#lvt

Me: Cool!

Doc: *texts pic of a paper plate covered in indecipherable doctor scrawl*

From the Sea

During World War II, as the Allies launched their offensive, the demand for large landing craft became critical. Consequently, construction of Destroyer Escorts (DEs) at Mare Island was halted to prioritize the production of Landing Craft Tanks (LCTs). At the peak of this program, Mare Island was able to produce one LCT per day.

At the war's onset, US merchant ships were suffering heavy losses from German U-boats in the Atlantic. To address this urgent situation, there was a pressing need for DEs. Mare Island responded by increasing its capacity to receive prefabricated hull sections from across the country, assembling them on five newly built ways. To meet the required production rate, Mare Island adapted techniques learned from its World War I experience, where a destroyer broke all records when it was launched just 17 days after the keel was laid. Master Shipfitter T. J. Moroney pioneered the use of prefabrication in the shipyard, allowing for the final assembly of these sections on the building ways. This concept was further refined during World War II, leading to a nationwide assembly line approach. Ultimately, Mare Island constructed 32 DEs before the U-boat threat was neutralized and new priorities emerged.

After the war's early challenges, the US began its offensive.  Planners soon realized that achieving victory required deploying troops to numerous locations worldwide. This necessitated landings that transported hundreds of thousands of soldiers and supplies from ships into enemy-held areas. By the second year of the war, Mare Island shifted its focus from DE construction to building the landing craft essential for these operations. According to the War Report of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, a total of 83,219 large and small landing craft were needed to transport troops from the sea to enemy beaches. Mare Island applied the successful assembly line techniques used for DEs to the production of LCTs, resulting in so many LCTs that if lined up end-to-end, they would stretch for six miles.

The LCTs not only served as connectors between ships and shore but also provided crucial fire support when landing troops were most vulnerable to enemy artillery, mortars, and machine guns. LCTs carrying Sherman M4 tanks offered this fire support, with some even equipped to launch rocket barrages against enemy positions.

Additionally, newly developed tracked landing vehicles (LVTs) significantly reduced casualties by enabling troops to move from water across beaches to land. However, enhancing their survivability became a priority, as the original LVTs were unarmed and unarmored. Mare Island developed armor packages to better protect these vehicles. Despite Mare Island's significant contributions to producing DEs and landing craft, these efforts represented only a small part of the overall wartime production. The shipyard also built floating workshops, submarines, large submarine tenders, and various support vessels, while continuously conducting maintenance and battle damage repairs on a steady stream of US and Allied warships. Mare Island's experiences during World War II exemplified the adage, "The only constant is change."