The Right Man, with the Right Boat, at the Right Time

Andrew Jackson Higgins was a bold entrepreneur hailing from Nebraska. He moved to New Orleans and jumped into the boat building business as an owner of a lumber company.

Higgins was fascinated by the special flatbed boats that the Cajun trappers used to maneuver into backwater areas that were not accessible to conventional boats. Soon he founded Higgins Industries and began to make flatbed boat designs. In the early 1930s Higgins' most successful design was called the Wonderboat. Its design featured the propeller and shaft housed in a tunnel to protect it from damage. The bow was so strong it could run full speed onto river banks and sand bars without damaging the hull. Despite these advantages, the Wonderboat suffered from a lack of power.

In the 1940's, as war loomed over the horizon, Higgins began to promote a modified, more powerful version of the Wonderboat to the U.S. Navy. At first, officials didn't want to take a chance on a small boat dealer from the Deep South. Finally, Senator Harry Truman urged the Navy to test a Higgins craft against a boat from the U.S. Bureau of Ships. While the Bureau of Ships boat nearly sank after reaching open seas, Higgins' LCP performed the test flawlessly again and again and Higgins Industries was awarded the Navy contract.

The LCP modified to include a retractable door and was renamed the LCVP or Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel. This feature not only enabled troops to be put directly on the beach, but also allowed trucks & other vehicles to be landed in an amphibious assault.

The LCVP was so crucial to the Allied effort in WWII, Dwight Eisenhower proclaimed that without Higgins' boat, Allied campaigns would not have been nearly as successful. Adolf Hitler also commented the Andrew Jackson Higgins was the "new Noah," because Higgins' boat design changed the world.