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Rhino Ferries and LST's.
D Day LST 427 (Landing Ship Tank) with ten miles to go is overtaken by two LCI (Landing Craft Infantry).
427 approaches Sword Beach with three other LSTs
Three LSTs with stern anchors lie one mile offshore with bow doors open.
The nearest appears to have discharged her tank deck to rhino as some top deck vehicles have already gone below.
The three vessels with funnels are likely to be old ships at anchor waiting to be sunk off Sword beach to form a breakwater as a protection for small craft.
These breakwaters were known as Gooseberries.
LCI 388 is under way unladen.
427 married to a rhino with which has a rhino tug alongside.
Rhino tugs were small version of a rhino ferry having three rows of seven units joined together instead of six rows of thirty units joined together on deck. Lots of jerry cans on deck.
Rhino loading up
One mile offshore rhino heads for the beach with the rhino tug alongside.
427 is about to return to UK.
Nearby LST begins to discharge onto empty rhino.
DUKW in foreground.
Old tramp ships are sunk overlapped to form a breakwater off Sword, known as a Goosebury to give an area of shelter.
On D+2 427 returns to UK with German prisoners on the top deck.
On D+5 427 returns to Gold, no longer under fire.
This allowed LSTs to ground a quarter of a mile off the beach and wait to dry out on the approach, which had a slope of 1 in 300.
This meant a wait of over an hour before discharging.
LSTs are dried out and empty on the approach waiting to float and away.
At this stage Rhinos were busy loading supplies of all kinds from cargo ships.
Their length of 54 metres allowed a Rhino to accept cargo from three holds at the same time.
The cargo handling was done by Docks Operating Companies.
427 is about to discharge an RB 19 crawler crane.
Prior to D Day crawler cranes and bulldozers were chained to a Rhino's deck and crossed The Channel that way.
Top deck vehicles go down the slope of a Bailey bridge on to a Spud Pier and floating piers to the shore.
On D +10, on her third run 427 discharges inside Mulberry Harbour onto a Spud Pier (four posters) both decks at the same time.
Much valuable time was saved this way.
Tank deck away at the same time
Juno had a Gooseberry off Courseulles giving some shelter to small craft.
D+15 embarking casualties on Juno approach.
When beaches were under fire during the first days the evacuation of wounded was done by DUKWs which left Casualty Reception Stations and drove across the beach onto the water to LST Hospital Carriers which had their ramps lowered allowing them to drive straight up into the tank deck to to leave wounded in the hands of RAMC personnel.
DUKW with casualties onboard.
For videos of these vehicles click here
For the wikipedia page on DUKW's click on the picture
427 was a Hospital Carrier with pipe cots and a ward room fitted out as an operating theatre.
Over 40000 casualties left Normandy in the tank deck of an LST.
On D Day when this was seen to be done it was a tremendous boost to morale.
Added 08/02/2016
An American Rhino about to unload. You can see it listing to starboard slightly due to the tanks on that side. Rhinos loaded with ambulances would only have a draught of around 2' 6".
This Rhino's ramps differed slightly to those on my Rhinos. We did not have the leading edges so there was a bit more of a bump coming off the end of our ramps.
Added 08/02/2016
American trucks unloading