Unit/ Formation: Landing Craft Units
Location: Schouwen
Period/ Conflict: World War II
Year: 1944
Date/s: November 1944
LCS(M) of Force T, manned by Royal Marines, have been joining night patrols against midget submarines and explosive motorboat attacks from the German-held island of Schouwen.
The Landing Craft Support (Medium) (LCS(M)), Mark 2 and Mark 3 manned by Royal Marines they saw action on D Day, including supporting the US Rangers at Pointe Du Hoc and later in Holland.
The LCS (M) was the main light support version of the LCA, armed with twin .5 Cal machine guns, a 4 in smoke mortar (later firing an HE bomb) and smoke generators.
The spigot mortar at the front, protected by armoured plates and a small casemate behind, had an optional roof turret. There were sub-variants showing no turret roof at all but a Browning M2HB .5 cal. instead. One was photographed on 6 June 1944 with this arrangement, named PA13-27.
The forward smoke mortar was mounted on a pivot for 360° traverse and had a 90° elevation. This was a 4.2 inches standard army mortar converted for this use. It could also fire standard HE bombs. The open gun turret was tailored for either a twin 0.5 or Vickers HMG's (1932).
The Vickers HMG were liquid-cooled and already used on many Royal Navy ships in quad tandem mounts and some land vehicles converted to AA.
