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Archive / Armored Personnel Carrier / LVTP-5 Family
United States / Cold War

LVTP-5 Family

The LVTP-5 carried forward the Second World War amtrac tradition into a much larger Cold War vehicle able to move a large infantry load through surf and continue inland under armor.

Armored Personnel Carrier · Amphibious tracked APCLVTP-5 · LVT-5 · Landing Vehicle Tracked Personnel 5 · LVTH-6Primary image verified
LVTP-5 Family
LVTP-5 Family. Primary reference image for this archive profile. Source date: 2012-03-12.Vitaly Barsov; CC BY-SA 3.0Image source
RoleAmphibious tracked personnel carrier
Service era1950s through Vietnam era and later with some users
Crew / payloadTroop or cargo load depends on configuration
Family variantsCommand, recovery, engineer and 105 mm fire-support versions
MediaPrimary image integrated

Development and requirement

After the Second World War, the Marine Corps needed a new armored amphibian with more capacity and better postwar performance than the wartime LVT generations. LVTP-5 became that large next-generation carrier. 1

Design and battlefield role

The LVTP-5 combined a tracked amphibious hull with a troop and cargo compartment. Its payload should be described by the particular personnel or cargo configuration, rather than by an unsupported comparison with every contemporary APC. The carrier hull also formed the starting point for specialist vehicles whose equipment occupied space otherwise available for transport. 1

Service and evolution

LVTP-5 served in the Vietnam era and supported a family of specialized vehicles, including the LVTH-6 105 mm fire-support vehicle. 1

A Marine Corps photograph dated 27 April 2019 records an LVTP-5 on static display at Marine Corps Base Hawaii before its dismantling and removal during a facility renovation. This is a later display record, not evidence that the carrier remained in operational service in 2019. Nor does the caption identify that particular hull with a Vietnam combat unit. A surviving display and the service history of the vehicle type are separate parts of the record. 2

The U.S. Marine Corps' official 1965 Vietnam history documents LVTP-5-series amphibians in theater and describes the family as armored amphibious assault/personnel/cargo carriers. It also distinguishes specialized LVTR recovery, LVTE engineer, and LVTH howitzer versions. That wartime record resolves the earlier service hold while reinforcing the archive's rule that those derivatives should not inherit the troop carrier's exact equipment. 3

Archive boundaries

The troop carrier is cataloged as an APC. The howitzer version belongs under self-propelled artillery/fire support, illustrating why family lineage and battlefield classification must remain separate. 1

Sources and further reading

References and further reading are listed below. Image identification, credit and reuse terms remain with each photograph.

  1. Estrella Warbirds Museum, LVT-5 / LVTP-5 exhibit
  2. U.S. Marine Corps, LVTP-5 dismantling, photograph dated 27 April 2019 (caption and metadata only)
  3. U.S. Marine Corps — U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Landing and the Buildup, 1965
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