Landing craft--shallow-draft vessels capable of transferring troops from troop transports to beachheads--were indispensable to amphibious operations during World War II, including many operations in the Pacific theater, the Mediterranean, and Europe; yet of all the combatant nations, only the United States developed and built landing craft in significant numbers. Even so, landing craft were regarded as a kind of stepchild by the principal U.S. military service arms--the navy was more interested in building large warships, and the army did not want to get involved in building ships at all; therefore, the availability of landing craft was always a critical issue. George S. Patton Jr. was forced to curtail some of his operations in Sicily for lack of adequate numbers of landing craft, and Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to delay landings in the south of France (Operation Anvil/Dragoon), which he had wanted to conduct simultaneously with the Normandy landings (D-day).

The most famous and most numerous landing craft was the LCVP (landing craft, vehicle, personnel), popularly known as the Higgins boat. These 36-foot wooden-hulled craft were designed and built by New Orleans boatbuilder Andrew Higgins, who modified a civilian craft, the Eureka, which his company manufactured. They were light and powerful, and later versions of the craft included the familiar ramp at the bow, which was raised during the trip to shore, then lowered for landing. After landing its troops, the Higgins boat went into reverse and withdrew from the shore. The LCVP could carry 36 combat troops or about 8,000 pounds of supplies. Displacement was about nine tons and, powered by a six-cylinder, water-cooled Gray Marine Diesel engine generating 225 horsepower through a single propeller, the vessel could make about 12 knots under load. Virtually every Allied soldier who landed at Normandy on D-day arrived on a Higgins boat. Another version of the Higgins boat, the LCM (landing craft, mechanized) was the same size, but was designed to carry heavier loads, including tanks. . .

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