Landing crafts question

[Badger9]

According to army book and landing craft rules, capability to carry a guns is mentioned for LVT-4 only.
What about landing ships with the same or even greater transport capacity (LSM,LSA,LSP), can they carry them or not?

[Greg S]

LCAs carried a Bren gun or 2 Lewis guns.

LCVPs carried 2 .30 MGs.

Landing ships were big and probably outside the scope of the game. LSTs could carry around 20 tanks and a large number of small vehicles. They were armed with 2 pounders, and oerlikons.

[Badger9]

Question is about artillery guns, as troops, not about mounted weapon

[Nat]

I agree with Greg – Landing Ships are way to big for BA….

Landing Craft Infantry is more a ship, so again would be to big.

Landing Craft Assault and LCVP (higgins boats) would be about the limit…And I would treat these as over sized trucks & so allow them to carry a single Artillery unit to the exclusion of everything else.

Other landing vehicles would be to small or too cumbersome to carry an artillery piece in the scope of the game.

[Richard]

Problem is the rules normally treat transporting artillery as ‘towing’

I’d suggest that the larger landing craft can carry guns as required. Even the heaviest gun is no where near the weight of a tank.

That said a gun on a boat would have to have a tow, and a towed gun takes up no extra space anyway.

[harryb]

Yes they are big, too big – But they sure look good on the table…see post for pics..OMAHA AT GLASGOW WARGAME SHOW.

Sometimes you just can’t stop…LOL

[Dr Dave]

They’d also be in the following waves – once the immediate beach area had been assaulted and secured.

[invisible officer]

Exactly. The direct artillery fire support was fixed on special landing craft.

Like the various LCS and LCF.

The field artillery of the landing divisions came with later waves. Not involved in the fighting at the beach.

But as usual there was something between. 😉

The LBF / Landing barge Flak. It carried two 40 mm Bofors on normal army mount and with wheels. Able to fire fom the barge. But no tow. To be drawn by Hand on the beach to take position there for AA fire.

1/300 IO collection one

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by invisible officer.

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[Greg S]

I read yesterday that artillery was loaded into DUKWs to support the assault on Omaha beach, but it made them top heavy and they capsized in the rough sea. I don’t know how true that is, or what guns were loaded.

[Stuart Harrison]

Greg,

Found this excerpt that shows Dukws being used to ferry 105s to the beach, including mention of losses to swamping etc:

Omaha Beachhead book preview

[Greg S]

Was reading ‘Voices from D-Day’ last night and came across this:

The LCT was absolutely jammed with vehicles and guns and men. In addition to the ARV was Major Barker’s tank, the intelligence officer’s tank, one A squadron tank, Captain Collin’s scout car, a bulldozer, a jeep and three carriers towing 6-pounder anti-tank guns belonging to the Green Howards.

Quoted from Austin Baker, by IWM.

[Author]

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