Motor landing craft
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Motor landing craft |
| Builders: | J. Samuel White of Cowes |
| Operators: |
 Royal Navy
|
| Preceded by: | Lighters and Horse Boats |
| Succeeded by: | LCM (1) |
| Built: | 1926–1938 |
| Completed: | 9 |
| Lost: | all (1939–1945) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Landing craft |
| Displacement: | 20 long tons (20,321 kg) |
| Tons burthen: | 10 long tons (10,160 kg) |
| Draught: | 4.5 ft (1.4 m) |
| Ramps: | 1 |
| Propulsion: | 1x Hotchkiss petrol engine, water jet propulsion |
| Speed: | 5–6 kn (9.3–11.1 km/h; 5.8–6.9 mph) |
| Armament: | None |
| Armour: | None 1926. In 1936, bulletproof plate added to steering shelter |
The motor landing craft (MLC) was a vessel used in the 1920s and 30s. It was specifically designed to deliver a tank to shore and may be considered the predecessor of all Allied landing craft mechanised (LCM). The MLC also saw action in the first year of the Second World War. Its primary purpose was to ferry tanks, troops and stores from ships to shore. The craft derived from discussions of the Landing Craft Committee; the prototype was designed by J. Samuel White of Cowes.
Manufactured of steel, this shallow-draught, barge-like boat could ferry its cargo to shore at a speed of up to five knots. For a short journey, from shore to shore, the cargo could be rolled or carried into the boat over its ramp. On longer journeys, ship to shore, a derrick would lower the MLC into the sea from the transporting vessel. The derrick would then lower the vehicle or cargo load. Upon touching down on shore, soldiers or vehicles exited by the bow ramp.
In Britain, the need for a purpose-built landing craft had been apparent to military and naval staff officers since the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War. Unfortunately, a good deal of argument between the Army and Royal Navy had not settled whose budget should fund landing craft construction. Both Army and Navy finally agreed to form a landing craft committee comprising "representatives of all the authorities interested and that they should make recommendations on the design of landing craft." After pooling the desired attributes the committee wished to see in a landing craft, the Director of Naval Construction was requested to draw up a design. However, because of fiscal stringency no landing craft was built for some years.
A prototype motor landing craft (MLC1) was built and first sailed in 1926, finishing trials in 1927. It weighed 16 tons, with a draught of 6.5 feet (2 m). The MLC had a box-like appearance, having a square bow and stern. It was also extremely noisy. In order to prevent fouling of the propellers in a craft destined to spend time in surf and possibly be beached, a crude waterjet propulsion system was devised by White's designers. A Hotchkiss petrol engine drove a centrifugal pump which produced a jet of water, pushing the craft ahead or astern, and steering it, according to how the jet was directed. Speed was 5-6 knots and its beaching capacity was good. By 1930, three MLC were operated by the Royal Navy.
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