Higgins Industries

Higgins Industries
Name	Higgins Industries
Founded	1930s
Founder	Andrew Higgins
Fate	Decline post-1945
Headquarters	New Orleans, Louisiana
Key people	Andrew Higgins, Arthur M. Dauterive, Emile Allaire
Products	Landing craft, patrol boats, amphibious vehicles
Industry	Shipbuilding

Higgins Industries

Higgins Industries was an American shipbuilding and manufacturing firm based in New Orleans, Louisiana that rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s for producing landing craft, boats, and amphibious vehicles used by United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, Royal Navy, Soviet Navy, and Free French Forces during World War II. Its founder, Andrew Higgins, is often associated with the development of the Higgins boat used in major amphibious operations such as the Normandy landings, the Pacific War, and the Battle of Okinawa. The company’s output influenced strategic planning by leaders including Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chester W. Nimitz, George S. Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and Admiral William Halsey Jr..

History

Founded in the 1930s by Andrew Higgins, the company grew from small-scale boatbuilding in New Orleans to a wartime industrial complex that contracted with agencies like the United States Maritime Commission and the Office of War Mobilization. Early work supplying boats to the United States Coast Guard and the Brazilian Navy set the stage for rapid expansion after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. As demand surged in the early 1940s, Higgins Industries established shipyards across the Gulf Coast, including facilities in Pontalba, Algiers, New Orleans, New Orleans Lakefront, Metairie, Houma, Louisiana, and the Gulfport, Mississippi area. Post-1945 demobilization, declining defense contracts, and shifts in the United States Congress appropriations contributed to liquidation and closure of many plants by the late 1940s, while parts of the enterprise transitioned to peacetime manufacturing for firms such as Hercules Powder Company and General Motors.

Products and innovations

Higgins Industries specialized in the design and mass production of landing craft and small naval vessels. Its signature design, the craft commonly called the Higgins boat or LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel), featured a shallow draft and a bow ramp that revolutionized amphibious assault techniques used in operations like Operation Overlord, Operation Torch, and Operation Husky. Other products included the LCP(L) (Landing Craft, Personnel (Large)), LCV, LCM (Landing Craft, Mechanized), PTC (Patrol Torpedo Craft), and various aluminum and plywood utility boats used by United States Army engineers, United States Navy Seabees, Royal Canadian Navy, and Australian Army units. Innovations incorporated swivel ramps, reinforced hulls adaptable for riverine environments such as the Yangtze River, and modular construction methods that informed later designs by firms like Bath Iron Works, Bethlehem Steel, Ingalls Shipbuilding, and Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company.

Role in World War II

Higgins Industries was integral to Allied amphibious strategy across theaters. Landing craft produced by the company transported infantry and vehicles during D-Day, Operation Dragoon, Guadalcanal campaign, Battle of Iwo Jima, and the Leyte Gulf operations. Military planners and theater commanders including Omar Bradley, Isoroku Yamamoto (as adversary context), Admiral Ernest King, and Douglas MacArthur relied on Higgins-produced craft to execute large-scale beach landings, river crossings, and island assaults. The firm’s yard workforce, including women and members of the United States Colored Troops labor force and wartime migrant laborers, achieved high production rates that supported the Arsenal of Democracy ethos championed by Franklin D. Roosevelt and overseen by agencies like the War Production Board and the Office of Price Administration.

Business operations and facilities

Higgins Industries operated multiple shipyards, fabrication shops, and supply depots. Major facilities included the Original Plant on the New Orleans waterfront, the Algiers yards across the Mississippi River, and satellite plants in Belle Chasse, Gretna, and St. Bernard Parish. The company coordinated logistics with railroad carriers like the Illinois Central Railroad and shipping lines including Matson Navigation Company for material procurement and distribution. Workforce management involved unions such as the International Longshoremen's Association, Boilermakers Union, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, while subcontracting and material supply linked Higgins to manufacturers like DuPont, U.S. Steel, Alcoa, International Harvester, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

Leadership and organization

Andrew Higgins provided technical leadership and industrial vision, supported by executives and engineers such as Arthur M. Dauterive and Emile Allaire. Corporate governance interfaced with federal procurement officers from the Bureau of Ships, contracting officers from the War Shipping Administration, and congressional oversight committees including members of the House Committee on Naval Affairs and the Senate Committee on Military Affairs. The management structure included production managers, naval architects, and foremen who coordinated with military liaisons from Amphibious Forces, United States Atlantic Fleet and Amphibious Forces, United States Pacific Fleet to meet specifications from Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner and Vice Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt.

Legacy and cultural impact

Higgins Industries’ contributions reshaped amphibious warfare doctrine and influenced postwar shipbuilding by companies such as Electric Boat Company and Consolidated Steel Corporation. Andrew Higgins received recognition from figures like Eisenhower, who credited Higgins craft with enabling victory in Europe; this acknowledgment spurred public memorials, museum exhibits at institutions like the National WWII Museum in New Orleans and the Imperial War Museum, and historical studies by scholars affiliated with Harvard University, Yale University, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Tulane University. The Higgins boat entered popular culture through portrayals in films like Saving Private Ryan and documentaries produced by Ken Burns, while veterans’ organizations including the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion preserve oral histories. Surviving vessels and replicas are displayed at maritime museums such as the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, the USS Constitution Museum, and regional heritage centers, cementing the company’s place in naval, industrial, and cultural history.

Category:Shipbuilding companies of the United States Category:World War II amphibious warfare