The Marineartillerieleichter is a German landing craft.
Description[]
The Marineartillerieleichter, or MAL as it is commonly known in its acronym, was a small transport craft in Kriegsmarine services. It was basically a simple armored barge designed with the idea of being able to be transported by land and to be used on rivers, lakes and other shallow waters. The MAL was intended to provide close-shore fire support and escort cover with their guns during operations in the Black Sea, and those without high calibre naval guns on deck would serve as ferries and landing crafts for troops and heavy equipment. Some of them were converted to minelayers as well. After the German forces lost access to the Black Sea, MALs were also used in the Baltic Sea, the English Channel and the Mediterranean Sea.
Several types of MAL and the similar "Marinefährprahm" (MFP) haven been build during World War II. The model in BattleGroup42 represents an early MAL Typ 1, which is available in two versions: A fire support version that is armed with two 8.8 cm/45 SK C/35 naval guns for engaging surface targets, and a landing craft version that spawns a Sturmgeschütz III Ausf B and a Sdkfz 251/1 for amphibious assault. Both versions are armed with two automatic 20mm C/30 for air defense and strafing soft targets on the surface.
Both versions of the vessel appear in 4308-Azov Clashes.