I assume this vehicle was an LCM (landing craft marine). They look pretty much like a combat tank, but without the big gun turret.
I think they have 2 large Rolls Royce engines, 1 for propulsion and 1 mainly as a water pump. My amphib ship could carry 6 or 8 of these things. We launched several in Okinawa as demo/training back in 1968 or 69, and one sank in fairly shallow water just off the beach. No lives were lost and we did salvage the vehicle. Word was that the pump engine stalled and it sank like a stone.
“We launched several in Okinawa as demo/training back in 1968 or 69”
My Dad did some amphibious landing training on Okinawa in 1945. What a coincidence. :)
I think the article was referring to the AAV-7/LVTP-7. It didn’t explicitly name the vehicle but my recollection was that one of those foundered off the west coast last year. The LCM that I recall was essentially a big “Higgins Boat” for vehicles.