LCT 7074
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Hawthorn Leslie and Company |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy
|
| Built: | 1944 |
| In service: | 1944-45 |
| Completed: | 235 |
| Preserved: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 640 long tons (650 t) |
| Length: | 192 ft (59 m) |
| Beam: | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Draught: | 3 ft 10 in (1.17 m) (forward) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 460 hp (343 kW) Paxman diesels or Sterling petrol engines, 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Range: | 2,700 nmi (5,000 km) |
| Capacity: | 300 long tons (305 t) of cargo |
| Complement: | 12 |
| Armament: | 2 × single 2-pounder pom-pom or 2 × single Bofors 40 mm guns |
| Armour: |
|
LCT 7074 is the last surviving Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) in the UK. LCT 7074 is an amphibious assault ship for landing tanks, other vehicles and troops on beachheads. Built in 1944 by Hawthorn Leslie and Company, Hebburn, the Mark 3 LCT 7074 was part of the 17th LCT Flotilla during Operation Neptune, the naval dimension of the D-Day landings in June 1944. The vessel was decommissioned in 1948, and presented to the Master Mariners' Club of Liverpool to be used as their club ship and renamed Landfall. Later converted into a floating nightclub, the vessel was acquired by the Warship Preservation Trust in the late 1990s and was moored at Birkenhead. The vessel was raised in October 2014 and transported by sea to Portsmouth for restoration.
Initially developed by the British Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II into a number of different versions. Initially known as the "Tank Landing Craft" (TLC) by the British, they later adopted the American nomenclature "Landing Craft, Tank" (LCT). LCT 7074 was one of 235 LCT Mark 3’s. The vessel was built by Hawthorn, Leslie and powered by American Sterling Admiral petrol engines. Launched on 30 March 1944, the vessel was commissioned into the Royal Navy shortly afterwards.
LCT 7074 would have had two officers and 10 ratings and she was first commanded by Sub Lt John Baggot RNVR who sailed the vessel to Great Yarmouth where she joined the 17th LCT Flotilla. In the build-up to D-Day, LCT 7074 arrived at the River Orwell, near Felixstowe where she was loaded with 10 Sherman tanks. As part of the 17th LCT Flotilla (Assault Group L2), LCT Squadron "H" of the Eastern Task Force, LCT 7074 successfully landed nine of the tanks on Gold Beach.
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