What a train ferry carries and why its rails helped landing craft

What is a train ferry?

A ferry that carries railway carriages or wagons aboard, usually without the locomotive.

A train ferry carries railway vehicles aboard the vessel. Usually these are passenger carriages or freight wagons, while the locomotive stays ashore. Such services were once common between Britain and the continent. During the Second World War, some railway ferries became landing-craft ships because their deck tracks helped crews move and launch landing craft.