The Princess Royal became the latest visitor to be impressed by the last surviving ship which landed tanks in Normandy on D-Day.
She was invited to formally open the LCT 7074 display at the D-Day Story in Southsea – the museum’s largest relic from the 1944 invasion and already an award-winning exhibit.
The ship put ten tanks ashore on as D-Day neared its end, landing a Cromwell, two Shermans and seven Stuarts on Gold beach and 45 tank men.
As patron of the National Museum of the Royal Navy – which worked side-by-side with the D-Day Story to save, restore and finally display the Landing Craft (Tank) under a specially-built canopy – Princess Anne thanked the organisations and individuals involved in the challenging project.
The 200ft vessel – one of 235 Mk3 LCTs built – has been on show on the Southsea seafront since the late summer of 2020.
Despite the impact of Covid which has severely limited tourist activity for the past couple of years, LCT7074 has welcomed near 40,000 visitors to date.
It took six years to turn what was a sunken wreck into a tourist attraction – and living memorial to those who risked their lives crewing or sailing such vessels.
“The sheer scale of LCT 7074 is breath-taking and we were honoured to bring her back to life,” said Professor Dominic Tweddle, Director General of the National Museum of the Royal Navy.
“We were delighted to welcome The Princess Royal and for her to give personal thanks to the skill and dogged determination of the project team to save LCT and the story of D-Day for future generations.”
