My great uncle was a crewman on LCVP Higgins boats for several combat assaults including Saipan. He started out in an old transport working in the boiler rooms where in the South Pacific, temperatures often exceeded 120 degrees F. He would lose up to 15 pounds a day on watch. He ended up getting in a fist fight with a bullying petty officer, and was transferred to the LCVP's as punishment. He was very reluctant to talk about his experiences, his sons said he never did. I asked him about it many times and once when in his cups, he told me.Sometimes, he had to pull a .45 pistol and threaten to shoot scared boys who refused to leave the boat at the beach. He choked up, when he told me that more than once, he then saw those same boys immediately killed. He also personally witnessed the horrors at the cliffs at Saipan where hundreds of civilians were either murdered by Japanese troops or committed suicide. He was traumatized by the war, in a time when there was no "PTSD". He had a rough go of it and suffered from alcoholism. My grandmother told me, that for 6 months after returning home to Ohio, he would continually wave an arm in front of his face, as if swatting away insects.
Of course Saipan was in the Central Pacific, in the Marianas Islands. My father landed on Yellow Beach 2 first wave as part of the 4th Marine Div. After Roi-Namur in the Marshall Islands, that was the next landing. I did talk to him about Higgins boats but I'm not sure what he landed in on Saipan. All I remember is he said he landed under pretty heavy mortar fire early in the morning. He also said that for him Saipan was the worst of the 4 landings he made in the war, the last being on Iwo Jima. I guess it depends when and where you are in a battle. As far as PTSD goes, everybody reacts differently. I think it definitely had it's affects on him, how can it not but somehow like most young men going through intense combat he was able to move with his life. Nobody should have to go through that sort of thing.
Thank you for this history & tour. I was in the Navy in the 1970s and saw upgrades of the Higgins boats all the time. They were used like aquatic pickup trucks, for all kinds of utilitarian hauling in harbor business. I was brought up to call all varieties of this a "landing craft." But the ones I saw were called "Mike boats". Some were so big they had an anchor on the stern on a cable & winch. Presumably to pull the boat off the beach. But I never had an opportunity to really get into it that much. Even for me it was an interesting time.
My Hero, my dad, was a LCVP coxswain on the USS Florence Nightingale, AP-70. He was at North Africa and Okinawa and several other assaults. He never spoke much about it. Whenever I think about what he saw as an 18-20 year old, it causes me to well up with emotions. We lost him in 2016.
Being born in 1954 I had three uncles each in a different theater of operations, of five guys I lived beside and grew up with three fathers were WW2 veterans, and at my first job I worked with a gentleman who went ashore at Omaha Beach. Of all these men and others during those early years of my life the one consistent trait was their silence and reluctance to speak of what they had experienced. And now looking back it is incredible to think what they and thousands upon thousands like them carried in their memories as they had to live and function in everyday life.
My father landed on the beaches of Tarawa, Saipan, Tininan and Okinawa. He lived to be 101, and went on his final deployment in March of 22. The things he went through impacted him for the rest of his life.
My Dad served on an AKA. I'll have to check that out! He always taked about the Higgins boats he repaired and all the damaged brass propellers he threw in the ocean. None of this I expect will be in the film!
Written by Kenneth Dodson, who was on an attack transport in the Pacific and lived in the Pacific Northwest. Both the book and movie are excellent representations of amphibious assaults during WWII.
My dad was a LCVP coxswain in WW 2 and as a side note he owned the ranch, in the '50's/'60's that the museum is built on. His ashes are scattered on the mesa overlooking the ranch.
I visited this museum in Oct of last year. This is a first class museum of military vehicles (tanks, jeeps, etc.). I recommend this museum highly. It's in Dubois, Wyoming.
In 1963 to 1965 I was on the USS Shadwell LSD #15 I engineered LCVP We never cranked the ramp down just unlock it and release the brake , let her rip and the ramp was down.
A very good review of the late model “Higgins” boat. For a minute there I thought you may call the manikin coxswain “Eddie Albert” (from the television show “Green Acres”). He was a WWII D-day coxswain during the war.
Lt. Edward Albert Heimberger, USNR (stage name Eddie Albert) was Coxswain of a Higgins boat at Tarawa. The Marines had to wade ashore as the tide was lower than expected, and the Higgins boats had to drop the Marines off on the coral reef offshore from the beach. Casualties were quite heavy. Lt. Heimberger took his Higgins boat back in close to the reef to rescue 47 wounded Marines, and directed the rescue of others. He was awarded a Bronze Star with V (Valor) device. After the war he resumed his career in entertainment.
My Grandmother, Rhue Nolan McKinnon, was Andrew Higgin's chief stenographer from late '43 through the rest of the war. Higgins was a visionary and before the war saw that if the Japanese took over the Philippines we would lose our source of mahogany which he used in his boats. So he went to work buying up as much of the wood as he could. He had so much that at the end of the war he had a supply left that was staggering. My grandfather, who had been a builder before the war and was a subcontractor building Camp Van Dorn in Mississippi, When the camp was completed he moved down to New Orleans where my grandmother went to work for Higgins and he, having been a submariner in WW1, volunteered for the Volunteer Reserve Coast Guard which guarded the Higging docks. It was an unpaid job, they made him and officer and so he guarded the docks at night.
Right on. The farm that I grew up on in Amite County Mississippi between Liberty and Centreville, was part of Camp Van Dorn. In the 70’s and 80’s we found .30-06 shell casings all over the place. Occasionally we would find a mortar round and would just leave it where it lay. When my dad was young on the farm in the 50’s, he said they used to fill up the back of a pickup truck with shell casings and take them to recycling in Baton Rouge. Btw we also found many Native American projectile points as well. Still have those! No recycling there! 😎
Love the story and history of this LCVP. This vessel coming off the USCG-PA26 Samuel Chase, I join Dan Starks in celebrating the contribution of the US Coast Guard and their under-acknowledged contribution to WW2 beach landing operations. As a Coast Guard veteran I celebrate this video. Semper Paratus!
The good thing about the location of Higgins boats was lake Ponchatrain, it had beachy areas that could look like sandy beaches it was going to be used in. I hear they trained all along the lake Ponchatrain area.
Definitely, I'm in spokane and meeting my brother in Twin Falls this June to spend at least a day at this awesome exhibit. What a patriot this founder is. Thank you, sir, for what you do for Americans!
My father, as a young sailor, piloted a landing craft at the Battle of Inchon, Korea in 1950. He was wounded and received the Purple Heart. I could never get him to talk much about it.
Always enjoy your explanation of the military equipment and their uses both on the positives and negatives of their use and the impact on the servicemen. Looking forward to once again visiting your museum.
The historical importance and significance of items in this museum is completely astounding. There is no other like it. I have been fortunate enough to visit this museum multiple times, as I live within a one-hour drive from it. The first time I saw into the back of this Higgins Boat, I was curious about the bell and wondered if it had a story. Now I know. I would love to see more videos like this. The historical importance and significance of items in this museum is completely astounding. There is no other like it on earth.
I'm in the UK and on my pension I can't visit the museum but there are plenty of museums in Britain and I've plenty of memories to share. One is of my uncle (Harry same name as me) who was in the fist wave at Anzio with all that entailed, When he was sent home afterward, his own mother didn't recognise him - he was that changed by the experience. My own father also fought in the Mediterranean during the war - he was in the Royal Navy. But neither of them would talk about what they went through. I think it must have been too painful. All I can say is that I am grateful that I didn't have to go through that and I can feel for the Ukrainians fighting and dying today.
Why weren’t tank-buster aircraft used against the cliff-top machine-gun defences on D-Day? The Allies had complete air superiority on 6th June 1944 and had aircraft carriers offshore. Why didn’t the cliff-top posts get blasted? Did no-one ask this question afterwards?
Thank you for this story. I am a UK national,my dad landed in Africa then Sicily and up through Italy. He did suffer from what we now know as PTSD. Sometimes taking it out on us kids. What bits he told me about it was how and where he got food. When on a visit to France I found what was labelled as an original Higgins boat. It looks like it was made out of plywood sheets. And was in a bad way.
They were plywood for the most part. Quick to put together and basically throw away. They were dependable and light. They could be stacked on other ships and quickly deployed.
In WW1, it was thought that it was caused by the effect of shell explosions causing a degree of concussion. However, it also occurred in troops not exposed to blast effects.
The song “D-Day Dodgers pays homage to British troops in Italy. People back home thought the troops had it a lot easier than those in the Channel crossing. They were wrong. Italy was a brutal campaign.
My father joined the USCG before WWII and was CCM on the Chase during D-Day. He described it as "ships as far as the eye could see in all directions and so many bodies in the water that it looked like you could use them as stepping stones to walk from ship to ship". He joined the ship in 1942 and was on it until late 1944 when he and a bunch of the crew came down with yellow jaundice. As of 1975 the only pic that survived of Dad was him repairing lines of bullet holes in the hull of a wooden boat. Dad only talked a little about the war with other vets. He called it "The Lucky Sam" because of them colliding with a U Boat in the Straits of Gibraltar. Others called it The Lucky Chace because of two near misses by torpedoes. I recently heard that the Samuel Chace was in convoy PQ-17. Do you have any info about that? When Dad came home from the war, he couldn't stand people so, he bought some woodland and built a cabin. He lived in the cabin for two years before going back into society. Through the rest of his life he would occasionally have to get away. Eddie Albert(Heimberger) was an LT salvage officer in the Pacific. He got the Bronze Star for saving lives at Tarawa. Good Luck, Rick
Thank you Mr. Starks. These videos are great and I hope you continue to produce them. Your passion and desire to teach folks details about the carefully curated exhibits in your museum match your generosity. The 80th anniversary of the Higgins Boats' use on D-Day, Saipan, Peleliu, et al. are upon us. I hope you have found time to view Masters of the Air.
An excellent presentation. Thanks so much. I would point out however that while the sides of LCVPs were made of wood, they had 1/4 inch Special Treatment Steel armor (aka protective deck plate) mounted on those wooden sides - though it isn't readily visible. This was the exact same armor protection built into the bow. (See the Navy's ONI 226, Allied Landing Craft and Ships (1944) pg. 48, and LCVP HIGGINS BOAT 1944 U.S. NAVY LANDING CRAFT TRAINING FILM 81614 (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-osPQ8Kc3s48.html ) at 03:25)
🇨🇦💂👍 Good observation at 31:00 regards the large portions of breakfast servings that morning on the troop ships before everyone loaded onto the Higgins and the effect it had on the men's stomachs & resulting performance on the beaches. 🇨🇦💂👍
Sir...Thank you for shareing this story.... I once saw a mime of the photo you mentioned about the view from the rear of the Higgens Boat,....it was captioned *"Antifa June 6,1944"*....... Then I saw another photo of the *'Antifa Leadership'* at the center of that photo was the man who wuold go on to serve as *the GOP POTUS from 1952-1960!*
A famous actor who commanded a landing craft in combat. From Wikiperdia On September 9, 1942, Eddie Albert enlisted in the United States Coast Guard and was discharged in 1943 to accept an appointment as a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He was awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for his actions during the invasion of Tarawa in November 1943, when, as the coxswain of a US Navy landing craft, he rescued 47 Marines who were stranded offshore (and supervised the rescue of 30 others), while under heavy enemy machine-gun fire. 😀
Naval officers did not serve as coxswains on landing craft. It was always enlisted men and the majority of landing craft were manned by Coast Guard personnel.
I was US Navy stationed on board the USS Okanogan APA220, we had 19 of these "Higgins" boats LCVPs on board. I was an engineer on these boats, we has a crew of 3 a bow hook, coxswain and an engineer. The movie "Away All Boats: the ship they used was exactly like the ship I was on board 1961 to 1965. We were involved in the Cuban Criss and we were also in Vietnam.
What infuriates and saddens me about these people who protest against and legislators who are against our country; The fact they don’t ever think about these boys who attacked Normandy and the Japanese islands.
Was in new Guinea in 2017. Saw 2 of these landing craft on the shore of a tidal river.left behind by the Americans after they defeated the Japanese along with Australian forces. The location was a place called Milne Bay. Hi from Australia.
terrific video love your narration with the chilling detail wish the Higgins boat would’ve had some armor protection for the troops disembarking at the bow
The Higgins boats that got hung up on the reefs of Tarawa did so because the US Navy misjudge the tide. I believe the Navy calculated they’d have 5 feet of water above the reef and it ended up being only 3. The reason for the missed calculation was that it was known the moon affect the the tides but they were unsure of the seasonal tides, spring vs autumn, or where the moon is in relation to the sun.
Thank you for that. A fascinating account and also an informative one of the logistics of a beach assault and the nature of the craft used. I feel I learnt a lot.
the US Marines were still using these when I joined in 1969-I was a grunt, part of BLT 2/4, aboard an LST and we were to cover a withdrawal of an Army regiment-we practiced landings EXACTLY like WWII-O dark thirty, over the side of the LST by wet net, pitch dark, rolling seas, into the Mike Boats, over the horizon to the beach, usually somewhere in PI...practice practice practice-luckily never had to go for real-would have been a slaughter
I always look for APA 28 in pictures or films. That would mean the Higgins boats came from my father's ship the Charles Carroll. I finally saw a picture of my fathets ship docked at Okinawa. Their last landing of troops for the war. He had already endured Sicily,Africa. North Africa, Normandy then Okinawa. His ship received six battle stars. I was able to find a book written by the captain's son about the Charles Carroll. I was able to get in touch with him a few times. It was very strange talking to someone who reiterated the same stories my father told me. The book also confirmed what little my dad told me about the war. My father was really screwed up from the horror of it all. He was seventeen and away he went to witness the endless cruelty man can inflict on his fellow man. We really haven't learned much from our past now have we.
APA-28, Charles Carroll A new ship! My dad served on AP 29 ''The Bucket of Bolts'' used in the Aleutian invasions. The ship was built in 1908 in Germany BEFORE the Titanic and was a WWI war prize. USS Grant, ex Konig Wilhelm II. He volunteered for landing craft duty. I heard some wild stories from him. He said that they landed Marines on Attu and ''picked up what was left of them'' dead and wounded, to take back to the ship. He said it was bad enough with rough seas, but sometimes he would slip and fall because of the blood on the deck. He had seen the worst of things but one of the stories that would bring him to tears was about a very large black soldier whose poncho looked too small and his .30 carbine looked like a toy. The guy was terrified and was shaking on the way in to Attu. My dad told him not to worry, he would be OK. The large guy said that he knew this was his last day and all he wanted was to go home to his Momma. My dad promised him that he would make sure he got back to his Momma. On one return trip back to the ship with dead and wounded, he saw the big man on a stretcher in bad shape. The sea was very rough and he made his way to the guy and squeezed his hand telling him he was going to get good help soon. The medic didn't think so. The big guy died half way back to the ship holding my dad's hand. Pop never cried for anything. But telling that story always left him sobbing. The ship had a distinctive look, had chevrons on the stack, and I see it in some old film clips shot in the Aleutians.
During the war, the engine would have been a 2 cycle GM diesel with a Gray Marine, Marine conversion. Its essentially the same engine as the Detroit Diesel present in this boat. I believe the older versions would be a 2 valve in head and the newer ones had 4 valves. Both DD and the GM were 6-71s. They made the base version of this engine well into the 90s. 6 cylinders, 71 cubic inches per cylinder. They were also used in trucks and called "Jimmy" diesels or a 238 (hp) Detroit. Also in Busses, generators, Construction equipment, pumps and generators. I remember working on some of the Gray Marine GM diesels in the late 70s from WWII.
I only recently discovered this museum and this channel - EXTRAORDINARY work and collection! Thank you Dan Starks! As you mentioned the interesting aspect of the ships wheel being able to raise and lower, it is a feature that is paired with the "trap door" hatch in the top of the front steel ramp. That hatch is there to allow the driver to be seated and still have a "windshield view" when operating the boat in friendlier waters.
Then Lt. Krulak showed photos of the Jap ramp on photos he took in China to his superior Maj. Linsert. The Major showed them to the Navy Dept. My great Uncle Captain Ralph Samuel McDowell (Annapolis,class of 1918) redesigned the hull and purchased the Higgins Boat for the Navy Dept. and USMC. in 1939.See Progress and Purpose; A Developmental History of the USMC. Uncle Ralph is interred in Arlington. He served in WW1 and WW2, and never talked about himself or what he did during the Wars. He was from B'ham, Ala.,and was friends with Gen. Holland McTyeire Smith from Alabama. These two worked on the team with Major Linsert and Higgins. Krulak was just a live crash test dummy on the Alligator during its development in the Caribbean.Thanks. J.R.S.,Jr. ,Esq.
I think the arched and blocked pieces seen on the left side stowage would be the overhead horizontal ribs for a canvas top cover assy. There would also be longitudinal pieces which fit in each of the 3 blocks between the ribs to build out that framework for rigidity and to provide additional support for the canvas top. There may also be a spare rudder stowed there too but the cover system is most prominent, though not discussed. Parts listed for the LCP and LCV (L) include a 'Tarpaulin'.
My dad was in the navy he was in training to invade the Japanese home islands after we nuked Japan and the war ended he was just waiting to be discharged. One day he and a friend was just walking around when an officer asked them what they were doing ,so they told him there was nothing to do.the officer said he would find them something to do.he took to A line of Higgins boats and had them scape all the louse paint and repaint the boats. My dad told me that a week after they finished. The navy bought in a bulldozer and pushed all the boat into a pile and burned them. He told that was the Navy.
I didn’t watch part 1 yet. People are for some reason overly-cautious about doing a valve adjustment, but then don’t want to pay someone to do it. Adjust those valves!
My friend, Maury Eakin, conned an LCVP on to Betio Island at the Tarawa Atoll. He was 18 years old. He could only reach 400 yards from the beach due to coral. He did what he could, hanging around amidst the mortars, to evacuate wounded marines. Somehow, he survived. We shared our PTSD stories.
As someone who worked in an Alaskan harbor for 40 years and have seen every type of landing craft from a 20’ aluminum skiff to a 180’ supply vessel and everything in between that owes itself to the original Higgins boat, I would have liked to have seen the original hull design.
2:15 Timeline correction-.the Marine Corps began working on the doctrine in the late '20's. "After four iterations, in 1934, the Chief of Naval Operations approved the Tentative Landing Operations Manual, which was incorporated into the Navy in 1938 as Landing Operations Doctrine. The Marine Corps now had an official manual for amphibious operations." Naval Institute Press. June 2023 Proceedings Vol. 149/6/1,444 also, "island hopping" referred to the strategy of bypassing heavily fortified positions, not the overall amphibious plan.
One Note: I did not hear any mention of the stern anchor and small motorized winch system the LCVPs utilized to retract themselves once their troops were debarked. These systems were widely deployed during Normandy landing. I realize your example is not equipped (as mentioned above), but the anchor/winch retraction systems played an important part. Good video and information. I hope to make the 1,200 mile trip to visit the museum.
There is a wonderful book recently published called - When the beaches trembled, by Z. Morris. It covers landings during the Second World War. The allies had many versions of craft used to land troops and materials. The Landings of the Crimean War initiated the need for dedicated landing craft.
Bring from Slidell, La. and been to the musuin about 12 time this infom. was great. I knew a lot about the Higgins boat, but this really fill the spaces of unknown, thank you so much! One thing i did hear about Andrew Higgin, if there was a problem that needed to get sovld. He would bring his manager and pour them a shot of whisky and lock the door ,then say this is the problem ( fix it) no one leaves until it is fixed. This is how Congress should be now!
Fascinating video. The scale and detail of the equipment and operations boggles the mind. It's also a marvel how fully the US and BCE cooperated in sharing and integrating their different innovations.
Curious why they didn’t go with an amphibious vehicle, like something you might see tourists riding. Seems like it would have been helpful to drop them further inland.
You didn't mention the type of wood Higgins used for the sides of the boat.,I heard somewhere that prior to the war,Higgins bought a Forrest full of Philippines mahogany from the Philippines which is very hard and used these for the Higgins boats,not sure if the rumors are true but it would be historically informative if the true origin and actual material used can be found.
Career Marine. We were trained to swim with full combat gear including weapon, ammo, pack, etc. AND to do so with our rifle atop our pack so that we could engage targets as we moved towards solid land.
In 1969 My Marine officer training class practiced landings off the USS Montrail. It had WW II "ribbons on its side". It's Higgins boats had steel plates fastened to the sides to provide some protection from enemy fire. I don't know when that addition started. Google did not provide a clear answer
These brave Americans were our greatest generation. Heroes all. We must never forget What they did for the world and what many of them sacrificed doing it. Especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. I remember as a young boy growing up my parents talking about the home front during the war and the rationing and sacrifices that they all made. I also remember them talking about those they knew who had either perished or came back after the war ended. They would always say you remember him, he was never the same after he came back. They didn't know what PTSD was back then.
There were ramp bow landing craft used in the Gallipoli campaign of WWI. That campaign also saw aircraft carriers supporting amphibious landings. Obviously the aircraft got much better by WWII.
remember seeing a video about how many soldiers could have survived if the higgins boats had just come in at 15-20 degrees to the beach instead of head on.
Can't imagine today's youth being able to do the things their ancestors did. It's sad that being mis gendered could leave them curled up in the fetal position for hours. God help us.
The WWll museum in New Orleans has Higgens boat purpose built for the museum by veteran Higgens boat workers to exact blueprints of the day. Authentic in every detail.
Can you imagine being on the boat and a Higgins boats return with a bunch of dead soldiers that never got off the boat just shredded. Then they look at you and say you're up son, your turn get on the boat let's go. I would have been scared shitless
As long as they don't get hung up on a coral reef they're fine... No amphibious landings but the Union certainly moved a lot of soldiers around by ship in the Civil War. I guess they landed in row boats but they did make landings on many occasions.
@@kenneth9874 Your point point being what exactly? I'm not sure I understand. Tarawa was a typical coral reef problem. There were also reefs at certain points around Saipan. Those two islands were more a failure of Naval Intelligence though than of the landing craft. Then there is a reason that Amtracs were developed of course.
This is why when the liars posing as teachers say: "America didn't win WWII, the Soviet Union did. In fact, Japan surrendered not because of the American Atomic bombs, but the Japanese fear of the Soviet Army occupying Japan." Nonsense. The Soviets had zero amphibious capability. ZERO. Not the ships, not the air power, and not the amphibious capability. And the USA wasn't going to give it to them. Japan surrendered because of the bomb AND they couldn't count on their Soviet allies to continue to provide them a backstop to the North and West.
