They stayed with the listing LCI and managed to offload the wounded on to the Coast Guard-manned attack-transport USS Samuel Chase before they had to abandon their ship. Then the crew sailed back to the transport area as the ship's list became more and more pronounced. Other landing craft approached to take off the uninjured troops while other crewmembers manned the sinking landing craft's pumps in a vain attempt to keep the vessel afloat. The ship then began to list as water poured in through the shell holes. The burning LCI backed off the beach as the crew fought the fires in the forward compartments. Those who were still able to disembark could not, because the explosions had destroyed the vessel's landing ramps. Many of the troops on board were torn to pieces before they ever got off the ship. A mine exploded and ripped a gaping hole in the forward compartments, and then German batteries pummeled the LCI. The bow soon touched bottom, and as the ship ground to a halt, so did its luck. No clear channel existed where the commanding officer's charts indicated there would be, so he ordered the landing craft straight through the obstacles that had been covered by the incoming tide.
The LCI(L)- 85 was one of four Coast Guard LCI's that were destroyed on D-Day. The "85" sank shortly after this photograph was taken. The Coast Guard LCI(L)- 85, battered by enemy fire after approaching Omaha Beach, prepares to evacuate the troops she was transporting to an awaiting transport. Her crew winced as they heard repeated thuds against the vessel's hull made by the wooden stakes covering the beach like a crazy, tilted, man-made forest. The Coast Guard-manned landing craft LCI(L)- 85 approached the beach at 12 knots.
troops on the morning of 6 June 1944 at Omaha Beach. A Coast Guard-manned LCVP from the U.S.S. Coast Guard photograph by CPHOM Robert F. Click here to download a PDF version of this article.
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