amamoz Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Hello, I would like to start a thread about landing craft used in Normandy during the landing. I'm looking for anyone who might know something about any type of landing craft still available (LCT,LST,LCVP,...). I am particularly interested in anything for sale, anything which is in desparate need for restoration. Thanks Luc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agripper Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 If you have deep pockets the LST in Liverpool would be a grand project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amamoz Posted August 4, 2010 Author Share Posted August 4, 2010 How could i find out any contact details about this LST in Liverpool? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 (edited) How could i find out any contact details about this LST in Liverpool? Thanks. Great thread and would love to see something like this happen - look here - http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2010/03/05/historic-merseyside-naval-vessel-used-in-d-day-in-danger-of-being-lost-92534-25966966/ And - http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/landfalldays.htm Edited August 4, 2010 by Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Hell - if folks can get the Vulcan flying then we (the hobby/the country) can do this? We need something big and crazy like this to set fire to the hobby and history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Hello, I would like to start a thread about landing craft used in Normandy during the landing. I'm looking for anyone who might know something about any type of landing craft still available (LCT,LST,LCVP,...). I am particularly interested in anything for sale, anything which is in desparate need for restoration. Thanks Luc Luc - have just made a phone call for you and awaiting a call back with the owners details - suggested it wouldn't be today but will let you know as soon as I have something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 OK - have nailed it! The conversation went a bit like this - Me - " blar blar HMS Landfall........" Chap - "why do you want to know...." Me - " I want to buy it!" Chap - "you just made me spit my tea out..." Me - "yeah me too!" Very interesting - it is for sale. Anyone got a spare couple of million? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amamoz Posted August 4, 2010 Author Share Posted August 4, 2010 Thanks. Interesting conversation. How can i get in touch with that person? I would like to make a visit to it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
private mw Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 how much ? :shocked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Cubed Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 LST in Portsmouth needs saving Pounds marine just off M275 on right going into portsmouth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agripper Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 Can't remember is the one in Liverpool a LST or a LCT, thought it was the latter. I would say that to get it restored and running would be a lot less than that of teh Vulcan and that had a lot from the Lottery as well as the MOD. But its just as important if not more so, but not quite as glam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex van de Wetering Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Can't remember is the one in Liverpool a LST or a LCT, thought it was the latter. I agree, It's not an LST, but an LCT; the British built LCT 7074..."HMS Landfall", unique as the ship has knoiwn D-day history and is still pretty close to the original configuration. I think it's a real shame that this ship has been left to rot for years. A few months ago the ship was in the news again because it started to sink.....and althoough that did bring it back to the attention, it still hasn't been saved.....in fact the last I heard was that only the chimney is now visible on the surface. I did hear that the ship has been sinking for years, but someone was hired to pump the water out every month to keep it afloat. What a sight would this ship be on the beach at Arromanches in june 2014! But maybe more realitic would be a place on land as the base for a D-day museum in Normandy of on the British South coast. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Luc - I will PM you the contact details but yes it needs to be saved and found it on Google earth too. Here's some details - it belongs to the Crown and basically you can 'have' it for a nominal fee - the heart ache comes in moving it and having a berth/dry dock somewhere in the world. And of course the restoration and on going costs - but can't see any reason why it can't be done. The Vulcan guys done and lead the way - others can follow and use their experience in getting it done........... Just imagine - A&E 2014 - then straight over to Normandy WOW or being more realistic - for the 75th........ I wonder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Sometimes, Jack, I worry about you. The rest of the time I just worry about you. But wouldn't it be fantastic - can I book a berth for my Jimmy now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Sometimes, Jack, I worry about you. The rest of the time I just worry about you. Yeah I am with you there - but the way the dice is rolling for me at the moment - I would probably hit an ice burgh off the Dorset coast and sink. But hell yeah - it needs someone who knows what they are doing to get it done. As for the price of a berth for your Jimmy - that will be £500,000 - one way.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fesm_ndt Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 it would make an interesting restoration thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 And here she is: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 I think what I really meant was I worry for you - oh you know what I mean Just don't go starting another Fund-Raidsing Appeal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 A total of 235 LCT Mk 3s were completed. This total includes 71 to slightly modified plans, which were built by the main shipbuilders during the winter of 1943 – 44. In the modified vessels an American Sterling Admiral petrol engine was fitted in lieu of the Paxman Diesel. The LCT 7074 was one of these 71 modified craft and was built by Hawthorne Leslie and Co. Ltd at their Hebburn Yard on the River Tyne. She was launched without ceremony on the 4th April 1944 and was completed on the 6th April 1944. After commissioning she sailed down the East Coast from the River Tyne and joined the 17th LCT Flotilla in Great Yarmouth. Then the flotilla sailed to Harwich and later to Felixstowe to join the build up for D-Day. LCT 7074 is the last surviving LCT that took part in the D-Day landings. More than 700 landing craft tank provided the backbone of the invasion of Normandy. LCT's could carry eleven Sherman tanks and LCT 7074 carried ten to Normandy; nine got on the beach without being hit or breaking down. The 800 LCT's, which were mainly manned by British crews, were the backbone of the largest amphibious force ever launched from this country. LCT's carried almost all the tanks, heavy artillery and armoured vehicles landed in Normandy. For months after the invasion LCT 7074 ferried supplies for the Allied Armies to ports across the Channel. The former Chief of the Defence Staff Field Marshal Lord Bramall has described the LCT 7074 as "An irreplaceable part of Britain's military and wartime history". LCT 7074 then returned to Southampton to load American reinforcements to take back to Normandy for the assault on Cherbourg. Then in April 1945 she was taken to Liverpool for conversion into an emergency repair ship with plans for her to join operations in the Far East. They never materialised however due to the Japanese surrender and the conversion was not completed. On the 19th April 1945 LCT 7074 ended her life as an active landing craft having given sterling service in the D-Day Landings. At the cessation of hostilities at the end of the Second World War LCT 7074 was presented as a gift by a grateful Admiralty, to the Master Mariners of Liverpool who had performed such heroic deeds in the Battles of the Atlantic. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board willingly provided a berth. On the 20th September 1948, Admiral Sir Max K. Horton, in the company of Admiral Sir Percy Noble, The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, The Earl of Derby and Viscount Leverhulme, re-launched her as the most exclusive club in Liverpool. After her extensive remodelling, the rather plain warship had lost her unromantic number and was renamed "The Clubship Landfall". The Merseyside Master Mariners Club had a membership of some 100 active or retired ship's masters at the time. The venture had the full support of the Merseyside Ship Owners Association and the Landfall was installed as a landmark in Liverpool's maritime history. Eventually she became part of the Historic Warships Birkenhead collection and became laid up in East Float awaiting restoration. Sadly in January 2006 it was announced that the Historic Warships Birkenhead had gone into liquidation and the visitor attraction would close. The collection has been requested to vacate their berths as soon as possible as the site is required for redevelopment. As a result the future of the collection and this historic Landing Craft is now at risk, with scrapping a distinct possibility and it would be a national tragedy if this historic ship and last surviving active participant of the D-Day Landings of this type was allowed to go to scrap. The Historic Warships Birkenhead visitor attraction sadly closed on the 5th February 2006 and she is now owned by Peel Ports and remains stored in Birkenhead Docks facing an uncertain future. Peel Ports wish to have the ship sold and removed if at all possible. In 2010 the landing craft's condition became even more precarious after years of neglect and she is now in great danger of sinking. So time is running out for this historic landing craft. She is small enough to be plinthed out of the water on display for the short term with a longer term option to restore her to operational condition for use as a historic ship and living history experiences. But time is running out for her and she must be saved. She is listed by the National Historic Ships Unit as part of the "THE UK NATIONAL HISTORIC FLEET" in the National Register of Historic Ships. This means that she is officially recognised to be of pre-eminent national or regional importance, spans the spectrum of achievement in UK maritime history and illustrates changes in construction and technology. Therefore she merits high priority for preservation in the long term and deserves significant public support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Oh heck. Perhaps we should all try to save her. I'm sure Tootallmike would be up for the diesel conversion (presumably still the original Sterling petrol engine in her?). I'll start saving all my offcuts of 10mm plate :shocked: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Yeah I am with you there - but the way the dice is rolling for me at the moment - I would probably hit an ice burgh off the Dorset coast and sink. But hell yeah - it needs someone who knows what they are doing to get it done. I know a man:captain::-X:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 Oh heck. Perhaps we should all try to save her. I'm sure Tootallmike would be up for the diesel conversion (presumably still the original Sterling petrol engine in her?). I'll start saving all my offcuts of 10mm plate :shocked: OK - I have promoted you to Chief Foundraiser :coffee: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 :shocking: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 :shocking: Done it yet???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted August 5, 2010 Share Posted August 5, 2010 OK - I have promoted you to Chief Foundraiser :coffee: Quite appropriate really 'cos the way it's going somebody's going to have to lift it off the bed of the East Float. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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