American Amphibious Gunboats in World War II: A History of LCI and LCS(L) Ships in the PacificAs the United States began its campaign against numerous Japanese-held islands in the Pacific, Japanese tactics required them to develop new weapons and strategies. One of the most crucial to the island assaults was a new group of amphibious gunboats that could deliver heavy fire close in to shore as American forces landed. These gunboats were also to prove important in the interdiction of inter-island barge traffic and, late in the war, the kamikaze threat. Several variations of these gunboats were developed, based on the troop carrying LCI(L). They included three conversions of the LCI(L), with various combinations of guns, rockets and mortars, and a fourth gunboat, the LCS(L), based on the same hull but designed as a weapons platform from the beginning. By the end of the war the amphibious gunboats had proven their worth. |
Contents
Preface | 1 |
Introduction | 4 |
1 The Need for a New Weapon | 7 |
2 From Training to Missions | 45 |
3 Operation Cartwheel | 73 |
4 The Central Pacifi c Campaigns | 102 |
5 The Philippines RetakenLeyte and Lingayen | 143 |
6 The LCSLs Arrive | 175 |
11 The Radar Picket Line | 306 |
12 Wars End and PostWar | 329 |
Glossary | 357 |
LCI Gunboat Flotillas and Commanding Offi cers as of 15 May 1945 | 359 |
Building and Conversion Locations | 363 |
LCSL Flotillas and Commanding Offi cers as of 15 May 1945 | 365 |
LCIG LCIM LCIR and LCSL Ships Damaged or Lost in World War II | 368 |
Awards | 370 |