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."

George Kearney talks about working for Higgins Industries during the war.

On July 23, 1944, a celebration marked a milestone in production for Higgins Industries, which had just finished its 10,000th boat for delivery to the US Navy. 

Malcolm Higgins discusses his experiences in the US Army Air Forces.

Higgins Industries is best known for the design and construction of landing craft, dubbed “the boats that won the war,” but the multi-faceted company also contributed to the most top-secret program of the war, the Manhattan Project.