Light SEAL Support Craft
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
| infobox caption = Light SEAL Support Craft }} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = File:428-K-74894.jpg | Ship image size = | Ship caption = Navy SEALs board an LSSC in 1968 }} {{Infobox ship class overview | Name = LSSC (Light SEAL Support Craft) | Builders = Grafton Boatworks | Operators = {{Navy|US}} | Class before = | Class after = | Subclasses = | Cost = | Built range = | In service range = | In commission range = | Total ships building = | Total ships planned = | Total ships completed = 16 | Total ships cancelled = | Total ships active = | Total ships laid up = | Total ships lost = | Total ships retired = | Total ships preserved = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = riverine assault boat | Ship displacement = | Ship length = *{{convert|24|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = *{{convert|9.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship weight = 5,000 lb | Ship draft = *{{convert|1.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = 2 × 350hp Ford FE 427 inboard gasoline engines each driving a Jacuzzi water pump jet | Ship speed = 30+ knots | Ship range = | Ship complement = 6, generally Navy SEAL team members | Ship crew = 3, generally a coxswain, a gunner's mate and an engineman | Ship time to activate = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = *two single M60 machine guns
| Ship armor = ceramic armor/woven nylon | Ship notes = }} |
The Light SEAL Support Craft (LSSC), was a fast riverine assault boat developed by the United States Navy for use by the United States Navy SEALs in the Vietnam War in 1968.
History
In July 1968 the LSSC began replacing the Patrol Boat, River as the primary vessel for SEAL team riverine operations.{{cite journal|title=River Patrol Relearned|journal=U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings|first=S.A.|last=Swartztrauber|date=May 1970|page=143|url= https://vva.vietnam.ttu.edu/images.php?img=/images/1803/18030102005.pdf}}{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bNiwKXLUAuUC&q=light++SEAL+support+craft|title=The Element of Surprise: Navy SEALS in Vietnam|first=Darryl|last=Young|publisher=Random House|year=2011 |isbn=9780307784506|page=}}
The LSSC was later developed into the Strike Assault Boat which entered service in 1970.{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Norman|title=U.S. Small Combatants, Including PT-boats, Subchasers, and the Brown-water Navy: An Illustrated Design History|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1987|isbn= 9780870217135|page=369}}