![]() ![]() The LARC-60 can be deck-loaded on a commercial vessel or heavy lift ship for transport overseas. It is the only amphibian in the Army inventory, and the only vessel capable of landing on a beach through a breaking surf. The LARC-60 transports wheeled and tracked vehicles, including beach preparation equipment and general cargo from ship to shore or to inland transfer points. The name was changed to LARC (Lighter, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo) in 1960. Top speed was 20 miles an hour on land and seven-and-a-half miles an hour in the water. The two engines on each side of the BARC coupled to drive one of the twin propellers in the water. It was 17-and-one-half feet high and powered by four 265 horsepower GMC marine diesel engines. ![]() Its four tires were nine-and-a-half feet in diameter. ![]() The BARC was designed to carry a 60-ton tank or fully equipped infantry company from ship to shore or back where there was no fixed port. The four experimental BARCs were built by LeTourneau, Inc., which makes equipment much larger then the BARC, including off-shore oil drilling platforms. The maiden voyage of the BARC was at Fort Lawton, Washington in 1952. It was capable of lightering 40-foot containers, which can be discharged from the LARC by crane, narrow straddle carriers, or rollers similar to those used in unloading cargo aircraft. The BARC had the ability to operate on lowstrength soils at a gross weight of 319,000 pounds (120,000-pound pay-load). The BARC was deck-loaded on a commercial vessel of heavy lift ship for transport overseas. It was the only amphibian in the Army inventory capable of landing on a beach through breaking surf. The BARC (barge, amphibious, resupply, cargo), later designated as the LARC LX (Lighter, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo), could carry 60 tons of cargo, and was used to transport wheeled and tracked vehicles, including beach preparation equipment and general cargo from ship to shore or to inland transfer points. As best records can indicate, over 600 of them were sank, just as merely a means of disposal. ![]() The BARC stood for Barge Amphibious Resupply Cargo but was affectionately known as "Besson's Ark." Although no longer manufactured, all three sizes LARC-5, LARC-15, and LARC-60's still see service both within and outside the military. Besson, who was Chief of Army Transportation from 1958 to 1962, was instrumental in the purchase of them. The maiden voyage of the BARC (barge, amphibious, resupply, cargo) was at Fort Lawton, Washington in 1952. He used containerization, roll-on/ roll-off vessels, and improved amphibious vessels, such as the 5-ton and 15-ton LARCs and the 60-ton BARC. pioneered many concepts aimed at injecting greater speed and efficiency into the transportation system. Besson was promoted to Major General in 1950, and assumed command of the US Army Transportation Center and School at Fort Eustis in 1953. The LARC LX was used in Vietnam and is capable of carrying two 20-foot containers or one 40-foot container.īrig Gen Frank Schaffer Besson returned to the US in 1948, and served for nearly five years as Deputy Chief of Army Transportation. By the mid-1980s most of these were located in Reserve units and were being phased out of the system. The Amphibian Resupply Cargo (LARC XV) is a little larger but still used for the same purpose. The Lighter Amphibian Resupply Cargo V (LARC V) is a small amphibian used primarily to carry items such as CONEXES and other palletized cargo. There are three types of amphibians which are capable of traveling over land or sea. LARC Lighter, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo ![]()
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