Louisiana Spotlight: Landing Craft Mechanized, the "Other" Higgins Boat at D-Day
On D-Day, Higgins boats landed thousands of GIs on French shores. Often overlooked in comparison to the LCVP is its "big brother"—the Landing Craft Mechanized.
On D-Day, Higgins boats landed thousands of GIs on French shores. Often overlooked in comparison to the LCVP is its "big brother"—the Landing Craft Mechanized.
The public, Museum staff and representatives from all branches of military service will gather at 10:00 a.m. in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion on Andrew Higgins Drive for day-long observances that include performances by the Marine Corps Band and the Museum’s Victory Belles, a eulogy for a WWII soldier read by a student scholar from New Orleans and a moment of silence in tribute to those killed in action.
In the late 1930s, the U.S. military began developing small boats that could carry troops from ships to open beaches. Andrew Jackson Higgins of New Orleans, who had been manufacturing shallow-water work boats to support oil and gas exploration in the Louisiana bayous, adapted his Eureka Boat to meet the military’s specifications for a landing craft. Designated the Landing Craft Personnel (Large), or LCP(L), it was used in the invasions of Guadalcanal and North Africa in 1942. He was, according to Dwight D. Eisenhower, "the man who won the war for us."
After more than 70 years away, a unique identifier is restored.
Join curator Josh Schick and Authors Nancy Rust and Carol Stubbs as they discuss their new book, Andrew Higgins and the Boats That Landed Victory in WWII, published by Pelican Publishing.
Head to The Higgins Hotel for a live instrumental showcase of wartime piano music.
Join The National WWII Museum, Eat Local Challenge (a program of the New Orleans Food Policy Action Council), The Higgins Hotel & Conference Center, and The American Sector Restaurant & Bar as we celebrate Victory Gardens during the season of eating locally!
After your Museum visit, join us for a live instrumental showcase of wartime piano music at The Higgins Hotel!