Amphibious warfare facts for kids

A drawing depicting the amphibious landing of British troops during the Siege of Quebec in 1759

Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted using ship's boats as the primary method of delivering troops to shore. Since the Gallipoli Campaign, specialised watercraft were increasingly designed for landing troops, matériel and vehicles, including by landing craft and for insertion of commandos, by fast patrol boats, zodiacs (rigid inflatable boats) and from mini-submersibles.

The term amphibious first emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States during the 1930s with introduction of vehicles such as Vickers-Carden-Loyd Light Amphibious Tank or the Landing Vehicle Tracked.

Amphibious warfare includes operations defined by their type, purpose, scale and means of execution. In the British Empire at the time these were called combined operations which were defined as "...operations where naval, military or air forces in any combination are co-operating with each other, working independently under their respective commanders, but with a common strategic object." All armed forces that employ troops with special training and equipment for conducting landings from naval vessels to shore agree to this definition.

Since the 20th century an amphibious landing of troops on a beachhead is acknowledged as the most complex of all military maneuvers. The undertaking requires an intricate coordination of numerous military specialties, including air power, naval gunfire, naval transport, logistical planning, specialized equipment, land warfare, tactics, and extensive training in the nuances of this maneuver for all personnel involved.

Images for kids

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  A Crusader tank landing on a beach from a Tank Landing Craft in a 1942 test.

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  South Korean Type 88 K1 MBT comes ashore from an American LCAC in March 2007.

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  Two Australian M113s disembarking from a landing craft during a training exercise in 2019

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  The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the 1066 Norman invasion of England with a force of some 8,000 infantry and heavy cavalry landed on the English shore.

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  British and American movements during the Chesapeake Campaign

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  Ships of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron bombarding Fort Fisher prior to the ground assault, during the American Civil War

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  Japanese landing on Liaodong Peninsula, 1909

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  German battleship Grosser Kurfürst during Operation Albion in October 1917

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  V Beach about two days after the landing, seen from the bow of the River Clyde

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  Anzac Beach amphibious landing, on April 25, 1915

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  Landing at Cape Helles, at Gallipoli

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  The Landing Craft Mechanized was designed by Inter-Service Training and Development Centre from 1938 as the first specialized amphibious ship for the transportation of tanks.

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  Major Earl Hancock Ellis developed amphibious warfare doctrine for the United States Marine Corps in the interwar period, and successfully predicted the nature of the subsequent Pacific campaign.

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  LCVPs, known as 'Higgins Boats', were the first specialized landing craft for the US Navy. Pictured, USS Darke LCVP 18, possibly with Army troops as reinforcements at Okinawa, 1945.

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  Into the Jaws of Death: Troops from the U.S. 1st Division landing on Omaha beach as part of Operation Overlord

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  19 September 1942, Allied troops disembarking from a Landing Craft Assault (LCA) in Toamasina harbour

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  Canadian landings at Juno Beach in the Landing Craft Assault

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  Royal Navy Beach Commandos aboard a Landing Craft Assault of the 529th Flotilla, Royal Navy

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  USS LCI-326, a Landing Craft Infantry, during training for D-Day

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  Two examples of the LCM 1 on an exercise prior to the 1942 Dieppe Raid. On the right is an earlier model without the later fully armoured steering shelter. This craft also has been given additional armour around the tank well and a ramp extension.

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  LCT-202 off the coast of England, 1944

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  A Canadian LST off-loads an M4 Sherman during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.

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  A large landing craft convoy crosses the English Channel on 6 June 1944.

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  PLUTO Pump from Sandown on the Isle of Wight

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  Overall aerial view of the Mulberry B harbour "Port Winston" in September 1944

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  Landing craft approach Blue Beach during the Inchon landings on 15 September 1950, covered by the U.S. Navy destroyer USS De Haven (DD-727) (bottom center).

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  In late 2001, USS Peleliu (LHA-5) amphibious group sent ashore 15th MEU into Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan.

See also

In Spanish: Guerra anfibia para niños