Beaching is the process in which a ship or boat is laid ashore, or grounded deliberately in shallow water. This is more usual with small flat-bottomed boats. Larger ships may be beached deliberately, for instance in an emergency a damaged ship might be beached to prevent it from sinking in deep water. Some vessels are designed to be loaded and unloaded by beaching; vessels of this type used by the military to disembark troops under fire are called landing craft.