Operation Claymore, treated here as the first commando raid, depended on medium LSIs whose 22-knot speed let them operate alongside destroyers. HMS Legion and the other escorts supplied air defence that the less heavily armed infantry ships could not provide for themselves. The LCMs carried by the transports added the range and speed needed to put the raiding force ashore. The operation shows that success came from matching commandos, transports, landing craft, and protection rather than treating any element in isolation. The capacity of these wartime ships is then compared with contemporary British debates about future Royal Marines formations and the ships needed to support them.
Chapter · 18:21-20:32
Medium LSIs make Operation Claymore possible
Operation Claymore demonstrates how fast infantry ships, motorized landing craft, commandos, destroyers, and air defense had to work as one force.