LCVP plan |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Higgins Industries, and others |
| Operators: | United States Navy |
| Built: | 1935-1950 |
| Completed: | 20,000 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Landing craft |
| Displacement: | 18,000 lb (8,200 kg) light |
| Length: | 36 ft 3 in (11.05 m) |
| Beam: | 10 ft 10 in (3.30 m) |
| Draft: | 3 ft (0.91 m) aft 2 ft 2 in (0.66 m) forward |
| Propulsion: | Grey diesel engine, 225 hp (168 kW) or Hall-Scott gasoline engine, 250 hp (186 kW) |
| Speed: | 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) vehicle or 8,100 lb (3,700 kg) general cargo |
| Troops: | 36 troops |
| Crew: | 3 |
| Armament: | 2 × .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine guns |
The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes. More than 20,000 were built, by Higgins Industries and licensees.
Typically constructed from plywood, this shallow-draft, barge-like boat could ferry a platoon-sized complement of 36 men to shore at 9 knots (17 km/h). Men generally entered the boat by climbing down a cargo net hung from the side of their troop transport; they exited by charging down the boat's bow ramp.
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Andrew Higgins started out in the lumber business but gradually moved into boatbuilding, which became his sole operation after the lumber transport company he was running went bankrupt in 1930. Most sources say the boats his company was building were intended for use by trappers and oil-drillers; occasionally some sources imply or even say that Higgins intended to sell the boats to individuals intending to smuggle illegal liquor into the United States, and that the trappers and oil-drillers story was mainly a cover. Higgins' financial difficulties, and his association with the U.S. military, occurred around the time Prohibition was repealed, which of course would have ruined his market in the private sector; the Navy's interest in the boats was in any case providential, though Higgins proved unable to manage his company's good fortune.
Fortuitously, the United States Marine Corps, always interested in finding better ways to get men across a beach in an amphibious landing and, frustrated that the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair could not meet its requirements, began to express interest in Higgins' boat. When tested in 1938 by the Navy and Marine Corps, Higgins' Eureka boat surpassed the performance of the Navy-designed boat and was tested by the services during fleet landing exercises in February 1939. Satisfactory in most respects, the boat's major drawback appeared to be that equipment had to be unloaded, and men disembarked, over the sides—thus exposing them to enemy fire in a combat situation. However it was put into production and service as the Landing Craft, Personnel (Large) abbreviated as LCP(L)). The LCP(L) had two machine gun positions at the bow. The LCP(L) or commonly called the "U-boat" or the "Higgins" boat, was supplied to the British where it was initially known as the "R-boat" and used for Commando raids.
The Japanese had been using ramp-bowed landing boats like Daihatsu class landing craft in the Second Sino-Japanese War since the summer of 1937—boats that had come under intense scrutiny by the Navy and Marine Corps observers at Shanghai in particular, including from future General Victor H. Krulak.[1] When shown a picture of one of those craft in 1941, Higgins soon thereafter got in touch with his chief engineer, and, after describing the Japanese design over the telephone, told the engineer to have a mock-up built for his inspection upon his return to New Orleans.
Within one month, tests of the ramp-bow Eureka boat in Lake Pontchartrain showed conclusively that successful operation of such a boat was feasible. This became the Landing Craft, Personnel (Ramped) or LCP(R). The machine gun positions were still at the front of the boat but closer to the side to give access between them to the ramp. The design was still not ideal as the ramp was a bottleneck for the troops as was the case with the British Landing Craft Assault of the year before.
The next step was to fit a full width ramp. Now troops could leave en masse and a small vehicle such as a Jeep could be carried, and this new version became the LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel), or simply, the "Higgins Boat." The machine gun positions were moved to the rear of the boat.
No less an authority than the Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight Eisenhower, declared the Higgins boat to be crucial to the Allied victory on the European Western Front and the previous fighting in North Africa and Italy:
Andrew Higgins ... is the man who won the war for us. ... If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs, we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.[2][3][4]
The Higgins Boat was used for many amphibious landings, including Operation Overlord on D-Day in Nazi German occupied Normandy, and previously Operation Torch in North Africa, the Allied invasion of Sicily, Operation Shingle and Operation Avalanche in Italy, Operation Dragoon and of course the Pacific Theatre at the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Tarawa, the Battle of the Philippines, the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa.
Only a few Higgins boats survived to the 21st century, often with substantial modifications for post-War use. A replica Higgins Boat, built in the 1990s using the original specifications from Higgins Industries, is on display in the National World War II Museum in New Orleans; a second is undergoing restoration.
One original Higgins boat discovered in Normandy is being professionally restored by the North Carolina Maritime Museum for the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Illinois.[5] This Higgins Boat was located in Vierville-sur-Mer, Normandy, by Overlord Research, LLC, a West Virginia company formed in 2002 for the purpose of locating, preserving and returning WWII artifacts to the United States[6]. Overlord purchased the vessel from its French owners and then transported the Higgins Boat to Hughes Marine Service in Chidham, England, for initial evaluation and restoration. During this evaluation, the First Division Museum acquired the Higgins Boat from Overlord Research, LLC and moved the vessel to Beaufort, Illinois for extensive restoration.[7]
A second original Higgins Boat was located by Overlord Research, LLC on the Isle of Wight and acquired by the company. It was transported to Hughes Marine Service where it underwent extensive restoration. Upon completion of the restoration work to standards set by the United States Army Center of Military History, this Higgins Boat was purchased by Center of Military History for future display in the National Museum of the United States Army, which is being constructed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.[8] It is currently being stored at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama until the National Army Museum is completed.
An original Higgins Boat, restored by Hughes Marine Service, is on display at the D-Day Museum in Portsmouth, England.[9]
Another original Higgins boat is currently being restored in France. It was constructed in 1942 and most probably took part in landings in North Africa and in Italy during WWII. This boat will be restored to be able to sail again and to participate in some big events.[10]
An original Higgins boat is located in Port St. Lucie, Florida and is awaiting restoration there.[11]
The USS LST-325 operates 2 LCVPs.
There is also a Higgins LCP(L) at the Military Museum Of Texas in Houston, Texas that has been restored. http://www.texasmuseum.org/
An original Higgins boat, from the USS Cambria, which survived seven Pacific Theatre invasions, is on display at Motts Military Museum [2] in the Columbus, Ohio suburb of Groveport. The Coxswain, Sam Belfiore, was awarded the Silver Star for bravery.
A tenth intact surviving example is known to lie beached at King Edward Point on South Georgia although this craft is in poor condition due to the Antarctic environment.
There is a higgins boat on display at Pawnee Park in Columbus Nebraska
There also appears to be an example registered as the "Megan Meredith" in Ewell, Smith Island MD. It has the number 36VP6970 on the stern.
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