LVT-2s participated in more campaigns than any other LVT variant, including Tarawa, Roi-Namur, Cape Gloucester, Northern Kwajalein, Saipan, Guam, Tinian, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and in some parts of Europe, such as the Rhine crossing of Operation Plunder.

The Marines used a combination of LVT-1s and LVT-2s in the assault on Betio. The 50 LVT-2s used at Tarawa were modified in Samoa just before the battle with 3/8-inch boiler plates installed around the cab for greater protection from small arms fire and shell fragments.

The LVT (Landing Vehicle Tracked) is able to travel on both land and water. At Tarawa there were two types: the LVT(1) “Alligator” and the LVT(2) “Water Buffalo.” All 75 of the LVT(1)s arrived at Tarawa aboard ships from New Zealand.

Hurtled against hell, this unsung American drove a first-wave amtrac into the eye of the Tarawa hurricane, landing on the deadliest beach of the Marines’ bloodiest across-the-reef landing of World War II. He is Don Crain, and this is his story.

The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. [4]

The LVTs struggled shoreward in three long waves, each separated by a 300-yard interval: the 42 LVT-1s of Wave One, followed by 24 LVT-2s of Wave Two, and 21 LVT-2s of Wave Three. Behind the tracked vehicles came Waves Four and Five of LCVPs.

Jan 14, 2001 · The acronym "LVT" stands for Landing Vehicle Tracked. These vehicles were amphibious being both land and water capable and also known as "amtrac" or "amphibious tractor" and sometimes "Alligator."

Tarawa Atoll is 2,085 miles southwest of Pearl Harbor and 540 miles southeast of Kwajalein in the Marshalls. Betio is the principal island in the atoll. The Japanese seized Tarawa and

He had observed the Marines new Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT or "Alligator"), an amphibian tractor, in operation during Guadalcanal. The Alligators were unarmored logistic vehicles, not assault craft, but they were true amphibians, capable of being launched at sea and swimming ashore through moderate surf.

On November 20, 1943, the 2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion launched 75 up-armored LVT-1s and 50 LVT-2s from Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs) off the Tarawa Atoll. This was the first combat assault by amphibian tractors and set the standard for every amphibious assault that followed.