8. The LCVP/Higgins Boat
“It is impossible to overstate the tactical advantages this craft gave U.S. amphibious commanders in World War II.” Historian and retired US Marine Corps Colonel Joseph H. Alexander.
The Landing Craft, Vehicle Personnel or LCVP, was one of the three vehicles General Dwight D. Eisenhower claimed won the war for the Allies. The LCVP was the brainchild of one man, Andrew J. Higgins. A native of New Orleans, Higgins designed the Eureka Boat in 1926, which was able to navigate the shallow waters where floating debris and submerged mangrove roots would damage boat propellers, the design of the Eureka allowed the boat to run in shallow water at high speed and easily turn without any negative consequences, all of these characteristics were needed in a military landing craft. With only a few modifications the Eureka was successful in military exercises.
The LCVP was 36 feet long, quite a compact size, but it could carry an entire 36-man platoon. It was also useful in transporting supplies, 8,000 pounds of cargo could be landed on the beach. It was also useful in transporting troops and vehicles, one jeep and a 12-man squad could fit in the craft.
Everything about the craft was designed for ease, the craft could run up onto the beach and then reverse back into deep water. Once on the beach, in the space of a few minutes, all of the soldiers could disembark and the craft would be back on the deep water.
The crafts were carried aboard Attack Transport Ships (APAs), the crafts were loaded with troops and supplies out of the range of enemy fire, the crafts would then form waves with the other crafts and make their way to the beach. Perhaps the Supreme Allied Commander in Western Europe, Dwight D. Eisenhower, summed up the brilliance of the LCVP: “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.”