In the 1930s the US Marine Corps and Navy, anticipating the need for amphibious assaults, experimented with small landing boats. Private firms were contracted to develop boats based on criteria outlined by the Navy. In Fleet Exercise 5, conducted in 1939, the 36-foot "Eureka" boat, manufactured by Andrew Higgins, a New Orleans boat builder, proved superior to all others. While this boat met or exceeded the Navy's criteria, it did not have a bow ramp, which was deemed critical for disembarking troops and war materiel. In 1941, a Marine Corps officer showed Higgins a picture of a Japanese landing craft with a ramp in the bow, and Higgins was asked to incorporate this design into his "Eureka" boat. He did so, producing the basic design for the Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP), often simply called the Higgins boat. The LCVP could carry 36 combat-equipped infantrymen or 8,000 pounds (3,600 kilograms) of cargo from ship to shore. During World War II the United States produced 23,398 of these craft while a British version of the LCVP called the Landing Craft, Assault, or LCA, were also built.

In addition to the basic infantry assault craft, the US Army needed a vessel to transport and land its medium battle tank, and in May 1941 Higgins was asked to produce a tank-landing craft. One year later the Navy accepted the 50-foot (15.25-metre) Higgins design, the prototype for the Landing Craft, Mechanized (LCM). During the war, 11,392 LCMs were produced by the United States with 486 used during Operation Overlord.

This 1:72 scale pre-assembled replica comes with a US M4A1 Sherman medium tank fitted with a deep fording wading kit. Sold Out!

Diorama Dimensions:
Length: 15 inches
Width: 10 inches

Release Date: June 2008

Historical Account: "Cliffhangers" - Ranger units proudly carried on and enhanced the Ranger standards and traditions in the European Theater Operations during WWII. The 2nd Ranger Battalion, activated on April 1st, 1943, at Camp Forrest, Tennessee trained and led by Lt. Colonel James Earl Rudder, carried out the most desperate and dangerous mission of the entire Omaha Beach landings - in Normandy, June 6th, 1944. General Bradley said of Colonel Rudder, "Never has any commander been given a more desperate mission."

Three companies, D, E, and F assaulted the perpendicular cliffs of Point Du Hoc under intense machine-gun, mortar and artillery fire and destroyed a large gun battery that would have wreaked havoc on the Allied fleets offshore.

For two days and nights they fought without relief until the 5th Ranger Battalion linked up with them. Later with the 5th Battalion, the 2nd played a key role in the attacks against the German fortifications around Brest in the Le Conquet Peninsula.