,_June_1944_A24018.jpg) A Landing Barge, Kitchen amid LCVs and LCM(3)s during the Invasion of Normandy, 1944.
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Landing Barge, Kitchen |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| In service | 1944-45 |
| Completed | 10 |
| Lost | 1 (in 1945) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Landing craft |
| Length | 79 ft (24 m) oa |
| Beam | 21 ft (6.4 m) |
| Draft | approximately 3.5 ft (1.1 m) |
| Ramps | None |
| Propulsion | 2x Chrysler RM 65 bhp petrol engines |
| Speed | 6 to 7 knots |
| Endurance | 300 miles at 5 knots |
| Capacity | storage and serving space for enough provisions to feed 900 men for one week |
| Crew | 1 officer, 24 ratings |
| Armament | None |
| Armour | 2½ inch "Plastic" to diesel fuel tanks, engines, and steering shelter |
| Notes | most statistics from US Navy ONI 226 Allied Landing Craft and Ships, US Government Printing Office, 1944 |
The Landing Barge, Kitchen or LBK was a landing craft used to support amphibious landings in North Western Europe during and after the Normandy invasion in the Second World War. Its primary purpose was to provide hot meals to the crews of the many minor landing craft not fitted with galley facilities. Constructed of steel, this shallow-draft lighter had storage and serving space to feed 900 men for one week. The kitchen capacity was able to provide 1,600 hot meals and 800 cold meals a day.