were built by boatyards that already had the tools and knowledge from building yachts, sailboats and motor boats. Many were built by craftsmen in family-owned small businesses. Under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program and War Shipping Administration contracts went out to over fifty boatyards across the country. The boats were built for the US Navy, the United States Army Air Forces, United States Coast Guard, and US Army. Some of the wooden boats went to Allied nations on the Lend-Lease program.
United States
