| “ | Andrew Higgins is the man who won the war for us. | ” |
| ~ Dwight Eisenhower, in an interview after World War II |
The LCVP, Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel, or Higgins Boat was a landing craft that was used by the United States during World War II.
Description[]
The LCVP was powered by a 225 hp Grey diesel engine, or a 250 hp Hall Scott gasoline engine and it had a top speed of twelve knots. The LCVP had a surface displacement of 8,100 kg and a length of about 10.9 meters.[1]
The beam is 3.3 meters and the draft is 0.9 meters aft, 6.5 decimetres forwards. It also had a carrying capacity of 3,600 kilograms of cargo or thirty-six fully equipped soldiers.[2]
The armament was a twin 7.62 mm machine guns mounted in the back of the LCVP. It was mainly made out of oak and other types of wood. However there was areas of the Higgins that were made with steel. There is no other variant of the LCVP besides the original production model which began production in 1941.
History[]
The LCVP or Higgins boat was designed by Andrew Higgins who was inspired by seeing Japanese boats. Once Higgins got the "green light" to produce his boats for the US Navy, he gathered an extremely large workforce and began production rapidly. In all, over 20,000 LCVPs were produced by the Second World War's end. Many of these craft were produced by Higgins Industries. They are now an iconic ship from World War II and they were most notably used by American forces on Omaha Beach during D-Day and the invasion of Sicily. It became favored by Allied leaders because of its manuverability and the fact that they could capture beaches rather than ports. The operators of the LCVPs were United States Coast Guardsmen. LCVPs were used in many fronts during World War II, including the Mediterranean, the Pacific, and the Western Front.