Small infantry landing craft, like the American LCVP or British LCA, were carried to the beaches by troopships. In British parlance, these were Landing Ships Infantry (LSI), while the American designation was APA (Amphibious Transport, Assault). These ships typically carried their landing craft on davits. The LSI would approach to ~7 miles from the target beach, anchor, and lower the landing craft with the first wave of troops aboard. To be precise, the landing craft would be lowered to a level where troops could board from the ship's deck, before the landing craft were lowered to the water. The landing craft would head to the beach in what was called a 'flight', typically in a column formation. As they closed the beach, they would spread out into line abreast. As they were just about to beach, the crew would drop a small anchor, called a 'kedge'. This held the craft perpendicular to the beach, and allowed the landing craft to 'retract' from the beach. The crew could haul in the anchor to pull it off the beach, as well as reversing the engines. Once it had retracted from the beach, the landing craft would return to the LSI that deployed it, or to another ship if directed to by the beachmaster (the naval officer responsible for directing ship traffic around the beach). Here, more troops would board. They might do this by scrambling down nets from the ship's deck, or the landing craft might be hauled back up. The landing craft would remain off the beachhead until the landing ships were fully unloaded. Replacement crews were available to relieve tired men. If it took a long time to capture a port, the landing craft might remain operating off the beaches as a ship-to-shore ferry, while the landing ships returned to their home port.