Fairmile H LCS(L)(2)

Fairmile H LCS(L)(2)

Fairmile C (312)

Fairmile D (601)

Fairmile H LCS(L)(2)

Fairmile C (312)

Fairmile D (601)

Britain

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.3	2.3	2.3

Class:

Motor gun boat

Boat

Research:36 000

Purchase:115 000

Show in game

Description

Fairmile H LCS(L)(2) was a type of British Royal Navy Landing Craft Support introduced in 1943. The ship was designed for continuous shelling of coastal positions during the advance of the landing force towards the coast. She featured anti-tank capability with the use of a 6-pounder QF gun turret, adopted from the Valentine tank. A total of 10 vessels were built, 3 of which were destroyed during the first day of Operation Infatuate.

The Fairmile H LCS(L)(2) was introduced in Update "Direct Hit" as a British motor gun boat. The ship has numerous independent weapon systems, providing good anti-air and anti-boat cover, but struggling with heavier targets. She carries a unique tank turret with heavy armour, making her extremely unlikely to have her primary armament knocked out. She also has a trainable mortar, launching depth charges at a fixed range for rare kills of opportunity. Finally, much like other Landing Craft Support vessels, she's very slow, making her easier to knock out with bombs or torpedoes than other coastal vessels.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back

Main fire tower65 / 60 / 65 mm

Hull6 mm (steel)

Superstructure6 mm (steel)

Number of section4

Displacement116 t

Crew25 people

While the Valentine turret itself is armoured and that has some utility, the magazines beneath it are not, nor is anything else on the ship. Moderate size and amounts of open space have marginal utility, but other peers survive on mobility.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB37 / 19 km/h

RB28 / 14 km/h

The boat's mobility is very poor, with such a low top speed, the mediocre acceleration (~19 seconds to top speed, ~16 seconds to stop, ~26 seconds to reverse from full speed) doesn't even allow a user of this boat to reverse out of danger quickly, nor does the turning radius. It is likely any positioning mistakes will be punished greatly. There isn't a saving grace, but if there was one it would be relative stability at flank speed.

Mobility Characteristics
Game Mode	Upgrade Status	Maximum Speed (km/h)		Turn Time (s)	Turn Radius (m)
		Forward	Reverse
AB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded	37	19
RB/SB	Stock	___	___
	Upgraded	28	14

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB1 276 → 1 637

RB1 733 → 2 223

Total cost of modifications35 700

77 400

Talisman cost1 200

Crew training33 000

Experts115 000

Aces590

Research Aces360 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

100 / 140 / 100 %

148 / 148 / 148 %

Modifications

Seakeeping	Unsinkability	Firepower
Dry-Docking Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 900 150 Rudder Replacement Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 800 105 Propeller Replacement Research: 3 000 Cost: 6 500 250 Engine Maintenance Research: 3 900 Cost: 8 500 320	Damage Control Division Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 900 150 Fire Division Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 800 105 Smokescreen Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 800 105 New Pumps Research: 3 900 Cost: 8 500 320	Anti-Air Armament Targeting Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 900 150 20 mm HE magazines Research: 1 800 Cost: 3 900 150 Auxiliary Armament Targeting Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 800 105 20 mm AP magazines Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 800 105 Shot Mk.8 Research: 1 300 Cost: 2 800 105 Primary Armament Targeting Research: 3 000 Cost: 6 500 250 Improved Rangefinder Research: 3 000 Cost: 6 500 250 Artillery Support Research: 3 900 Cost: 8 500 320

Armament

Primary armament

Turret57 mm 6pdr QF Mk.V cannon

Ammunition512 rounds

Vertical guidance-12° / 20°

The 6pdr gun has unique access in the coastal tree to armour-piercing rounds. While the HE rounds have minimal effectiveness, mostly due to the low rate of fire (most other 6pdr guns in the coastal tree are semi-automatic), be sure to utilize the AP capability to the maximum, hitting vital modules and tougher targets.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		100 m	1,000 m	2,000 m	3,000 m	4,000 m	5,000 m
Shell Mk.10	HE	9	9	9	9	9	9
Shot Mk.8	APC	114	37	11	6	6	6

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Shell Mk.10	HE	655	2.72	0	0.1	590	79°	80°	81°
Shot Mk.8	APC	883	2.87	-	-	-	48°	63°	71°

Secondary armament

2 х Turret20 mm/70 Oerlikon Mark V autocannon

Ammunition1800 rounds

Belt capacity60 rounds

Fire rate450 shots/min

The two 20 mm cannons have limited utility against ships, but are useful in an AA role.

• Universal: HEF-T · HEF-I · AP-T
• 20 mm HE: HEF-T · HEF-I · AP-T · HEF-I
• 20 mm AP: AP-T · AP-T · AP-T · HEF-I

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
HEF-T	2	2	2	2	2	2
AP-T	34	32	24	17	12	8
HEF-I	2	2	2	2	2	2

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
HEF-T	830	0.12	0	0.1	6.57	79°	80°	81°
AP-T	830	0.12	-	-	-	47°	60°	65°
HEF-I	830	0.12	0	0.1	11.17	79°	80°	81°

Anti-aircraft armament

Turret2 x 12.7 mm Vickers Mk.V machine gun

Ammunition4000 rounds

Belt capacity200 rounds

Fire rate600 shots/min

The two .50 cal machine guns are almost no use on their own, but combined with the 20 mm cannons, they're useful in an AA role, though their range is minimal.

Special armament

TurretOrdnance ML 4.2-inch mortar

Ammunition110 rounds

The 4.2-inch mortar is practically useless, stuck to a 1 km firing range, taking 15s to reach its target and an extra 1s to explode, and doing minimal damage when it arrives.

Usage in battles

Due to the slow speed and armour, trying to stick with the team is important. If you're in trouble or make a positioning mistake, low speed will give opponents plenty of opportunity to punish users of this vehicle. Soviet armoured boats can be tough for the rest of the team to deal with, having armour to stay protected with good enough mobility to avoid being hit by torpedoes, so be on the lookout for those. Also consider taking the role of an "AA barge," targeting aircraft outside 45° either side of the bow, even the 20 mm turrets can have difficulty targeting aircraft in the forward arc. Dashing from cover to cover is key in any boat, but taking the most efficient path is necessary to survival in such a slow boat. Consider choosing the right moment with support before moving out of cover. Utilize sight lines to the maximum and consider going for close-range ambushes. The boat's effectiveness at close range but inability to close that range easily make it a tricky one to play well.

Against Soviet armoured boats, the Pr.191, Pr.191M, and Pr.1124 early, and Pr.1124 late, knock out the turrets then proceed to the magazines or bridge. Against the MBK pr.186 or MBK-161 late or similar heavier boats, you'll need a near enough point-blank and square shot on the side of the turrets to knock them out. Consider hitting the magazines, above the waterline but below the turrets.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• The primary armament, the fore Valentine turret is well armoured
• the 6pdr armour-piercing shell is unique to this boat and effective, able to fire down the length of enemy boats or simply break them apart hitting both sides and going through components, especially against Soviet armoured boats. Just be sure to hit vital components.
• 20 mm mounts and the .50 cals can be surprisingly effective against aircraft, especially outside the front 45 degree arc

Cons:

• Painfully slow speed, and its turning radius is mediocre
• With no armour outside the Valentine turret, the magazines are somewhat vulnerable
• 4.2-inch mortar is useless, stuck to a 1 km range though potshots may yield minimal results
• Valentine turret traverse speed is poor

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ship in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the ship and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Ship-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the ship's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Fairmile H LCS(L)(2) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the ship;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• [Wikipedia] Fairmile H landing craft
• [NAVYPEDIA] "LCS(L)2"- (LCS(L)251) type support landing craft (1943)
• [British Genealogy] Combined Operations Landing Craft LCS (L) 256
• [WW2Talk] LCS(L) gunboats

Fairmile Marine Company
Motor Launch (ML)
Fairmile A	Fairmile A (ML100)
Fairmile B	Fairmile B (ML345)
Motor Torpedo/Gun Boat (MTB/MGB)
Fairmile C	Fairmile C (312) · Fairmile C (332)
Fairmile D	Fairmile D (601) · Fairmile D (617) · Fairmile D (697) · Fairmile D (5001)
Landing Craft Support (LCS)
Fairmile H	Fairmile H LCS(L)(2)