INVASION BARGES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 180, 1 August 1944, Page 3

INVASION BARGES

THE "SAILING" TEST TRIED OUT IN 34,000-GAL. TUB (By a Staff Correspondent) WARREN, OHIO. Landing barges for the Navy used in large quantities in the invasion are launched here in a man-made "inland ocean" miles from a waterway, prior to railroad shipment direct to embarkation points. LCM-3's, sturdy, all-welded lighters designed for landing a medium tank, personnel and various types of naval equipment, are "sailed" two hours on a saltless sea in a 34,000-gallon bathtub at the Warren City Manufacturing Company. This test operation only a few feet away from the end of the assembly line speeds completion of landing craft, which are the No. 1 priority in Navy construction.

The 50-foot barges are built upside down on ingenious jigs, turned over for engine installation and final fabrication,. and are then swung by crane into the tank. Steel cables are attached to prevent the craft from leaping out of its basin. A worker standing at the control panel on the pilot deck turns the powerful Diesels over slowly, and gradually speeds them up until the water is whipping into boiling foam and the barge strains at its cables, riding up and down on waves it creates itself.

The complete test of motors, landing ramp and bilge pumps lasts two hours. Each barge is laid on its side in a flat-car and quantities of sand are poured into the car to steady the vessel in transit. Fullyequipped with anchor, boathooks and tarpaulins, the barge is ready for action as soon as the landing ramp and pilot house, detached during shipment, are fastened in position.— Auckland Star and N.A.N.A.