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 reason for moving the ramp to the inside was to provide some protection for the troops as they disembarked to the beach, if only by concealing them from enemy sight.

However, they were included in the first waves at numerous invasions such as Anzio, Normandy, Southern France, Elba, Saipan, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Guam, and Okinawa.

General Motors Corporation Electro-Motive Division supplied the reduction gears, propellers, drive shafts and control units.

They were mistaken by the Japanese defenders as the main invasion, and were fired upon by numerous previously hidden large caliber coastal defense artillery, (up to 8 inch).

In another instance, Lt. Alec Guinness RNVR made numerous trips as the Commanding Officer of HMS LCI(L)-124 delivering troops to the beach near Cape Passero lighthouse on 9 July 1943 during the Allied invasion of Sicily.

As with the Landing craft tank, the LCI(L) was used as the basis of a number of conversions into specialist vessels.

This platform was rather unsophisticated as the rocket launchers were fixed to the deck, and so the ship had to be maneuvered to aim them.

At least four LCIs were used to support underwater demolition teams, and were unofficially termed LCI(D)s. Others were equipped with searchlights for spotting Japanese night attacks.

[11] Admiral William Halsey Jr. reported that the LCI(L) was ideally suited to move large numbers of sailors from ships in fleet anchorages to liberty ashore and back.

[12] At the same time as the LCI(L) was handed over for US development and production, the British reworked their need for a raiding vessel into something that could be produced natively without making demands on limited resources.

[14]: 34–35 One Fairmile "H", a veteran of D-Day and the assault on Walcheren, survives as a houseboat on the River Adur, Shoreham-b-Sea, West Sussex, England.

[citation needed] The Landing Craft Support (Large) ("LCS(L) Mark 1" or "LCS(L) Mark 2") was based on the LCI(S) hull, and were built by the United Kingdom, intended for use as a support vessel providing additional firepower.

The Landing Craft Support (Large) or "LCS(L) Mark 3" was built by the United States.

These ships were built on a standard LCI hull, but were modified to add gunfire support equipment and accommodation.

The LCI(L)-713, (a round conn, bow ramp) is located in Portland, Oregon near the I-5 Bridge over the Columbia River.

Purchased as war surplus initially for use as a log hauling tugboat, the engines were removed and it was relegated to a floating storage hulk in Stevenson WA until the late 1950s when it was abandoned and sank into the river mud on the shore of the Columbia river.

LCI(L)-1091 (also a round conn, bow ramp) is moored in Eureka, California, and is owned and operated by the Humboldt Bay Air & Sea Museum.

Her interior was modified to accommodate a larger crew that included ten medical doctors and lab technicians.

30 years later, the 1091 was purchased and brought to Eureka, California, in the 1990s by Ralph Davis for use as a private fishing vessel.

Several former LCI hulls were obtained and modified for use as sightseeing vessels after World War II by the New York City "Circle Line".

Three derelict LCI hulls remain at Staten Island, New York, in the Witte Marine salvage yard.

She is moored at Mare Island, California, where she is being restored to her World War II appearance by volunteers.