Landing Craft Assault followed by Whirlwind
The Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis in 1956 caused a scramble for available LCAs. A few were serviceable in the Amphibious Warfare Squadron stationed in Malta. Twenty LCAs were pulled out of storage at Gareloch, in Scotland, and returned to fighting trim in Greenock.At 06:45 on 6 November, LCAs landing Nos. 40 and 42 Commando touched down at Port Said. The water here was particularly shallow as the beach shelved gently and the Commandos, having to wade through such a wide water gap, were perhaps fortunate that LVT amphibians also participated in the landing. Still, the LCA crews had done exactly what was required of them - landing the assault force on target and on time. The weather and sea conditions had cooperated; north-easterly winds blew up over the next eight hours that would have made the landing less accurate (and by the next morning impossible).Although the commandos' initial assault had been seaborne, their follow on build-up arrived by Westland Whirlwind helicopter. The great success of this, the first helicopter-borne assault, signalled the close of the assault landing craft era. As amphibians became more seaworthy and helicopters had demonstrated the ability to fly over fixed beach defences, the day of landing craft as initial assault transport was seen to have passed.