This is how interestingly history has ordered: during the Second World War, Soviet troops practically did not have to land amphibious assault forces, but our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition had to land them almost constantly. And it should be noted that the armed forces of the United States and Great Britain had a sufficient number of various amphibious assault forces. But every time they were preparing for another invasion, it turned out that most of these amphibious weapons did not have their own weapons. And it was required, and even very much, because it was simply not possible to suppress all the goals of the naval artillery to support the landing! Therefore, willingly or unwillingly, the army team had to improvise, often violating all requirements and standards. And the problem of fire support for the landing from the sea was indeed very acute. After all, in order to destroy an unexpectedly revived machine-gun nest in a hundred meters of landing craft going to the shore, it is not at all necessary to require fire from cruisers or battleships, but they simply would not have hit it. That is why, at the end of 1943, the US Army Artillery Research Center, located on the Aberdeen Peninsula, developed a whole program of tests that were supposed to determine the degree to which it was possible to enhance the firepower of standard amphibious assault weapons - various barges and wheeled and tracked amphibians of the DUKW and LVT types.
Tests began in January 1944 and went on until April. During this time, a variety of options for armament of the landing craft were tested at the test site and given appropriate recommendations on them. So, completely unsuitable for enhancing the fire capabilities of the landing force were called: a 106-mm mortar mounted on the chassis of a DUKW car, a 75-mm howitzer installed on the LVT2, a 105-mm howitzer on the LVT4, a four-barreled anti-aircraft machine gun mount on the LCT-6. Since Operation Overlord was expected ahead, the tests were carried out with high intensity, and almost everything that could one way or another shoot along the coast from the sea was installed on the landing craft!
Tank "Crusader" lands on the shore. It is clear that this tank could not shoot from the hold of such a vessel in any way.
At the same time, during the experiments, not only the possibility of such shooting was determined, but also the degree of its effectiveness, as well as the consumption of ammunition. After all, it was necessary to draw up specifications for all this for making changes in the design of each landing ship and, accordingly, transport vehicles, prepare calculated data for loading ammunition and the fuel needed for their delivery. That is, there was a lot of work, and it was carried out very thoroughly.
Experimental installation of a 57-mm cannon in a drop-down ramp of a landing craft.
Some points that were clarified during the test surprised even experienced test tankers and weapons specialists. For example, it turned out that the Sherman tank from the LCM-6 landing barge can only be fired from after installing special turret rotation limiters on its hull. Otherwise, damage to the landing ramp could not be avoided. "Sherman Calliope", which had a T-34 rocket launcher on the roof of the tower, could not use its cannon for firing, but, as it turned out, could quite effectively fire its rockets at area targets on the shore.
Landing armored personnel carriers on the shore under fire.
105-mm howitzers could also fire directly from the decks of the landing barges, since their barrels rose above the edge of the ramp, but in order to mount them, that is, fix them so that they could do this, it took 30 minutes, and the time for the paratroopers was too expensive! Anti-aircraft guns on cruciform carriages on landing barges could be installed, and it was possible to shoot from them, however, only by opening their frames partially, and not completely, and in the most careful way attaching them with braces to the bottom.
You cannot shoot forward from behind the ramp, but to the side - you can!
The tests also revealed that 90-mm and 120-mm anti-aircraft guns can fire over the side of the barge and its ramp to any point on the horizon. But the "muzzle wave" on a tractor-trailer often knocks out the glass, and it was impossible to transport them from the cars separately, since this would deprive them of their mobility after disembarking on the shore.
LVTA4-2 with a 76 mm short gun in the turret. Museum of the Australian Royal Armored Forces in Pacapunyal.
M5A1 light tanks, which were supposed to be dropped on barges of the LCM-6 type, performed very well. Due to the high ramp height, however, they could not shoot directly on the course, but they shot over the sides in both directions. In addition, two 106-mm mortars were originally installed on barges of this type, the base plates of which were stacked in wooden boxes filled with sand. Two 106-mm mortars, two 37-mm tank guns and four more 7.62-mm machine guns - for such a small ship, this was truly solid firepower. Well, in order not to reduce the ammunition load of the tanks, because it could be very necessary on the shore, it was recommended to place additional ammunition outside and feed it inside the tank through the open turret hatch. At the same time, it was no longer required to save ammunition!
Japanese landing tank "Sinhot Ka-Tsu".
The same tank, armed with a 120 mm short cannon with a light rollback.
The experience of the Americans was appreciated by the British. First, they received LVT2, armed with two machine guns: one 12.7 mm and one 7.62 mm. Then there were three of them on each side, and as a result, the British installed a turret with a 20-mm Polsten rapid-fire cannon on the LVT2. Then it turned out that such amphibians can even transport a 17-pounder (76, 2-mm) Mk. 1 cannon. This modification of the machine was given the designation LVT (A) 2. Its main difference was two folding ramps, with which the gun could be rolled to the ground after landing.
The Australians were also actively preparing for amphibious operations on islands in the Pacific Ocean. Having received 30 LVT (A) and DUKW cars from the USA under Lend-Lease, they also thought about how to enhance their fire capabilities. To do this, they put on them missile launchers for 4.5 inch caliber (114 mm) rockets. The Americans themselves also used them, and it was with the LVT in November 1943 during the landing operation on the Kwajalein Atoll. The missiles were then on 24 vehicles in the rear of the hull along the sides. It turned out that this was completely inconvenient, since when they were moving, they were often flooded with waves, and the salty ocean water closed the electrical circuits. But even those shells that were nevertheless launched then had a stunning psychological effect on the Japanese.
Well, the Australians, having invited engineers from the United States to be their assistants, developed a completely new installation that had only one barrel and a drive located above it. One rocket was placed in the barrel, and the other six were loaded into a storage device. On each LVT (A) 4 machine, two launchers were to be mounted, so that without reloading, each of them could launch 12 shells one after the other in a matter of seconds.
On tests, the missiles were fired automatically, with an interval of 0.3 s. The rocket speed at the start reached 106 m / s, and the firing range was 990 m. The vehicle was tested without a crew, firing three rounds in a fully automatic mode. But the system proved to be so good that the shooting was carried out in full and with the crew on board. True, then it was necessary to issue the tankers with helmets that had enhanced acoustic protection. But on the other hand, when they were in these helmets, no one complained about any inconvenience when shooting.
With automatic firing, all 12 missiles could be fired in 3, 15 s. The shells flew about 1080 yards, but landed in the target area with a wide spread. Although it was noted that as a result of the explosion of such a large number of missiles at the target in less than 4 seconds, the effect was more than impressive, since each missile was equal in power to a 105-mm howitzer projectile. Soon, the installation was adopted by the armed forces of Australia, but nowhere else was it in service.
Thus, the possibility of enhancing the firepower of the landing force by firing also from its own landing craft with the equipment transported on them has been proven. Moreover, tanks and multiple-charge rocket launchers, which were mounted both on landing vehicles and ships, and on tank turrets, showed themselves in the best way.
Colored fig. A. Shepsa
