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If you've been gripped by my series of threads on the Royal Navy Landing Craft Assault that conveyed the US Rangers to Pointe du Hoc on D-Day, it's worth looking at one more element – what survives today. And I don't mean at the pointe itself, fascinating though it is. https://twitter.com/SeaSpitfires/status/1346394100342337536
Ben Mayne has already noted some of the archaeology of the attacking force - these are probably the remains of one of the DUKW 'Swan' that supported the LCAs and Rangers. https://twitter.com/BattlefieldBen/status/1333012573705236481
But please don't go there looking for it... https://twitter.com/BattlefieldBen/status/1182583201857970176
But what of the LCAs? In the above link you'll find the earlier threads about embarkation and the planned role of the LCAs. As I've mentioned before, of the 34 LCAs that carried Rangers, ten were lost by July.
Sadly, most LCAs are long gone. For years there was one at Arromanches, but eventually it became too degraded and was broken up. This was a real shame. https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/world-war-ii-the-normandy-landings-june-6-1944-landing-news-photo/56209263
I know of one houseboat conversion that may still be going, although it's obviously been heavily modified. I believe this houseboat at Bembridge may have been an LCA, but it too was ultimately destroyed. The rest that I know of are archaeology now. https://metro.co.uk/2011/11/16/houseboat-owner-smashes-up-his-home-to-avoid-bailiffs-turfing-him-out-222731/
But in 2015, the world gasped when it was revealed that not 1, but 4 LCA had been found, and were being restored! This was incredible, but perhaps the most amazing thing is that one of them was LCA 888, the vessel that Rudder himself sailed in, and first ashore at Pointe du Hoc.
Here's the story. Odd though, that despite the significance of the find and the work being undertaken, War History Online was the only website to carry the story. Even more curiously, googling the project and team reveals... absolutely nothing. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/stop-press-rudders-pointe-du-hoc-landing-craft-found-now-in-restoration.html
Nonetheless, the project sounds exciting. 4 LCAs, 2 to be restored to museum showpiece condition. One of which is probably the most famous LCA there is thanks to its role on D-Day. Of all the LCAs to find, isn't it great to have found that one?
But did deeper and you start to wonder. For a start, the photos on the article don't ooze confidence. Where are the LCAs? Why are there only pics of bits? Why has one been photoshopped to insert a timber background? Why are obviously WW2 film still masquerading as restoration?
Even the Normandy Ranger Veteran Association doesn't reveal anything, except at one website, a website where all the various strands of this story seem to lead to. The website for Maisy Battery. https://www.maisybattery.com/
For those who don't know, Maisy battery was a German strongpoint just south of Grandcamp Maisy. It was attacked by the Rangers a few days after D-Day. In the last 10 years its been extensively excavated and opened as a museum. 
Google
Google
Here's the page detailing the restoration of LCA 888. It appears it's them who now have Rudder's LCA and are restoring it. There are some very small photos of it, looking pretty wrecked. But even so, I recognise this LCA and I know where it is. https://www.maisybattery.com/preservation/archaeology/
I know of 8 LCA wrecks around the coast, but there are undoubtedly more. I won't reveal the location of any of them I'm afraid, and even if you do know, please don't say. I've decided that after seeing this advert on eBay, it's not a good idea.
So I recognise the one that is purportedly 888. Here she is in 2007. By 2014, she does appear to have undergone some changes. Google
Google
And here she is in November 2020. Notice that the hull armour, the stern bulkheads, the keel and engine supports and the ramp are still in place. This landing craft has categorically not been 'recovered'.
Now look back at the photos in the War History Online article and the Maisy Battery Archaeology page. What has actually happened here appears to be more akin to a smash and grab exercise. Someone has gone and grabbed the most complete sections that they can get and left the rest.
There has been no formal recovery here & no archaeology. Sections of an LCA have been ripped from a hulk. The absence of photos of the LCA actually being restored make sense: there isn't one. I expect these few original parts will be inserted into a new LCA War History Online
War History Online
So is it LCA 888? It's very convenient if it is - it stirs up interest in the US and Maisy's association with the Rangers makes it all the more significant. Apparently they were identified from their 'keel numbers' but it's evident the keel wasn't recovered from the supposed 888.
So no, I don't think it's 888, nor do I think that any LCAs are under restoration – I think one is being built and will be enhanced with pieces grabbed in appalling circumstances form a wreck. That grab will make it harder to ascertain the wreck's true identity.
Sadly it wouldn't be the first time a vessel's identity had been enhanced, and D-Day does attract them. This boat was recently for sale, sold as a D-Day survivor. The evidence was a talk a former owner used to give. Geograph/Peter Trimming (Peter is NOT the seller).
Geograph/Peter Trimming (Peter is NOT the seller).
Apparently this boat was a used to 'take out barrage balloons' (whatever that means) & landed Royal Marines from a destroyer on D-Day. This categorically didn't happen - D-Day wasn't some sort of reverse Dunkirk with all manner of random boats sailing to land the invasion fleet.
There is evidence to suggest she was a wartime build and converted into a cabin cruiser in the 1950s. She looks like she may have been a ship's pinnace, but no other evidence of her wartime career has been presented sadly.
And then there's MA/SB 27, launched to great acclaim in 2019. I took the restorer's claim that she had been at Normandy at face value, until I did some digging of my own.
It's said MA/SB 27 was a navigation leader in Force O on D-Day and later used her ASDIC to help place Mulberry caissons at Omaha. This doesn't stand up - MA/SBs weren't used as navigation vessels as they were totally unsuitable. More seaworthy boats like HMS Medusa were instead
The idea that she used her ASDIC to survey the seabed is a massive misinterpretation of ASDIC as well – it's not a seabed mapper and can't fulfil this role. Again, dedicated survey vessels existed for this. https://twitter.com/SeaSpitfires/status/1079390960239497216
And crucially, 27 isn't in any of the numerous fleet lists for any task force I've consulted, despite even smaller vessels being included. Why not? Because she was in fact doing Air Sea Rescue work from Falmouth on D-Day. She played her part, but not the part that we're told.
Restoration and research of a wartime vessel is a painstaking and detailed task that requires dedication and objectivity. Tacking a few artefacts onto a new build doesn't create a historic boat and its history cannot be assumed from a few vague accounts.
So be wary of examples where work is done under wraps or where significant gaps exist in the story. There's often a reason for that.
Naturally, at this point I will mention a case study of how to do it right! https://twitter.com/SeaSpitfires/status/1337401495386529795
Naturally, at this point I will mention a case study of how to do it right! https://twitter.com/SeaSpitfires/status/1337401495386529795
