Mark 6 Landing craft tank

the lct mark 6 had same engines, equipment , crew mk.5, longer, @ 120-feet. main difference addition of stern gate allowed lct moor in front of larger lsts become bridge tanks , vehicles disembarking deeper draft vessel. in practice, method of use more difficult carry out vessel s designers anticipated. strong tidal currents in uncharted reef shoals of pacific limited employment of form of beaching heavy armoured vehicles. allow passage of traffic, small wheelhouse moved starboard side of fourteen-foot wide passageway. winch stern kedge anchor relocated atop port side deckhouse, aft of port side 20 mm mount. 9 hundred , sixty mk.6s built. 1 hundred , sixty mk.5 , mk.6 lcts lend-leased royal navy, , small number soviet union.

though never designed cross pacific under own power, several flotillas of lcts did make journey pearl harbor forward areas. success in towing strings of lcts behind lsds led decision let flotilla no. 31, comprising 24 mk.6s, make island hopping voyage under own power. passage slow , breakdowns numerous, flotilla safely arrived @ destination. 3 months later, groups 91 , 92 of flotilla encountered 6 days of high seas during typhoon off okinawa. fighting 50 foot swells , hurricane-force winds craft made 26 miles in 9 hours, , impossible steer or control. when typhoon abated, lcts had survived , took stock of damage. halyards, antennas , masts blown away, guns ripped mounts, , craft had been severely overstressed each had replace stripped bolts or welds holding sections before proceed destination.