HISTORIC SHIPS ON A LEE SHORE
The Resurrection ofLCT 7074, a D-Day Survivor
by Nick Hewitt
n the late 1930s, as Great Britain was being drawn into World War II, the British were investigating how to convey tanks and materiel across the seas to conduct an attack on foreign soil, and the task of designing the first tank landing craft fell to Rowland Baker, a member of the British Royal Corps of Naval Constructors. Baker came up with an austere shallow-draft tank ferry, and in 1940 construction began on the first of its rype, the LCT Mark I, at R & W Hawthorn, Leslie and Co., Ltd., on the Tyne; it was launched in November of that same year. Incorporated in its design were several novel features, including a front-loading ramp hinged just above the waterline and a double floating dock form of hull, enabling the vehicles in the hold to be concealed from view and protected from the elements by the side tanks, from which a canvas cover was suspended. Propulsion was provided by a Paxman diesel engine. A total of235 LCT (Landing Craft, Tank) Mark 3s, the most numerous British-built rype, were completed over the next few years, including sevenry-one built to slightly modified plans during the winter of 1943-44. Among these was the LCT 7074; like the others, it was built by H awthorn Leslie, but it was powered by American Sterling Admiral engines. 7074 was launched without ceremony on 4 April 1944, then completed and commissioned shortly afterwards. With a crew of rwo officers and ten ratings, the vessel transited to the River Orwell in Suffolk under the command of Sub Lt. John Baggot, RNVR (Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve), a rwenry-year-old trainee solicitor from Swindon, Wiltshire. 7074 joined the 17th LCT Flotilla at Great Yarmouth before steaming onwards to Felixstowe to prepare for the build-up to D-Day. The new purpose-built LCTs, which could carry up to eleven Sherman tanks, would make up the backbone of the invasion fleet. Manned primarily by British crews, the LCTs transported most of the tanks, heavy artillery, and armored vehicles that landed in Normandy. The 17th LCT Flotilla was part of Assault Group L2, LCT Squadron "H " of the Eastern Task Force, which supported the British landings (made up of rwo British divisions, one Canadian division, plus rwo army units and one Royal Marine Commando unit) . 7074 carried troops and a mix of ten Sherman,
I
-
-.
--
D-Day was the largest amphibious operation in history, in which more than 7, 000 ships and watercraft of all sizes, including more than 800 LCTs, landed over 160, 000 soldiers on the beaches ofN ormandy. Ofthis fleet, 7074 is the only surviving D-Day LCT (Right, top to bottom) LCT 7074; loading tanks on to the LCTs; convoy across the channel,¡ landing tanks and personnel on the beaches of Normandy, 6 June 1944.
34
SEA HISTORY 150, SPRING 2015