US Marine Corps - The Black Vault

204 Amphibians Came To Conquer
It is very dificult in the 1960s, with research and development money
running out of everyone’s ears, to recreate the parsimonious atmosphere
of the 1920s and 193os, when the research and development dollars availa-
ble were exasperatingly few (and percentagewise of total naval appropriations
only a shadow of today’s percentage) and each development dollar
was guarded as though it was the Navy’s last.
NAVY RECOGNIZES LANDING CRAFT PROBLEM
Many have claimed to be responsible for the idea of a separate type of
craft to land troops on a hostile shore. However, one of the earliest powerful
and effective urges during the period between the World Wars for the
Navy to develop a useful landing boat, to train personnel to man them, and
to provide gunfire support for the Landing Force, came from Admiral
Robert E. Coontz (Class of 1885), Commander ‘in Chief of the United
States Fleet, and later Chief of Naval Operations.
He wrote in 1925:
In connection with landing operations, the Commander in Chief offers the
following comments and suggestions:
a. That the use of the regular ships’ boats for the purpose of transporting
landing parties ashore, when opposition is to be encountered, is a hazardous
undertaking and little likely to succeed. He considers it of utmost importance
that experiments be continued with a view to determine what type of boat is
best for this purpose.
b. Consideration of the necessity that ships detailed to cover and support
landing operations be equipped with guns permitting high angle fire. This he
believes is necessary in order that the Landing Force will not be denied artillery
support at a time it is most essential.
c. That a landing operation is likely to result in disaster if the officers in
charge of the boats are not experienced in their duties.T
ln regard to amphibious operations in the Fleet in 1924, Admiral Coontz
wrote:
The participation of the Marine Corps Expeditionary Force with the Fleet in
the winter maneuvers of 1924 afforded the first real opportunity for determining
the value of such a force to the Fleets
William F. Royall; USN, Landing Boat Officer, Atlantic Squadron, ‘landing Operations and
Equipment,” USS New York, Aug. 1939. Contains 38 photographs of landing boats developed
during 1936-1939 period.
TCINCUS, A. R., 1924, paras. 79, 114.
*ClNCUS, A.R., 1924, para, 76.