40009 LCVP

LCVP (full English name: Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) is an American landing craft from World War II and the post-war period. Barges of this type were built on a massive scale in 1942-1945. It is estimated that over 23,000 barges of this type were built at that time. The total length of the LCVP was 11.5 meters and a width of 3.3 meters. The empty barge weighed about 8.2 tons, and the maximum speed did not exceed 11-12 knots. Most often, the deck armament consisted of two 7.62 mm Browning machine guns. The LCVP was designed by the American entrepreneur and constructor Andrew Higgins based on units designed to operate in wetlands, swamps and swamps. Very often, from the name of the designer, it is called "Higgins's boat". The first copies of this boat, tested in the late 1930s by the US Marine Corps, did not have an unloading ramp in the bow part. However, this disadvantage was eliminated relatively quickly, and the aforementioned ramp was finally the width of the entire barge. It is worth adding that LCVPs were cheap and adapted to mass production - suffice it to say that a lot of their elements were made of plywood! They also had a slight draft, which allowed them to land directly on the shore. A single LCVP barge could carry up to 36 soldiers with full equipment. Barges of this type were used extensively by the Allies in operations such as the North Africa (1942), Sicily (1943) and Normandy beaches (1943). 1944). They were also successfully used in the Far East during the battles for Guadalcanal (1942-1943) or during the landings on the islands of Iwo-Jima and Okinawa (1945).The LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel) type barges were designed for the Operation Overlord by the American designer Andrew Higgins. They were made entirely of plywood and could accommodate 36 soldiers or a light vehicle such as a Jeep. The speed of these carriers reached 17 km / h, they had a crew of 3 sailors, they were armed with 2 machine guns of 12.7 mm caliber, and the landing was performed after leaving the front ramp. About 20,000 barges of this type were produced.