Higgins Boat (LCVP)
LCVP
Why it matters
Eisenhower said Andrew Higgins was 'the man who won the war for us.' The LCVP — Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel — was the boat that put soldiers on the beach.
At Normandy, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, North Africa, Sicily. The bow ramp was Higgins' innovation, borrowed from boats he'd seen in the Louisiana bayou. When that ramp dropped, you were looking at the beach, and the beach was looking at you. 23,398 were built. Without them, no amphibious invasion was possible.
What it was like
Three men operated each Higgins boat. The coxswain steered from a small armored cockpit at the stern. The engineer kept the diesel running. The bowman operated the ramp.
But the real experience belonged to the 36 men packed shoulder-to-shoulder in the well deck, seasick from the flat-bottomed ride, soaked by spray, waiting for the ramp to drop.
On the approach to the beach, the men stood waist-deep in the boat with no cover. Machine gun rounds that missed their heads punched through the wooden sides.
When the ramp dropped on Omaha Beach, the first men out were killed before their boots hit the sand. The coxswain had to hold position long enough for everyone to get off, then retract from the beach under fire, return to the transport ship, load another 36 men, and do it again. Some coxswains made twenty trips.
The crew
Coxswain
A Coast Guardsman or Navy sailor, usually 18-22 years old, navigating a 36-foot plywood boat through surf, obstacles, and machine gun fire to put troops on a beach. The coxswain made the calls: when to lower the ramp, when to retract, when to abort. They watched men die as the ramp dropped. Then they backed off the beach, went back to the ship, and loaded more men. The emotional toll was rarely discussed. The coxswain was the last person the assault troops saw before the beach.
Infantry (Cargo)
Not crew — cargo. Thirty-six men standing in the open well of a flat-bottomed boat in heavy seas, vomiting from seasickness, weighed down by 60-80 pounds of equipment, watching the beach get closer. When the ramp dropped, the first men off were the most exposed. At Omaha Beach, entire boatloads were killed before anyone reached the waterline. Those who survived the ramp remembered the sound it made when it hit the water.
Patina notes
Higgins boats were built to be expendable. Plywood and steel construction, designed for days of service, not decades. The few survivors show extreme wear — salt damage, hull rot, and the evidence of hard beachings. Original boats are almost impossible to find intact.
Preservation reality
Remarkably few survive considering 23,398 were built. The National WWII Museum in New Orleans (Andrew Higgins' home city) has the best collection. Several restored examples exist as static displays. Finding an original in restorable condition is nearly impossible — they were literally used up.
Where to see one
- • National WWII Museum, New Orleans
- • Normandy American Cemetery (replica)
- • Various military museums
Preservation organizations
- • National WWII Museum
Sources
- National WWII Museum - Higgins Boats (2026-03-05)
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