Amphibious warfare ship
| WWII types |
| Amphibious Force Flagship |
| Attack cargo ship |
| Attack Transport |
| High speed transport |
| Landing Ship, Dock |
| Landing Ship, Medium |
| Landing Ship, Tank |
| Landing Ship, Vehicle |
| WWII British terminology | |
| Amphibious Force Flagship | |
| Attack Transport | |
An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is a warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. The largest fleet of these types is operated by the United States Navy.
Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most crudely described as ships and craft. In general the ships carry the troops from the port of embarkation to the drop point for the assault and the craft carry the troops from the ship to the shore. Amphibious assaults taking place over short distances can also involve the shore-to-shore technique where landing craft go directly from the port of embarkation to the assault point.
In the days of sail, ship's boats were used as landing craft. These rowing boats were sufficient, if inefficient, in an era when marines were effectively light infantry, participating mostly in small-scale campaigns in far-flung colonies against less well-equipped indigenous opponents.
In order to support amphibious operations during the landing in Pisagua by carrying significant quantities of cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore, the Government of Chile built flat-bottomed landing craft, called chalanas. They transported 1,200 men in the first landing and took onboard 600 men in less than 2 hours for the second landing.
During World War I, the mass mobilization of troops equipped with rapid-fire weapons quickly rendered such boats obsolete. Initial landings during the Gallipoli campaign took place in unmodified rowing boats that were extremely vulnerable to attack from the Turkish shore defences.
In February 1915, orders were placed for the design of purpose built landing craft. A design was created in four days resulting in an order for 200 'X' lighters with a spoon-shaped bow to take shelving beaches and a drop down frontal ramp.
The first use took place after they had been towed to the Aegean and performed successfully in the 6 August landing at Suvla Bay of IX Corps, commanded by Commander Edward Unwin.
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Wikipedia