Designed in Canada and manufactured in Vancouver and Toronto, its primary purpose was lighterage work following assault landings.

Manufactured of plywood over a wood frame, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat with a crew of four, could ferry 80 troops, ordnance, vehicles, or a tank, to shore at 9–10 knots.

In early 1942, the Royal Navy found itself in need of much greater landing capacity in order to provide lift for the, at the time, Allied 1942 and 1943 invasion plans Round Up and Sledgehammer.

Requirements in south-east Asia called for a suitable craft for supply duties on inland waterways such as the Chindwin.

[2] The RCL was built of plywood to save time and critical metals, and frame, skin, and powerplant were all readily available in Canada.

[2] These lighters were not intended for the initial assault, but for the following build-up: ferrying vehicles and stores from ship to shore, around harbours, or in littoral or riverine environments.

[4] The framework of the RCL was constructed of appropriate Canadian timbers and covered with a seven-ply marine plywood, Sylvaply weather-board.

Watertight compartments in the hull construction enabled these boats to take a great deal of punishment without losing buoyancy.

The maintenance and repair ships of the Royal Navy's Beachy Head class (commissioned from late 1944–1946) could carry two RCLs.

The crews, Royal Engineers, sailed the PPA into Venice and transported them around the marshes, canals, and flooded areas in Northern Italy.

HMS Beachy Head, and the other nine maintenance escort vessels built in Canada for the Royal Navy each carried two RCLs.

[13] Logistical support for the British operations in Burma in the winter of 1944–1945 relied greatly on inland waterways because road construction and improvement were prohibitively expensive in materials and personnel above Kalewa.

Ramped cargo lighters were employed, in January 1945, in the landings on Akyab Island, off the Arakan coast of Burma, by Commandos and other troops of XV Indian Corps.