In Genesis 6, God looked upon the earth and finding it to be corrupt was filled with anger. One man, however, was discovered to have favor with God, a man named Noah. To this man, God gave the command to build an ark, along with the directions as to how the vessel was to be constructed. (Genesis 6:17-18)
Prior to World War II, Andrew Jackson Higgins would pick up where Noah left off to later become America’s nautical savior by designing and building the boats which played a vital role in traversing the waters of the north Atlantic on D-Day, thereby making it possible for the Marines to storm the beaches of Normandy.
Born on August 28, 1886 in Columbus, Nebraska, Higgins’ early years were spent on the banks of the Platte and Loup Rivers. Both rivers were known for being shallow in depth and laden with numerous sandbars. Higgins’ interest in shallow draft boats most likely resulted from the exposure he had to this style of watercraft throughout his childhood. Before he began his career in the boat business, however, the budding entrepreneur started with a lawn mower, setting out to corner the market to help keep his neighbors’ lawns nice and neat.
In the late 1890s, Higgins moved with his family to Omaha, Nebraska. Here he attended Creighton Prep School and Creighton University. Higgins’ inborn desire for independence and self-assurance expressed itself when conflicts arose with authoritative individuals while he was in school .
Higgins’ years in Omaha also gave birth to young Noah’s ( a nickname later given to Higgins by Adolf Hitler ) nautical career. In the basement of his parents’ home, Higgins constructed his first boat. In the process of doing so, however, he failed to factor in one minor detail – being able to move the boat from the basement to the outdoors so it could be transported to a body of water for sailing. The challenge was later met by removing the wall which stood in his way.
After serving as an infantry officer in the Nebraska National Guard, Higgins moved south in order to pursue business opportunities with lumber and founded the Higgins Lumber & Export Company. Hardwoods which grew in the back swamps of Louisiana were of great interest to him, but it required a boat to get him to where he wanted to go. Due to the depth of the swamps, Higgins drew on his experience with the sandbars of the Platt and developed a shallow draft boat.
Higgins' lumber company was later put out of business due to stiff competition and declining world trade, coupled with the employment of tramp steamers to carry lumber cargoes. The unrelenting Higgins, however, laughed at adversity and did not allow the word "impossible" to be a part of his vocabulary. Instead, he kept his boatbuilding firm - established in 1930 as Higgins Industries - in business. The company stayed busy constructing tugs, barges and motorboats for private firms, individuals and the Coast Guard.
Though an outspoken and hot-tempered Irishman, this second Noah apparently found favor with God, much the same as his predecessor. He was blessed with an incredible imagination, plus the skills necessary to move the ideas his imagination generated to paper and then production. Loving bourbon and hating red tape, he had no problem knocking down things which got in his way (i.e. – the wall in Omaha).
With his Irish background and Nebraska birthplace, Higgins was an outsider to New Orleans' elite social circles. This arrogant boat builder from the South would go on to become a thorn in the side of the big shipyards of the East. He developed a worldwide reputation, was featured in Life, Time, Newsweek and Fortune magazines, and appeared frequently on the front pages of major newspapers throughout the country.
In 1926, Higgins designed the Eureka boat, a shallow-draft craft perfect for use by oil drillers and trappers who operated throughout the lower Mississippi River and along the Gulf Coast. A recessed propeller located in a semi-tunnel of the hull allowed the boat to be operated in shallow waters where submerged obstacles and flotsam served to endanger typical propellers. A "spoonbill" bow was also designed by Higgins for the craft. This allowed the craft’s pilot to run the boat up onto riverbanks, in addition to begin able to back off with ease. Over the next ten years, Higgins so perfected his design, the boat could attain a high speed in shallow water and also turn practically in its own length.
To build these boats, Higgins traveled to the Philippines to acquire a large supply of mahogany which was the principal material used. He felt if war broke out, steel would be in short supply, and this would put him ahead of any competition for landing craft production.
Always intent on discovering better ways to transport troops in an amphibious landing vehicle, the Marines began to express interest in Higgins' boats due to being frustrated over the fact the Bureau of Construction and Repair could not meet its requirements. After twenty years of dealing with failure by the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ships, the Marines approached Higgins to design and construct for them an effective tank landing craft. It required a mere sixty-one hours for Higgins to do so - a feat which caused the Bureau to despise him. In 1938, the Eureka boat was tested by the Navy and Marine Corps and surpassed the performance of the boat previously designed by the Navy.
The Eureka's one major drawback lay in the fact equipment had to be unloaded and men disembarked over the sides. This would result in the troops being exposed to enemy fire in a combat situation. Higgins acquired pictures of a ramp-bowed landing vessel which had been used by the Japanese since 1937. He then contacted his chief engineer and within a month, a mock-up of a revised Eureka was tested in Lake Ponchartrain. This test proved the successful operation of such a boat to be realistic. The vessel became known as the LCVP (landing craft, vehicle, personnel), nicknamed the "Higgins Boat." A larger version followed soon afterwards, the forerunnerof the LCM (landing craft, mechanized).
In September 1943, the Fifth Army of the United States landed at Salerno, Italy and the forces of General Douglas MacArthur captured Salamaua in New Guinea. At this time, the US Navy totaled 14,072 vessels. Of this number, 92% (12,964 boats), were designed by Higgins Industries, Incorporated; 8,865 of which were built at the Higgins plants in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The LCVPs would be used in all major invasions of the war – Sicily, Italy; North Africa; Normandy and the islands of the Pacific – Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The world class vessels Higgins’ company became known for were constructed by a diverse group of employees - white and black, male and female – each paid equally.
Over the course of World War II, Higgins Industries turned out 20,094 water vessels. The collection included the 36-foot LCVP, rocket-firing landing craft support boats, lightening fast PT boats, 56-foot tank landing crafts, 170-foot FS (Freight & Supply) ships and 27-foot airborne lifeboats which could be dropped from the belly of a B-17 bomber. His goal was for Higgins Industries to provide the finest landing craft in the world to serve the Allied troops. To accomplish this, he was forced to fight the Bureau of Ships, the Washington bureaucracy, and the powerful eastern shipyards.
The Higgins boat forever changed modern warfare strategy. The Allies now had a formidable tool which eliminated the need to pummel coastal forts into submission and sweep harbors of mines prior to landing an assault force. It also abolished the need for established harbors.
Andrew Jackson Higgins died on August 1, 1952 and was buried just outside New Orleans in the Metairie Cemetery. In 1964, Dwight D. Eisenhower remembered Higgins as "the man who won the war for us." In 2000, the National D-Day Museum opened in New Orleans in honor of Higgins and the city for the vital contributions they made to the war effort.
"If the Navy wants something sensible, why the hell don't they listen to people like us who have had years of experience?" Andrew Jackson Higgins
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