LCT 6 Landing Craft
Listing Features
Description
The LCT 6 Series of landing craft were considerably bigger than the standard LC3 Higgins craft, being 119ft long and 32 ft in t he beam. M ost were built in 1943 at Bison Shipbuilding Corp. Buffalo NY. They were used extensively throughout thePhilippines campaign, and were distinctive in that the wheel house and gun mount were located on the port side. This has been a great help in identifying this wreck, although there is no history to suggest how or why it ended up in this location
The wreckage lies on a steep slope on the island of XXXXXX starting in only a few meters down to 18 at its stern and keel. The bow ramp is down and overgrown with coral. Both forward hull sections rise up from the seabed as the rest of the hull slopes down to a square barge like st ern, underneath which is evidence of t he 3 driving p rop s from her trip le diesel engines.
Thestarboardhullstillboasthercircular gun mount, aft of which is the wheel house which has now fallen over to stern. The engine room bulkead still connects to both port and starboard sides and all faces are covered in coral growth. Where the hull has become porous, and the plates fallen away it is possible to inspect the innards and workings of the vessel. Thereis a long corridor on thestarboardside below the gun mount which makes a nice swim
through, while opposite on the port side a large hole has become the home of a family of batfish, who share the space with glass fish and lionfish.
The wrecks interior bears the structural detail of this basic craft and catwalk bridge connecting port and starboard lies within the hull space, which would have been large enough for 4/5 tanks(Sherman) and a company of soldiers. While not as subs t antial as t he M aru’s t his wreck offers a great 3rd dive in relaxing waters and shallow dep t hs.
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