Landing Craft (Tank) 7074 – The Story Continues

Back in 2014, Artelia’s Heritage Project Management team oversaw the rescue of a very special ship, LCT 7074, which was sunk on her moorings in a Birkenhead dock. We project managed her complex salvage and transportation to Portsmouth Dockyard, where she has been in dry storage awaiting funding for her restoration and public display. You can view the time lapse video of her salvage here.

LCT 7074 is important, because she is the last Landing Craft to take part in Operation Neptune, the naval element of the D-Day Landings. As such she is of enormous importance to the history of the Second World War, the Royal Navy and British shipbuilding.

The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) has now secured £4.7 million of Heritage Lottery Funding for her complete restoration and to showcase her as part of project partner, Portsmouth City Council’s D-Day Museum. Artelia is delighted to have been appointed to project manage this final chapter of her journey to become one of Britain’s national treasures.

LCT 7074 will be conserved, disassembled into sections and moved to her new location, where the project will deliver a strengthened base, a canopy to protect the ship from water ingress and infrastructure to manage visitor access, flow and ticketing. Once safely on-site, LCT 7074 will be reassembled and interpreted to tell the story of her D-Day journey, and that of the men and women who built, serviced and maintained her, and took her into action.

We look forward to following her progress over the next two years.