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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 The landing gate had been replaced by a bow and some of the Monitors were equipped with a Crow’s nest, which was judged too vulnerable and removed afterwards.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 :
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Armor : 12-15mm plates (bridge, hull, turret)
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1 x QF 2 Pdr (40mm) on a Coventry turret (bow)
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2 x 20mm MG151 (1 coaxial in the turret, 1 on the stern of the ship)
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3 x 12.7mm MGs (front of the bridge, and on each sides)
Optional : 81mm mortar
Photos
PLANS
Spoiler
Drawing of the original heavy LCM used by the French navy
Drawing of the LCM Monitor variant of the LCM
PHOTOS OF THE LCM MONITOR
Spoiler
SOURCES :
Spoiler
BROCHARD (capitaine de corvette), Dinassaut, ed. France empire, 1952, 314p.
LCM : Landing Craft Mechanized
The Boats : French riverine craft
Photos :
Indochine: Les projets LCM de Commandement et Monitor 03