Landing Craft Infantry

LCI-326 during training for D-Day
USS LCI(L)-326 during training for D-Day
Class overview
Builders
Operators
In commission1943–1946
Completed923
PreservedLCI(L)-713 and LCI(L)-1091
General characteristics – LCI(L)
TypeLanding craft
Displacement
  • 234 long tons (238 t) standard
  • 389 long tons (395 t) full
Length158 ft 6 in (48.31 m)
Beam23 ft 3 in (7.09 m)
Draft
  • 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
  • 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) aft
Propulsion2 banks Detroit diesel 6051 quad-71, 2 shafts (4 engines per shaft), 1,600 bhp (1,193 kW)
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range500 nmi (900 km) at 15 knots. 4,000 nmi (7,400 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h) carrying extra fuel in place of troops and cargo.
Troops180, later 210
Complement3 officers and 21 enlisted men
Armament4 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon (one forward, one amidships, two aft)
Armor2 in Plastic armour splinter protection for gunners, pilot house

The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used by the Allies to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during World War II. They were developed in response to a British request for seagoing amphibious assault ships capable of carrying and landing substantially more troops than their smaller assault landing craft (LCA). The result was a small steel ship that could land 200 men, traveling from rear bases on its own bottom at a speed of up to 15 knots.

Some 923 were built starting in 1943, serving in both the Pacific and European theaters, including a number that were converted into heavily armed beach assault support ships. The LCI(L) supplemented the small LCAs/LCVPs as a way to get many troops ashore before a dock could be captured or built. As such, they were the largest dedicated beachable infantry landing craft (the larger infantry landing ship (LSI) was a transporter for men and small craft such as the British LCA) in the Allied inventory.