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Museum resurrects legendary WWII boat (Ike said the simple Higgins boat was the key to victory)
The News & Observer ^ | Jay Price

Posted on 08/16/2008 2:25:12 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Eisenhower said the simple Higgins boat was the key to victory

BEAUFORT - For days now, the men, all in their 80s, have trickled in as if visiting a friend in the hospital. They stand on the observation balcony inside the N.C. Maritime Museum's barnlike waterfront boat shed, mixed among the tourists and squinting at the rust-streaked, rectangular hulk on the shop floor. Eventually they have to speak.

"Is that the LCVP?" they ask one of workers down on the floor, though they know the answer better than anyone. Then the stories start, stories about how this strange boat carried the men to victory and death on beaches from Normandy to Iwo Jima.

For the next few months, visitors to Beaufort will have a rare chance to see one of the boats that even Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower called the key to winning World War II. More than 20,000 Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel -- also known as Higgins boats -- were made by Higgins Industries and other builders. They were used in every major amphibious assault to move GIs from ship to shore.

Only about a dozen are believed to remain, including four in the United States, according to Maritime Museum officials. They moved the rare craft into the museum's waterfront boat-building shed last week to begin restoring it for a museum in Illinois.

The work will take six to eight months, and the boat will be on display as the staff and volunteers toil. Visitors strolling by on Front Street can stand at the huge main door and look straight into the open bow.

Since word of the boat's presence began to spread last week, more than a dozen veterans have come to reminisce. Among them -- three times already -- was Earl W. Norwood of Morehead City, who piloted one in Normandy and owes it a personal debt. His craft took on water the whole five miles back to his mother ship after being hit by an artillery shell while on the beach.

"I owe my life to that boat," he said.

A distinctive design

The bottom was shaped to ride onto the sand rather than stick into it, and the propeller and rudder were set into a protective tunnel at the rear so they wouldn't be damaged when it ran aground. The best-known feature is the flat front that drops on hinges to form a ramp for troops to dash ashore.

The design now seems obvious. But when New Orleans businessman Andrew Higgins proposed it, the boat was a hard sell to the Navy, said Jerry Strahan, author of "Andrew Jackson Higgins and the Boats That Won World War II."

"They thought they'd just be able to dock their ships in France and the soldiers could just walk down a pier," he said.

The Marines saw the value of the design, though. Soon, Higgins Industries and other companies were cranking them out.

Many people think they were heavily armored, but they were made almost entirely of wood, which was more readily available than metal during the war. Also, being light meant the craft drew less water and could get farther ashore. The steel bow ramp was just a quarter-inch thick, as were the steel plates along the sides -- enough to stop some shrapnel but ineffective against many kinds of incoming fire.

Most had plywood hulls, which makes the one at the Maritime Museum something of a mystery. The hull is made of wood planks -- and not just any wood, but mahogany, which resists rot. That's one of the reasons the hull is in such good condition, said William Prentice, watercraft center manager for the Maritime Museum.

An American collector bought it from a museum in Normandy, where it was exhibited outdoors. Before that, it was a utility boat in a marina.

The collector offered it to the First Division Museum in Wheaton, Ill., which had long wanted one because division troops used them at Normandy and other battles. The Illinois museum's director, Paul Herbert, said the Navy recommended the Maritime Museum for the restoration.

It was shipped to England, then Baltimore before being trucked to Beaufort.

Three experts have examined the boat and agreed it was likely built in 1943, Herbert said. Still, it's unclear whether it was used in the Normandy invasion, and so far museum workers haven't found a serial number that might help determine its history. A bulkhead with an ID number had been replaced, and the original engine is gone.

Still, there is no question that it's special, Herbert said. "This is sort of a crown jewel of our collection, first of all because of its historical significance -- not only to the division but the history of the United States -- and also because it's so rare," he said.

Recrafting history

The restoration will begin with cleaning and an inventory of remaining parts so the restoration crew will know what odd items they need to seek, Prentice said. Historically inaccurate modifications will be removed, and workers will use old drawings to reconstruct parts such as the bulkhead between the helmsman and the cargo area.

Eventually, the hull will be lifted off its steel cradle so remnants of some fairly recent fiberglass sheathing can be removed and any rot repaired. One of the hardest tasks will be removing and repairing the bent main rudder, Prentice said. A replacement engine will be found and fitted.

When the work is done, the Higgins boat will go to the museum, though it may not be on display until 2010, when a new wing is expected to be completed, Herbert said.

Higgins boats may be a triumph of logic and function, but some troops who rode them into battle weren't focused on the boat's fine points.

Many got seasick from the combination of diesel exhaust and ocean swells, said Demetrius "Pete" Lypka of King, N.C. He came ashore at North Africa and Sicily on a Higgins boat and was on a larger type at Normandy.

He said he thought they were metal and would never have climbed aboard if he had known they were made of plywood.

"They got us on the beach, though," he said. "They did a masterful job."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: higgins; history; milhist; miltech; worldwarii; wwii
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1 posted on 08/16/2008 2:25:12 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

Never rode in one..

Higgins
Bump!


2 posted on 08/16/2008 2:28:29 PM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Godspeed ... ICE toll-free tip hotline 1-866-DHS-2-ICE ... 9/11 .. Never FoRget!!!)
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To: nickcarraway

Higgins Boat plan


3 posted on 08/16/2008 2:32:22 PM PDT by Mike Fieschko (et numquam abrogatam)
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To: nickcarraway

It is hard to think there are only so few of these left in the world. I have a lot of experience driving the LCVP and have seen them tied up in huge nests in Japan during the occupation there.
The VP was how all the landing troops got ashore in every island assault that I know of and no telling how many were present in either the Pacific or the Atlantic.


4 posted on 08/16/2008 2:33:53 PM PDT by Oldsailor
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To: SAMWolf; snippy_about_it

ping


5 posted on 08/16/2008 2:41:08 PM PDT by Professional Engineer (www.pinupsforvets.com)
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To: nickcarraway
LCVP
LCVP

6 posted on 08/16/2008 2:43:00 PM PDT by jazusamo (DefendOurMarines.org | DefendOurTroops.org)
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To: Professional Engineer

It was one of those right person, right time, right place things that happens in history. Thanks.


7 posted on 08/16/2008 2:43:24 PM PDT by snippy_about_it (The FReeper Foxhole. America's history, America's soul.)
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To: nickcarraway
It was a classic of design and economy... and built tough. It ain't pretty to look at but it did the job!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

8 posted on 08/16/2008 2:43:43 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: nickcarraway
Abkhazian separatist regime together with units of the Russian regular army

I don't understand why we aren't fighting these people.

Or at least the people that we trained could be fighting these people.

It doesn't look like Russia is worried about an "escalation."

9 posted on 08/16/2008 2:45:26 PM PDT by Selmore (Son Matthew is at Ft. Sill, Daughter Kimberly is at Parris Island.)
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To: nickcarraway

>> Many people think they were heavily armored, but they were made almost entirely of wood, <<

I actually didnt know about that. Judging by the opening scene in Saving Private Ryan, the boat was simply made for speedy transport duties. As for protection, forget about it.


10 posted on 08/16/2008 2:53:24 PM PDT by max americana
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To: Oldsailor

I’ve recently become friends of an older couple. The husband sports a navy tattoo and I mentioned that my dad had been on a Mine Sweeper in the Pacific during WWII. The gentleman said that he had been a Higgins Boat driver - on D-Day. Wow. I mentioned that he didn’t seem old enough. His wife replied “He signed up the day after Pearl Harbor. He was only sixteen but lied about his age”. Wow again. I started to ask another question but his wife said he doesn’t like to talk about it.


11 posted on 08/16/2008 2:56:11 PM PDT by 21twelve (Don't wish for peace. Pray for Victory.)
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To: nickcarraway

If I remember correctly, Higgins made PT boat also.


12 posted on 08/16/2008 3:04:46 PM PDT by coolbreeze (giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teen-age boys.)
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To: max americana
Many got seasick from the combination of diesel exhaust and ocean swells,...

Between the diesel exhaust, the ocean swells and gathering fear, most LCVPs were awash with vomit by the time they reached the beach.

Lord knows I wouldn't have wanted to be there...

13 posted on 08/16/2008 3:08:42 PM PDT by okie01 (THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
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To: Oldsailor

I was born in ‘46. I remember going to Miami Beach when I was about 6. There was one beached and rusting away on the beach in front of the hotels. As a kid, I was fascinated by it.


14 posted on 08/16/2008 3:11:16 PM PDT by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ("Don't touch that thing")
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To: 21twelve

oh my, none of them talked about it....my dad would never talk about the war, I found out from my aunt that he was at Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Leyte Gulf, and who knows where else...all I know is he would never curse without “Japanese” as a pre-fix ( Japanese SOB, Japanese bastid, ect.).


15 posted on 08/16/2008 3:12:30 PM PDT by coolbreeze (giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teen-age boys.)
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To: nickcarraway
My father joined the Navy at the end of the war but he was trained on these. Three bits of trivial he told me. First, their flat bottoms made them easy to capsize and they had to be careful about crossing wakes or they could go over. Second, the ramp had a crank wheel and if you didn't get out of the way when it dropped and started spinning, it could rip your jaw off. Third, you had to drive them up as far as possible onto the beach because as people got off, the boat would get lighter and drive up further on to the beach. If it did that too quickly, it could hit and break the legs of the people getting off. Safe they weren't.
16 posted on 08/16/2008 3:14:12 PM PDT by Question_Assumptions
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To: Oldsailor
It is hard to think there are only so few of these left in the world. I have a lot of experience driving the LCVP and have seen them tied up in huge nests in Japan during the occupation there.

Weekend before last I saw three of them sitting in a parking lot along Rt.15 in PA (not sure if it was North or South of Gettysburg. Wife wouldn't allow me to turn the car around to go back and gawk. Not sure what they were doing there, from the second or two glance I had of them it looked like they were either restored or being restored.
17 posted on 08/16/2008 3:14:22 PM PDT by tanknetter
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To: NormsRevenge

18 posted on 08/16/2008 3:18:16 PM PDT by rdax
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To: nickcarraway
A Mahogony Higgins boat! I knew they didn't make plywood any better back then.
19 posted on 08/16/2008 3:21:45 PM PDT by BallyBill (Serial Hit-N-Run poster)
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To: nickcarraway

GEEEZZZ!! As a kid growing up in Post WWII Long Beach, my father was in the scrap business. After the war Military Scrap was big business along Los Angeles’s Alameda St. Seems there were scrap yards occupying most every foot of property along that route.

These LCVP Boats were everywhere. I saw them stacked in yards up and down Alameda amongst all sorts of other very interesting Amphibious craft as well Captains Gigs, and Life Boats.

Hard to imagine only six are left.


20 posted on 08/16/2008 3:23:20 PM PDT by rockinqsranch (Say Obama were "Pinky", Then who is "The Brain"?)
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