1969 LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel)

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Now it's actually done. The 40ft stepdeck came home behind the LT9000 with my brother behind the wheel. At some point military clearance lights with Packard connectors were added. It should be a good match behind the ex-Air Force Ford once both are all fixed up.

 

[Jericho]

Looks f=good , Good old Air Force Commercial buy trucks !

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Had to do it while the m151a2 was out:

 

[Jericho]

Was over at the yard last week. I must say the the landing craft is impressive up close !!!

 

[Another Ahab]

Did you say the hull was fiberglass?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Did you say the hull was fiberglass?

Yes the hull is fiberglass with steel plating along the cargo area. WWII era boats were made of wood instead of fiberglass.
A couple pictures of the USS Boulder:
The first is a US Navy photograph from April of 1971 while it's still in the shipyard. The original file is huge and if you zoom way in it looks like the top boat on the port side is LCVP #2.

This one is from the national archives, not sure the date but I think it says from the early 90s. Not sure if that's when the photo was taken or when it was cataloged or such. Again if you zoom way in you can see the top boat is lcvp #2 (from the number on the side) but that's not my boat, the hull number is different. Interesting.

 

[Another Ahab]

These are great pics, thanks Evil Dr. P.

Do you know how the ships like the Boulder operate?

Is that bow ramp for personnel, or vehicles (both?), and is it designed to be run up onto the beach?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

These are great pics, thanks Evil Dr. P.

Do you know how the ships like the Boulder operate?

Is that bow ramp for personnel, or vehicles (both?), and is it designed to be run up onto the beach?

I'm definitely not an expert on these but I believe the purpose of the long ramp is to keep the ship itself off the beach for the most part. The world war 2 era LSTs with the bow door would run up on the beach, but are a different design. The idea behind both being to roll equipment directly on land without any support.

In other news it looks like the bridge truck will live another day; it's headed to work on a farm.
I'm glad we didn't have to part it out. Even though it needs some sheet metal and the typical stuff for a 56 year old MV it's still a capable work truck.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I thinks I see armor plate on that one. Gonna be a lot heavier than the wood one I pulled around. I think you figured that out.

Hey NDT, any chance the boat you pulled around is still around and in need of armor? I know there is one still around down there...

An owner of a 1950s wood LCVP found me and I had a chance to look over the boat; armor is there, winch is there, gate is there, basically looks like it was taken out of the water in the 1980s and put in the woods. The wood has all seen better days and it's a few feet wider than normal from the weight of the armor on the sides. You'd have to replace every piece of wood. Maybe the metal parts could be of use on another boat. If anyone knows of someone who may need that stuff contact me and we can try and figure it out. Engine is gone as is the prop. I'd really like to see the usable parts go to the right place.

Also, if anyone wants to buy an LCM-6 project with two 6-71 detroits that look like mine (and I've heard are rebuilt) send me a PM. It's on a step deck trailer in the same place my LCVP was. Engines stored inside same as mine. At 56ft with a 14ft beam it's nothing I want to deal with.

 

[DanM7890]

A few pics of the interior of the boat:
View attachment 698254

Appears to have had a tracked vehicle in the main area. Any insight or was that your doing?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Appears to have had a tracked vehicle in the main area. Any insight or was that your doing?

It kind of does look like that. There used to be strips bolted there, I'm guessing wood but maybe metal.

 

[DanM7890]

It kind of does look like that. There used to be strips bolted there, I'm guessing wood but maybe metal.

Traction strips, that makes sense. I looked over the thread but what history do you have on this LCVP? Very cool find for sure.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Pretty much no history at this point, other than the number on the side indicates it came off the USS Boulder. I believe it was built by Mairinette Marine in Wisconsin. I believe it was sitting in the yard I got it from since the later 1990s, no idea how it got there or where it came from before. 2 other LCVPs from the Boulder were over in Maine, one was sitting in a Marina as of last year, there are a couple pics of it in an online blog.

 

[DanM7890]

Do you know the VP number on the stern of the vessel?

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

684. So the 4th boat on the 1968 contract if I'm not mistaken.

 

[DanM7890]

So this vessel could very well be one of 3 on this ship. Online shows it carried (3) 36' LCVP's and (1) 36' LCPL.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

So this vessel could very well be one of 3 on this ship. Online shows it carried (3) 36' LCVP's and (1) 36' LCPL.

Yes at this point it's very likely that the number on the side is original and it's off the Boulder. Here are a couple close ups from the two pics I posted near the top of this page. The first looks like it's #2 to me, and the paint looks the same as mine. The second picture is also #2 (looking at the side) but it's a different boat than mine based on the hull number, and the paint is different as well.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

Some pics of the wooden LCVP I mentioned the other day. Needs some work! I don't believe this would stay together when hoisted or go down the road in one piece. I do have the opportunity to acquire it, and as much as I don't want to put the time and money into getting it out of there I probably would give it a shot if it's worth doing. It would not be a project I would restore or anything, as it would be a complete rebuild around the metal parts. Any thoughts on this? I know there are few examples of wooden LCVPs left, especially as original as this one.

 

[NDT]

Wow. Poor thing has seen no love in a very long time. Any idea on hull number? You may recall that the New Orleans D-Day museum built one of those from scratch, and it took years.

 

[Evil Dr. Porkchop]

I believe it's a 1956 according to the serial number. The owner got it in the mid 80s and had it in the water for a year, so it's probably been sitting in that spot a while. I'm sure the New Orleans museum could have done a really great boat using all the metal and parts from one like this one. I wonder if any other museum would want to take on a project like that.