Asked a similar question a few months ago and got no response to that one.
Anyways, on Peleliu, the American troops (namely the 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division) landed using copious amounts of naval gunfire support, and close order support from LVT(T)s and LVT(A)s (Landing Vehicle Tracked (Tank/Armored)). Observers to direct the naval gunfire were in the first wave too.
At Normandy, were these vehicles used to the same deadly effect? The Japanese Commander, Nakagawa, didn’t deploy his tanks to repulse the landings, instead saving them for defense of the Peleliu airfield. Did the German commander deploy tanks to repulse the Normandy invasion? That would neuter the effectiveness of the LVTs.
I tried to research this on my own but only came up with results about DUKWs rather than the LVTs.
D-Day Commemorations
the_howling_cow: I answered a similar question to this some time ago [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4sz7lr/why_wasnt_lvts_used_at_dday_beach_landings/) but I’ll reproduce it below and add some more information.
Landing tables for the D-Day invasion (Omaha and Utah Beaches) can be found [here](http://www.americandday.org/Landing_Table/Omaha_Beach_H+00.html). Most small landing craft used in the initial waves were not the ubiquitous American [LCVP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Darke_APA-159_-_LCVP_18.jpg), but rather the British [Landing Craft Assault](http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=978727&d=1375414985), manned by British crews. Later waves, depending upon their composition, arrived in [DUKWs]), [Landing Craft Mechanized](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wD3ujPwGpIo/Vl4UcvqCv9I/AAAAAAAAvwY/JfQyrEdUDuk/s1600/P1150964.jpg), [Landing Craft Infantry (Large)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/USS_LCI%28L%29-551.jpg) or [Landing Craft, Tank](https://bw-1651cf0d2f737d7adeab84d339dbabd3-bcs.s3.amazonaws.com/products/product_106801/Full106801_4c69d4f12c3165c9b0fa5818916ccc2a.jpg). As the resistance at Omaha Beach did not begin to collapse until the early afternoon, the larger landing craft proved to be attractive targets for artillery and mortar fire, and several were damaged or sunk.
Preparations for Operation *Overlord* began in earnest at the tail end of 1943. as did Operation *Forager*, the invasion of the Mariana and Palau islands. The two operations were executed at essentially the same time (June 6 vs June 15, 1944), and there was not enough LVTs for use in both the European and Pacific theaters.
Redeployment and retraining of existing amphibian tractor and amphibian tank battalions from the Pacific to European theaters and raising of new units would have been another issue. Drawing these units away could reduce the potential of troops in the Pacific to conduct landings on Japanese-occupied islands. Many Pacific islands are ringed by substantial coral reefs that are often impossible for even shallow-draft boats to muscle over. At Tarawa, some Marine units riding in LCVPs needed to be transferred into LVTs at the reef line for the trip to the beach.
Formation and training of new units takes a substantial amount of time; few, if any, Army amphibian units trained for less than six months in their intended role. If LVTs were used on D-Day, it is presumed that only new Army amphibian units deployed from the United States would have been involved, as the Marines were hard-pressed to deploy any of their forces outside the Pacific theater or for that matter from the United States (essentially all Marines served overseas during WWII at one point or another). The great majority of Army amphibian units were activated in late 1943 and early 1944, in expectation of the great offensives in the central Pacific and towards Japan during the summer and fall of 1944, and were needed due to the island conditions there.
Unit|Activated|Battles
:–|:–|:–
534th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 534th Armored Infantry Battalion 28 Oct 43|Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa
536th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 536th Armored Infantry Battalion 29 Jan 44|Philippines, Okinawa
658th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 658th Tank Destroyer Battalion 15 Apr 44|Philippines
672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 672nd Tank Destroyer Battalion 15 Apr 44|Philippines
708th Amphibian Tank Battalion|Originated as 708th Tank Battalion from renaming of the disbanding 3rd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, 6th Armored Division 20 Sept 43; converted to amphibian tank unit 27 Oct 43|Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa
715th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 715th Tank Battalion 27 Oct 43|Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa
718th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 718th Tank Battalion 15 Apr 44|Philippines, Okinawa
726th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|26 Jan 44|Peleliu, Okinawa
727th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|26 Jan 44|Philippines
728th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 728th Tank Destroyer Battalion 14 Apr 44|Philippines, Okinawa
773rd Amphibian Tank Battalion|Converted from 773rd Tank Battalion 27 Oct 43|Saipan, Tinian, Okinawa
776th Amphibian Tank Battalion|Originated as 776th Tank Battalion from renaming of the disbanding 1st Battalion, 2nd Armored Regiment, 9th Armored Division 9 Oct 43; converted to amphibian tank unit 8 Jan 44|Angaur, Philippines, Okinawa
780th Amphibian Tank Battalion|Originated as 780th Tank Battalion from the renaming of the disbanding 1st Battalion, 43rd Armored Regiment, 13th Armored Division 22 Dec 43; converted to amphibian tank unit 8 Apr 44|Philippines, Okinawa
788th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 788th Tank Battalion 10 Sept 43|Philippines, Okinawa
826th Amphibian Tractor Battalion|Converted from 826th Tank Destroyer Battalion 18 Apr 44|Philippines
The 535th, 539th, 540th, 720th, 742nd, and 764th Amphibian Tractor Battalions and the 795th Amphibian Tank Battalion didn’t see any combat during World War II, but were ready for the invasion of the Japanese mainland had that situation occurred. When the war ended. several veteran separate tank battalions that had served with distinction in Europe were in the process of converting to amphibian units in the United States.
The vast majority of LVT types were not armored at all, having only a thin mild steel hull. This is somewhat better than the LCVP, made of wood, but with an armored bow ramp. Both transports offered essentially no overhead protection. Adding armor to the cab and hull of the LVT-2 reduced its payload capacity from 5,940 pounds to 4,950 pounds; adding armor to the cab and hull of the LVT-4 reduced its payload capacity from 9,000 to 6,000 pounds.
Version|Armor|Crew + Passengers|Notes
:–|:–|:–|:–
[LVT-1]|None (3/8″ boiler plates added to some vehicles’ cabs before Tarawa landings)|2-3 + 18|No rear ramp
[LVT-2]|None|2-3 + 24|No rear ramp
[LVT(A)-2]|1/4″ on hull, 1/2″ on cab|2-3 + 24|Armored version of the LVT-2; no rear ramp
[LVT-3]|None|2-3 + 24|Rear ramp
LVT(A)-3|Presumably 1/4″ on hull, 1/2″ on cab|2-3 + 24|Proposed armored version of the LVT-4; not produced
[LVT-4]|None; 1/4″ on hull, 1/2″ on cab when added|2-3 + 24|Rear ramp
[LVT(A)-1]|1/4″ on hull, 1/2″ on cab, turret with armor characteristics of M3A1 light tank|6 + 0|”Amtank”
[LVT(A)-4]|1/4″ on hull, 1/2″ on cab, turret with armor characteristic of M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage|6 + 0|”Amtank”
Another consideration is their personnel capacity; early LVTs (LVT-1, LVT-2, LVT(A)-2) had the engine at the rear, which forced personnel to jump over the side to disembark. The capacity of an LVT was only 18 to 24 passengers, in contrast to the 36 passengers of the LCVP. Due to the centrally-mounted propeller shaft, they could also not conveniently carry and offload any bulky cargo, such as a jeep. Using LVTs would have forced a reorganization of the agreed-upon assault infantry battalion structure (6 assault boats per rifle company, 5 support boats for the heavy weapons company, plus a command boat, each of roughly 30 men). Less waves of higher-capacity vehicles and ships slows the execution of the landing and clogs up the beach with potentially clumsy vehicles that are vulnerable to artillery and mortar fire; getting as many men on the beach as quickly as possible increases the chances of success, especially against an enemy that has been disoriented by airstrikes and naval gunfire.
The LVT-4, capable of carrying 24 men and having a rear ramp, only began production in December 1943. It is doubtful that the logistical priority for the new vehicle would have been given to the European Theater for a single landing, as LVT-type vehicles were needed and had proved themselves for the frequent invasions of Japanese-held islands in the Pacific Theater. The LVT-3 “Bushmaster,” a cosmetically similar type to the LVT-4, first saw action on Okinawa.
The German 352nd Infantry Division attempted to counterattack the Omaha beachhead with their tank destroyer battalion on the afternoon of June 6, but the Germans were spotted and the attack was smashed by naval gunfire.
**Source:**
Croizat, Victor. *Across the Reef The Amphibious Tracked Vehicle at War*. Quantico: Marine Corps Association and Foundation, 1992.
Yeide, Harry. *The Infantry’s Armor: The U.S. Army’s Separate Tank Battalions in World War II*. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2010.
Zaloga, Steven J. *Armored Attack 1944: U. S. Army Tank Combat in the European Theater from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge*. Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2011.
Shane Bryant
The author is incorrect. NO LVT had a propeller, let alone a shaft running down the center of the vehicle. The LVT engine, through a transmission and 3rd member drove the tracks which were outfitted with dual cupped plates that drove the machine through the water, enabling it to climb over and across coral reefs then maneuver on the beach and inland . Steering was accomplished by control sticks much like a bull dozer. The LVT-3 moved the engines forward, made it a little wider and placed a ramp in the back to load men, stores and even a jeep or artillery piece. No LVTs were used in the Normandy D-Day invasion because there were NO coral reefs to hinder the faster, larger Higgins and other landing craft. All Allied forces used a few through out Europe for river crossings, but other than that did not play a pivotal part on the continent. Lastly, the designations for troop and stores carriers were LVT-2 or whatever version it was and the armored fist wave LVTs were designated the same with the letter “A” referring to the armor it was capable of firing during the run into the beach to keep the enemy head down to allow the 2nd and consecutive waves to survive the run in with the troops. They were designated LVT-(A)2 etc.