The Landing Craft Gun (LCG) was a

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

used extensively in World War II, present for both the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune), on D Day and also the invasion of Allied invasion of Sicily-Salerno-Anzio. Its primary purpose was to provide direct fire against beach positions and surface attack for first-echelon landing waves. The LCG was then typically beached to become a stationary gun platform. The craft was developed from the Landing Craft Tank (LCT) vessel, derived from a prototype designed by John Thornycroft Ltd. of Woolston, Hampshire, in the UK. In addition to the

20mm Oerlikon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models emplo ...

armament of a normal LCT, each LCG (Medium) had two British Army 25-pounder gun-howitzers in armoured mountings, while both LCG(L) 3 and LCG(L) had two BL 4.7-inch (120 mm) naval guns. The operation of the craft was the responsibility of Royal Navy crew and the guns were operated by

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. During the war, the craft was manufactured throughout the United Kingdom in places as various as small boatyards and furniture manufacturers. LCGs played a very important part in the

Walcheren Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The two ...

operations in October 1944.

Variants

*LCG (Medium) - 270 tons light, 2x 25-pdr gun-howitzers or 17-pdr anti-tank guns *LCG(L) Mark 3 - 500 tons loaded, 2x 4.7-inch guns *LCG(L) Mark 4 - 500 tons loaded, 2x 4.7-inch guns

References

*{{citation , url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/ONI/ONI-226/ONI-226.pdf , publisher=US Navy , title= ONI 226, Allied Landing Craft and Ships, April 1944 , via=Hyperwar Foundation Landing craft Ships of the Royal Navy