U.S. Landing Craft of WW II Vol. 2

A vital part of the Allied effort to defeat Japan, Germany, and Italy during World War II, landing craft made possible amphibious operations from Guadalcanal and Casablanca to Normandy and Okinawa. To meet demand, the United States launched a campaign to build thousands of them.

In a follow up to the first volume of his survey of these U.S.-built vessels, David Doyle looks at the larger landing craft capable of landing multiple tanks and other vehicles in U.S. Landing Craft of WWII, Vol. 2 — The LCT, LSM, LCS(L)(3), and LST. Part of Schiffer’s Legends of Warfare Naval series, the 128-page hardcover comprises four chapters. Each details one of the vessel types through archival images and photos of surviving landing craft in museums.

The first looks at the Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) and includes construction and testing photos as well as some of them in operation. Next is the Landing Ship, Medium (LSM) that could carry up to five Sherman tanks. A short chapter about the Landing Craft, Support (Large) follows; this vessel was purposely designed to provide fire support for other landing craft. The final section that takes up nearly half of the pages describes the Landing Ship, Tank (LST), which could deliver large numbers of tanks and other vehicles to a beach.

The well printed photos show camouflage and weathering to good effect providing plenty of modeling information.

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