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The LCM (Land ing Craft Mechanized) was the mostwidely used type of tank-carrying landing craft in WWII and more than 8,500were built in American yards between 1942 and 1945. As British had notank-carrying craft light er than LCT (Land ing Craft Tank) s, LCMs were alsoreadily adopted by Royal Navy. LCMs could be either carried on ship davits, ortowed across the English Channel. Due to the danger of swamping in rough seas,most LCMs were towed across the Channel and not loaded with troops until themornings of D-Day. LCMs could be readily identified by their unique perfor atedbow ramp. As tanks grew larger and heavier, the LCM (3) was developed with alonger hull and greater buoyancy, which allowed a 30-ton tank to be carried. They could also hand le up to 30 tons of cargo or 60 troops. LCM (3) had a crewof 4 men and was armed with two 50-caliber machine guns. The LCM was notdesigned for the crew to live aboard and it remained dependent upon a parentship over longperiods of time. The most important role played by LCMs on D-Daywas transporting the engineer teams assigned to demolish the beach obstacles.
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