Landing Craft Assault

LCAs form line ahead as they move off from the landing ship Llangibby Castle, carrying troops of the Winnipeg Rifles to Juno Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944
Class overview
Name	Assault landing craft
Builders	John I. Thornycroft Ltd. and others
Operators	Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy Royal Indian Navy
Preceded by	Various ship's boats and cutters
Succeeded by	LCA (Large), Westland Whirlwind (helicopter)
Built	1939–1945
Completed	~2,000
Active	0
Lost	1939–1945: 371 (267 in 1944)
General characteristics
Type	Landing craft
Displacement	9 long tons (9,144 kg)
Length	41 ft 6 in (12.65 m)
Beam	10 ft (3.0 m)
Draught	Light: 1 ft 1 in (0.33 m) forward, 1 ft 9 in (0.53 m) aft Loaded: 1 ft 9 in (0.53 m) fwd, 2 ft 3 in (0.69 m) aft
Ramps	1
Propulsion	2 × 65 hp Ford V-8 petrol
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (light) 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) (loaded)
Range	50–80 miles
Troops	36 troops or 800 lb (363 kg) cargo
Crew	Four: coxswain, two seamen and a stoker plus one officer per group of three boats
Armament	1 × Bren light machine gun possibly 2 × Lewis Gun 2 × 2-inch mortar fitted aft (later models)
Armour	10 lb. DIHT (.75 in (19 mm)) on bulkheads and sides 7.8 lb. DIHT (.25 in (6.4 mm)) on decks above the troop well and engine space.

Landing Craft Assault (LCA) was a landing craft used extensively in World War II. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by John I. Thornycroft Ltd. of Woolston, Hampshire, UK. During the war it was manufactured throughout the United Kingdom in places as various as small boatyards and furniture manufacturers.

Typically constructed of hardwood planking and selectively clad with armour plate, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat with a crew of four could ferry an infantry platoon of 31 and five additional specialist troops, to shore at 7 knots (13 km/h). Men generally entered the boat by walking over a gangplank from the boat deck of a troop transport as the LCA hung from its davits. When loaded, the LCA was lowered into the water. Soldiers exited by the boat's bow ramp.

The LCA was the most common British and Commonwealth landing craft of World War II.^[1][2] Prior to July 1942, these craft were referred to as "assault landing craft" (ALC), but "landing craft, assault" (LCA) was used thereafter to conform with the joint US-UK nomenclature system.^[3]

The LCA design's sturdy hull, load capacity, low silhouette, shallow draft, little bow wave, and silenced engines were all assets that benefited the occupants. The extent of its light armour, proof against rifle bullets and shell splinters with similar ballistic power recommended the LCA. Also, soldiers were able to sit, unlike other landing craft which required them to stand. Throughout the war in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean, the LCA was the most likely sea assault transport of British Commandos, United States Army Rangers, and other special forces.