LCM Monitor - Indochina ingenuity

Arghail · October 9, 2023, 8:09pm

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Landing Craft Mechanized Monitor

LCM modified by the French navy in Indochina

https://cdn-live.warthunder.com/uploads/89/e4/ca/918c6e855cafd53d26504c666cb7f63352/lcm_mo11.jpg

About this ship and its interest in War Thunder

This small gunboat seems like a good low tier ship to add for the French, and its atypical loadout as well as its armor makes it an original and efficient warship, despite its fairly low speed.

About the LCM

The Landing Craft Mechanized is a serie of ships created for the purpose of landing vehicles and infantry. First used by the British as soon as spring 1940, it was then popularized, so much so that the US navy created their own LCM, from Mark 1 to Mark 8. As for France, they used many of those ships during the Indochina war, being a cheap alternative to dedicated warships. Needless to say, they were heavily modified in many ways, and a lot of variant were born. The French first acquired British Mk3 LCM in february 1946, but the flawed design and lack of spare parts condemned the ships pretty quickly, and they disappeared as early as 1947. They were replaced by American LCM.Mk3 and Mk6. Some of the Mk6 were heavily modified to be used as gunboats. The French called them LCM Monitor.

About the LCM Monitor

The LCM Monitor was a heavily modified American LCM Mk 6, so much so that it was barely recognizable. Adapted to river warfare, it was outfited with a Coventry armored car turret, armed with a QF 2 pounder and a coaxial MG151 20mm canon. Another MG 151 at the stern of the ship, several machineguns and sometimes even a 81mm mortar completed the modifica tion. The landing gate had been replaced by a bow and some of the Monitors were equipped with a Crow’s nest, which was judged too vulnerable and removed afterwards. Last but not least, the ships were armored on the bridge and on the turret with armored plates. Nicknamed “River armored cars” by its crew, it was well liked at first, but the intensification of combat and more powerful armament quickly became a terrible threat to the ships. One of them was sunk in 1951, on the Black river, by Bazookas and heavy shells. After the end of the war, the remaining ones were given to the South Vietnamese.

Specifications

DIMENSIONS

Total length : 17.26m

Total width : 4.28m

draught : 1.22m

displacement : 47t

crew : 10

ENGINE

type : 2 x Gray Marine 64HN9 diesels, 330 hp total

max speed : 8 knts

ARMAMENT AND ARMOR :