US Amphibious Tanks of World War II

The advent of combined arms operations in World War II created the need for specialized armored vehicles. In the case of amphibious attacks, the issue arose of how best to land tanks on a beach. Although a variety of specialized landing craft were developed, the Dieppe raid in 1942 encouraged the development of tanks that could be deployed from further off-shore to limit the vulnerability of the LCT craft. The deep-wading equipment that they developed was used throughout Europe - during Operation Husky on Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently for Operations Avalanche (Salerno, September 1943), Shingle (Anzio, January 1944) and Overlord (Normandy, June 1944). However Marines learned from the Tarawa landings in 1943 that unprepared tanks could not be safely landed even in shallow water, so other solutions were sought. A detailed study of specialized US amphibious tanks, this will appeal to those interested in both Pacific and European Theaters, modellers and collectors.