British Turntable has supplied two manually operated turntables to the Ministry of Defence for use on landing craft to assist with the training of drivers of amphibious vehicles and to speed up testing procedures being carried out by ATTURM (Amphibious Trials and Training Unit Royal Marines).

Drivers are trained and vehicles waterproofed in deep fords of up to 1.5m of water, a depth which enables them to cross the water gap between beach and landing craft. With a limited tidal window available for training and testing, speed is of the essence to ensure that as many serials as possible are conducted at one time.

Using the turntables on the decks of landing crafts has significantly reduced the turnaround time for these vehicles as, instead of having to conduct a multi-point turn on the limited area of the deck, a vehicle can be turned simply and quickly through 180 degrees to allow it to drive off the landing craft in a forwards direction.

British Turntable worked closely with MoD personnel on the specification for the turntables, with the result that the specially built 4.8m x 2m rectangular turntables and ramps are constructed with open grating decking to allow sea water to wash through and are suitable for lashing down to the landing craft deck. As the turntables are not permanently fixed, the landing craft can therefore be returned to normal duties.

Locking pins at load and unload positions were provided to engage automatically at 180 degrees, the units zinc sprayed for corrosion protection and chocks fitted to prevent drivers overshooting the platform, which has a loading capacity of 2500kg.

British Turntable also had to take into consideration that training in wet and cold conditions means that personnel are kitted out with bulky, protective clothing and gloves, and operation of the turntables had to be designed with restricted mobility and dexterity in mind.