Should the Western Allies eventually attempt an amphibious invasion of say, for example, on the beaches of Normandy, the humble craft could prove to be quite important. In case you haven't heard the word, we're going to be taking on our greatest project of historiography yet with a 24 hour coverage of D-Day. This monumental task will take over a year to fully complete. We'll bring you 3D graphics, live coverage, personal testimonials, and much much more. Let us know what you're excited to see and what you'd like us to cover. All this is only made possible because all of you have signed up to be a part of this project, so go on over to patreon.com/timeghosthistory or timeghost.tv to support or channel now. Do you have a family member or loved one who participated that you would like to dedicate a special memorial to? Check out our patreon or get in touch at community@timeghost.tv to inquire about that. Finally, find out why we're doing all of this in our Across the Airways episode: th-cam.com/video/vK1BM2fHw-o/w-d-xo.html
A Brit buddy of mine's grandfather was a captain of one of these boats in Italy. He became famous with the locals as 'that English (he was Irish) soldier that brought food'. After the troops had landed he was at the shore for a few months unloading supplies. When possible he would load up his jeep with food and drive around giving it to the local civilians who were in a terrible state as there was no food available. That's how he met his Italian wife. He was a good man, I always remember him...
@@jfrorn nah, I just live in a real world... it is all nice to romanticize our grandfathers as some heroes and saints, but believe me 19 or 20 yo guys that serve in military all think about same thing...
@Robert Sears You keep posting your criticism of the Higgins boat, multiple times, yet fail to cite why they were an "evil boat". Or offer anything superior.
Would love to see a special on the Landing Ship Tank (LST) and perhaps smaller vessels. A small ship that could carry multiple tanks, beach itself, disgorge the tanks and thousands of tons of supplies, then haul itself off the beach and sail across an ocean was amazing. A few even experimented with launching and retrieving light aircraft.
@@jamesdunn9609 My daughter was a Fireman on a US Coast Guard cutter in the Pacific just 18 months ago. It had two, big Caterpillar diesels. She was not amused that I kept referring to her as a "CAT Lady."
@@jamesdunn9609 My daughter was following in the steps of her great-grandfather. He was "too young for WWI and too old for WWII." By WWII, he was a dentist and ended up serving in the Coast Guard in Hawaii. He was pulling teeth for Uncle Sam. About 75 years later, his great-granddaughter served on a Hawaii-based Coast Guard cutter. "Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense." - Mark Twain
I met a Vietnam veteran who used modified leftover higgin's boats in the war as resupply ships for troops stationed near rivers - these boats saw all sorts of combat!
I live near New Orleans and have been a member of the WW2 Museum dating back to when it was the D-Day Museum, I am 51 and have studied WW2 as long as I can remember so I was beyond happy when it opened so close to me. I found this channel right before you started the Pearl Harbor mini series and since then have not missed a single episode and have also been going further back watching previous episodes, keep up the great work!
That really means a lot to us David, we're really honoured to have the support of someone so passionate about World War Two history. Is Citino still working at the WW2 Museum? Great historian.
I would have thought this episode was about the Liberty Ships, they were produced faster than the Germans could make Torpedoes and they helped get the armies around the world to fight on everything corner of the earth.
Also, for countries recovering in the post-war, the Liberty ships were keystone vessels for economic rehabilitation, founding many modern merchant navies.
@Robert Sears Yes, the allies never made something more evil and bad than this amphibious vehicle. Japan only surrendered after all the firebombing and nukes because the Allies threatened to take them on boat rides.
My father built Higgins boats in Australia with the 411th engineers special construction battalion. He spent two months at the Higgins factory in Louisiana learning how to build them.
“Andrew Higgins is the man who won the war for us.” -President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1964 interview. The President went on to explain: “If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel), we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.” And as Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret) said, “The Higgins boats broke the gridlock on the ship-to-shore movement. It is impossible to overstate the tactical advantages this craft gave U.S. amphibious commanders in World War II.”
@@rickglorie He's the guy who constantly hates on the AR-15 and 5.56x45mm on InRangeTV, and to my knowledge has never said anything good about anything, so probably just a troll.
Amphibious operations are widely seen as some of the most difficult in warfare. The allies experience in this area, earned in blood over the coming battles, will prove decisive in the late stages of the war
But in hindsight we can say that the pacific landings were utterly pointless. Germany would have kept the war going despite the two atomic bombs..... japan did despite one !!
LeonG that statement is misleading at best. No one can say that Nazi Germany *might have* continued fighting after two atomic bombs dropped on it, because that did not happen. Japan was in disarray after the first atomic bomb, some officers going so far as trying a coup. Since the second atomic bomb *was* dropped on Japan, we can not know if they *could* have continued after only one.
@Robert Sears If you think that, you should probably learn more about WW2 amphibious landings than just watching the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan lol. Omaha Beach was the exception, not the rule.
The Universal Carrier, known as the Bren Gun Carrier, is vastly underrated. A small, tracked, go anywhere vehicle, that performed just about every role. Made in the UK and Canada. Used by many allied armies. One of the few vehicles the Germans put to use in numbers when captured.
@@monza1002000 It was not a tank. It was to carry equipment. It was even used to mount machine guns, tow other vehicles, etc. It was brilliant. It is the most produced armoured fighting vehicle in history. It was made by the Americans, and copied by the Germans/Italians. Very few countries in the world did not use it. An amazing vehicle.
The fact that the Jeep was in the thumbnail along with the boat made me do a double take once y'all starting explaining the origin of the Higgins. Since the Jeep is also in the pantheon of war winning vehicles. No doubt a deliberate choice for the thumbnail.
I am sure there was some equivalent used over the Volga during Stalingrad. And at least an equally interesting story as well. But history tends to forget the "not so sexy" things like landing boats. Cheers!
@@DawidKov The "adaptations" and "versatile" is the point worth remembering. The very fact that there was a *flotilla* is seldom understood. That they "made do" with barges, tugs and ingenuity is a story that should be told. The adaptations at least would rival the rhino tanks modifications in Normandy, and we have heard a lot about that. And to make my point again... regular barges make no headlines, but in this case they should. Respectfully. 👍
In the US/western allies most Consider the "weapons of victory" to be the higgins boats, jeep, M4 sherman, the M1 garrand or bren gun (depending on if the individual is American or common wealth).
As a native of New Orleans I absolutely love this... A restored to actual use version of this boat can be experienced at the National World War 2 Museum in the warehouse district of downtown New Orleans. Sidenote : The production line was spread out to a portion of ST. Charles avenue where Mardi Gras rolls down every year...
I would submit the Canadian Military pattern truck as a close runner up. Logistics, workshops, medical, basis for armoured vehicles, improvised bridge foundations and almost everyone involved in the war had some.
According the the national WW2 museum in NOLA the reason New Orleans was chosen as the site of the museum was due to the Higgins boat being built there.
I don't know if you guys already did a segment on this but I would like to nominate the Willy's Jeep as one of the most important vehicles of the Second World War. That and the Bren Gun Carrier used by the British and the Canadians.
Higgins LNC was a great invention but it was 2 small to carry a tank or armored truck - so the Naval architects redesigned it to a larger LNC which can carry a tank their after develop a even bigger one that can carry multiple tanks , serval trucks -supplies by the ton and sort of small ship - and it was vital for D day landings
It seems pretty straightforward, each phase of the war in a given theater had its own requirements. In the years where Europe was occuppied and the US was trying to wrest control of the Pacific from the Japanese, the bomber and the aircraft carrier well proved their worth. When the Allies were at a point of taking territory, the amphibious landing craft was the star. After landing and driving into land such as after D-day, vehicles like the Sherman and the Jeep prove their worth. I'd almost be more interested to hear about the machines of war that really didn't prove themselves despite widespread contemporary value and esteem heaped on them.
The Eastern Front is the only major theater not impacted by the Higgins Boat ( and the other innovative landing and supply craft it sailed with ). From North Africa to both Western Fronts in Europe to the Pacific and beyond the Allies had to have something that put men and their supplies into the fight.
The Jeep, CCKW 6x6 Truck, C-47, Higgins Boat, Liberty Ship these all proved critical to us and our allies during WWIl. We could get stuff anywhere and everything with these logistical super weapons.
Submitted for the title: the liberty ship. The entire UN concept for winning the war was out producing and fielding the axis. You need to move vast amounts of supplies to do this, or earlier to keep a blockaded population fighting. Even the jeeps and the legendary logistics trucks needed to get to the front to work.
When you contrast these to how the British/ANZACs assaulted the beaches at Gallipoli in WW1, it plainly made a huge difference to both speed & ease of disembarkation (when used correctly)
Great video Indy and crew. I totally agree that American amphibious assaults were totally redesigned around the gradually more efficient Higgins Boats. As member of your Patreon, I would also greatly appreciate more videos going into depth of the USMC’s amphibious strategies and equipment. The Higgins Boats were essential obviously, but in the pacific it was found they often couldn’t reach the actual beaches because they would ground themselves on reefs or hidden sand dunes, either delaying the boat’s arrival or stranding it altogether. Vehicles like the AmTrac and AmTanks deserve their time in the spotlight as much as the Higgins Boats, Shermans, or Liberty Ships
Love your content as always Indy & the team! As someone from New Orleans, I was pretty excited to watch this episode. I remember visiting the National WWII museum in New Orleans and being impressed by the exhibit dedicated just to Higgins and my home town's crucial contribution to the Allied effort. Keep up the great work ☺️☺️☺️
Especially after seeing episode after episode about German supply problems on the Eastern Front I was honestly expecting a video about humble supply trucks. Armies, especially mechanized ones, can’t accomplish much without their supply chain.
The were a wider variety of trucks used then landing craft of this size by the Allies. It would be a bit more... contentious to say which individual supply truck was as instrumental as a Higgins boat.
@@wills2140 The ten wheel two ton truck supplied to Russia and used in the Red Ball Express would be a candidate. made by Studebaker and others i believe.
Andrew Blake , it can not be denied that supply ships and trucks were vital to the Allies efforts. But they can not get ashore with out efficient landing craft. The Higgins boat ( and its British counterpart, mentioned in this video, as well the other innovative landing craft like used in the Pacific ) made it possible to land and supply troops for the initial assault(s), thus enabling the rest of the needed supplies and men have a place to go.
The way Indy delivers his reports is so engaging, he’s the number one reason I keep watching! I loved his work on The Great War channel and was sad to see his departure, but the history buff in me is thrilled to see him doing WWII work. The short briefs, packed with information and delivered as an “Extra Extra!” Special makes for a winning formula. Great job to you all at TimeGhost! Your efforts are preserving the greatest conflicts and sacrifices of the 20th century so that we may never forget!
F. Smith Thank you for the glowing praise & your dedication. The whole TimeGhost team works their butts off every week, and it means the world to us having such thoughtful & engaged people as you in the audience. Thanks & stay tuned!
Nice episode! I was think of the earth movers, especially the Bull dozer - which made roads, cleared mine fields, fill bomb holes, made airfields, cleared rubble from cities taken so ports & roads could be used, ect. But the Higgen's boat I had not thought of. Kudos!
Churchill said that the cadence of Allied operations was largely dependent on the supply (and location) of the LST (Landing Ship Tanks), at least for the European landings he was most interested in.
We were still using them in 1980 (and later!) when we were preparing for the potential invasion of Iran (hostage crisis). The only differences between the LCVP then and 1944 was that ours had fiberglass hulls and no machine guns. I spent a lot of hours and days bobbing around in those things!
@Robert Sears did you just watch Saving Private Ryan for the first time or something? Shouting "this boat is evil" over and over again is not very constructive. Do you have any sources that show more men were killed due to the front ramp VS other offloading techniques? Do you have any evidence to support your claim that the Higgins Boat was designed by Nazis? I would be quite interested to learn more if you do, but please provide actual sources.
I’m from New Orleans and knew plenty of Higgins Industries workers who worked at the City Park plant. It currently houses Delgado Community College. A professor’s uncle had worked there and gave us a talk. The Lakefront area and sea wall in West End is where they tested the Eurekas, then the PT boats, and LCVPs.
JEEP's do one on the JEEP's and the Victory Ship as well those did such an amazing job for the war efforts. All the Allies used them, at least that is my understanding. Great job Indy always love to hear from you.
After learning of U.S. Marine Lieutenant Victor Krulak’s account of a Japanese landing craft with a retractable bow ramp during Japan’s 1937 invasion of China, Higgins modified his craft to include this feature. He filed for a patent on December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The LCVP’s ramp, protected by U.S. patent no. 2,341,866, would become America’s not-so-secret weapon for quickly offloading machinery and troops throughout the war. The patented boat that won the war | USPTO page
@@Raskolnikov70 I seriously doubt it. No way would the Corps delegate something so important to an O1 or O2. I could be wrong, but that sure does not sound like my beloved Corps
Krulak was a Lt. at the time, and worked for Major Linsert, USMC. He did take photos of the ramp in China and showed them to his boss Linsert- the liason to the Navy Dept. Krulak probably never met Higgins He was later a test driver for the Alligator in the Caribbean. My great Uncle Captain Ralph Samuel McDowell ,USN,Annapolis class of 1918 purchased the Eureka boat for the Navy Dept ( and thus USMC). He also worked with Mr. Higgins on a hull modification in Washington DC. See my comment above and Progress and Purpose; A Developmental History of the USMC. Uncle Ralph also knew Gen H.M McTyeire, both from Alabama who was involved . It was a team effort, but LT. Krulak played a tiny part. Uncle Ralph is interred in Arlington, and was a vet of WW1 and WW2. He never talked about the War. John Shoemaker, Jr.
You are correct sir. LT. Krulak only played a tiny part, and probably never even met Higgins. See my comments here. Remember, you have to be a politician to make Gen. ,and sometimes your resume becomes exaggerated over time. John Shoemaker,Jr.
I think the most important vehicle varies by the front and stage of the war. The Studebaker trucks that were given to the USSR via lend lease were absolutely game changers. They are what facilitated most non rail movement of the red army in 43 and 44.
What about the LCA? The rangers preferred it because it has silenced motors and some armour, as well as seats for the troops. Both LCA and Higgins boats were vital to achieve the Allied war aims.
My Great-Grandfather was mention in despatches whilst acting as the coaxswain on one of these at Normandy and towing an ammunition barge which was on fire out of harms way from the other ships which was witnessed by an American officer.
Great video as always, but I have a bit of a correction. At 2:00 you start talking about Victor Krulak, and refer to him as a lieutenant; however the picture shows him as a Lieutenant General (three stars, and a rank he did attain and according to his NYT obit he was at least a major going into the Second World War. I just wanted to point this out because it confused me at first because a lieutenant and a LG are on opposite ends of the officer totem pole. Still great video though, thank for bringing excellent content every week!
This confused me as well, so I checked. Krulak was a lieutenant at the time of his observations in China, so referring to him as such is entirely correct.
@Whomever, okay that makes more sense, thank you! Yeah just hearing him being called a lieutenant while showing a pic of him as a general just threw me way off for a min
One thing I definitely know about WW2 it's that Logistics played a huge part in who won. So I would say the vehicle that had an underrated impact was probably a truck of some kind.
Lots of trucks helped the Russians advance. Many also used as weapons platforms (Katyushas/Stalin Organs) Lots of trucks kept the supplies going to the western troops for far longer than expected between D-day and the actual capture of a proper function harbor (see Red Ball Express)
No doubt that supply ships and trucks were the backbone of Allied logistics, but nearly all theaters needed some way to get the initial assault wave of men and supplies to the fight because neither supply ships or trucks could do that on their own. I am fairly sure logistics vehicles will get a future episode.
My grand uncle was a Coxswain mate in the USN before the war. Small boat driver. He was a LCVP driver all through the war in the Pacific. He came home with debilitating PTSD. He would not talk about the war. For a while after he came home, he lived in the woods. He got help in the 50s. All my family had been Army, WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Of all of them, I respected my granduncle the most for what had done, so I went into the Navy after HS. He was still around and when I came home on leave. One day we had lunch. It was then he told me some of what he went through. He said he was heading into a beach with USMC, boats to his left and right. The boat on his right disappeared in a flash, with a cloud of wood, guts and blood spraying all over (and them). He told me, on many of the landings, the bow ramp go down and the whole front line of Marines go down, KIA. The Gunny had the rest go over the sides or over the KIA. Then my granduncle took all the KIA back to the ship and did that over and over and over. He said, after the landings, he make trips in with bullets, food and fuel, and come back with a boat full of KIA. Over and over and over. He stayed in long enough to be part of the Japan occupation. He passed away in the 00s living alone and out of touch with us (again) like he liked.
Dear Christopher, thank you for sharing that very personal story with us. War has left many souls scarred with wounds no time could heal. No wonder some preferred to keep their demons within, reluctant to share what they have seen...
OK... Indy You got me on this one . I was looking at the Jeep not the Higgins LC . In land though it will be the Jeep that outnumbers other vehicles . Both the British and American Glider Troops will have Jeeps on Evey other glider . Great movie about the LCP / LCM craft is " Away all Boats " .
Like other people, I half expected this episode to be about the jeep, but I think that's partially because my dad (US Navy) loved both "jeep" and "bazooka" as words. My dad was a huge fan of the strip Toonerville Trolley and Bob Burns' comedy bits
What you guys do is special. Top quality. I'm impressed each time I watch your production work. And I've been a student and amateur historian my whole life. I did not know enough about these boats. I did know about Churchill and his views on landing craft and their importance, and how it was felt in allied circles that we never had enough, or enough to go around. Thanks!
You're probably thinking about the Battle of Tarawa, fought on 20-23 November 1943. Many of the tropical islands in the Pacific have fringing coral reefs, or are just the fringing coral reefs around a central lagoon (called an atoll). Coral doesn't grow at the higher latitudes where amphibious operations took place in the European theater. But even at Tarawa, the problem wasn't just that there was a reef, but that the invasion started during a neap tide, when the water depth over the reef was less than invasion planners expected. After that the Navy got smarter by developing teams of frogmen to scout enemy-held beaches before the main force invaded.
Worked on an albacore boat out of San Pedro, Cal in the '60s. Guy who tied up next to us had a Higgins boat that had been converted to a fishing boat. You could see where the new bow had been added.
At 0:23 you show a Higgins Boat, PA26-23. That was from the USS Samuel Chase(APA26), an attack transport. My father was CCM on that ship and participated in 7 landings. Good Luck, Rick
I'm learning how to sail. That rudder in front of the prop? That's really interesting. Prop walk is the tendency of a boat to veer in one direction based on the direction the prop turns. In the sail boats I charter they always want to turn hard to rear-left (port). In reverse the rudder is almost useless. The way to keep this from happening is to slowly back up. 'Slowly' is not what anyone would want while under fire. So that rudder in front? cool feature, that makes the boat steerable in reverse. Well done Higgins Boat Company! And cheers World War Two Channel for yet more information on a subject I thought I already knew.
I feel these videos put me in the middle of the action. No other videos on WW II have the detail and information as these. These videos should be used in schools as a teaching aid in history...they are simply that good!
I was able to look at one of these guys in person, there is a still completely in tact example of a Higgins Boat in the lobby of the National WW2 Museum in New Orleans, the place where these boats were manufactured.
Hi Indy. I was waiting for this episode.. Wondered about this higgins boat for a long time.. Had seen in movie and in your intro.. Well i learned about it.. Thanks..
A well deserved mention. Pictures from movies like "save private Ryan" give us the somewhat false impression these landing crafts were sure death traps.
i would have gone for the DUKW/Duck... nice detail, two of those old beasts have been (still are?) used by the watership that maintains one of our most important dikes "de Hondsbossche en Pettemer zeewering". this is the dike that is laid in the gap between the dunes at the coast of the province of Noord-Holland. they bring out huge mats that are used to prevent the sand in the front of the dike to erode and the stones that are dumped on these mats called "zinkstukken"...
In the 90s we managed to buy an amphibious ford jeep engine, which we still possess. We bought it at an auction by the Calcutta Port trust. There were a few hundred of these jeeps brought in here for the Burma China India front, but it came too late to make any difference.
Indy: "What's the most important vehicle in WWII?" Me: "Studebaker trucks!" Indy: "No." Me: "Willis Jeep!" Indy: "No." Me: "The Douglass DC-43!" Indy: "Not even close." Me: "The boots of Russians ;-;" Indy: "You fool! Boots aren't a vehicle!" **whip crack from a particularly durable tie** Me: **weeping** "Gun carriers like the M18 and M36!!" Indy: **omnipresent voice** "NO." Me: "The f*ckin' landing boats, I doubt it but its all I go-" Indy: **still in an omnipresent voice** "Correct! The Allied landing craft. You win a tie." **Indy places tie around my neck** **a halo appears above my head** **ascends to landing craft heaven** **doesn't recognize 99 of every 100 lost souls because I'm Russian and we just used boats 99.92% of the time** Truly, a worthy fate. Great episode Indy, love ya' :)) All the best to you and yours ❤🙏🏻
Because people can quickly charge out of the front of a boat but if they jump in the water wearing heavy equipment, not only might they drown, but are exposed to enemy fire whilst struggling to the shore.
Wow, you guys even mentioned the Daihatsu landing craft. Freaking bravo! Also, Marine general Victor Krulak's son, Charles, would follow in his father's footsteps and joined the Marines in 1963. Charles Krulak would gain combat experience in the Vietnam War and awarded the Silver Star (among others), and would eventually become Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995-1999.
In the Pacific where more landings occurred and obstacles like reefs exited the LVT was a better craft. The DUKW was found to have advantages for landing supplies in Europe during the Italian and D-Day campaigns, since it could drive on land and not stop at the waters edge.
I read lots of debate here about the most important contributing vehicle to victory in World War Two, and there are many candidates. However, if we consider which was the most unique contributor, I believe that the Higgins Boat may indeed win out. Before the war, there were trucks (maybe not Jeeps, but these were basically small, handy trucks), cargo ships, cargo planes, bombers, and all the rest. But there were no ships specifically designed for and able to land on, unload, and withdraw from a defended beach. That was the Higgins Boat. The tracked and armored landing vehicles took on more and more significance as the war in the Pacific continued; the larger landing craft also played their important role. But you have to first take the beach, and that is what the Higgins Boat allowed the Allies to do. My pitch for another episode: machines and technologies that allowed the Allies to efficiently train such large groups of men for the risky tasks that they would face. My father was an Army Air Force Staff Sergeant who spent his wartime years as a Link Trainer instrument and radio direction finding instructor. The Link Trainer was the world's first successful flight simulator, used in this war to teach cadet pilots how to navigate and land by radio and instruments alone, without having to risk life, limb and valuable government equipment in order to do so. I have often wondered how many Army Air Force (and Allied Air Force) lives were saved by this innovation. I also wonder what were the other training wonders of the war. Maybe we can share some of that knowledge here.
Great episode and I agree that this landing craft was great and probably the best in the Pacific theatre but I think that in Europe it would probably be the 2.5 ton 6×6 truck
Higgins boats pretty much killed many of the soldiers landing at Normandy. As soon as the ramp went down the were raked with machine gun fire. The LVTs manufactured by Borg-Warner could drive up on the beach as far as needed and troops were let out the back. There was also a armored tank version that could've accompanied them. The Marines used these in the Pacific and were able to get further onto the beach. If anything, they should've stuck with the faster Eurekas and built a ramp on the back.
I thought 4x2 trucks, amtracks, shermans, liberty ships, and LCTs on my immediate list...need to discuss each of these in their broader strategic impact. love the Higgins boats and PT boats as they changed the pacific and invasion problem with many cheap boats built out of wood that could do a 'man's' job most thought that wooden ships and planes were inferior
There's references from Middle Ages sources (around C12th) of vessels that sound suspiciously like landing craft. Although some references say the ramp was at the stern and the boats reversed onto to beach. "So the fleet came to land, and when they were landed, forth came the knights out of the transports, all mounted; for the transports were built in such fashion that they had doors, which were easily opened, and a bridge was thrust out whereby the knights could come forth to land all mounted."
Sadly in reviewing WWII military history, many people say this individual bit of kit that won WWII, no it did not. It was a combination of all of them, 1. Landing ships , DUKWS, Higgins Boats, Landing Craft Assault, LVT Buffalo etc. 2. Pipe Line Under The Ocean, Mulberry harbours. 3. Then we have Percy Hobart's Funnies, the DD Sherman, Flail and Crab tank for clearing minefields, Bobbin mat layer, Crocodile flame thrower, Assault vehicle for tackling concrete bunkers. Armoured Bulldozers. Churchill Ark equipped with two ramps to allow vehicles to drive over it, The AVRE Churchill would come also come with girder bridges, also fascines to be dropped into anti tank ditches. 4. Then we have the Jeep, Universal Carrier, Duce and half, CMP military truck, Sherman Firefly and its American equivalent, finally not forget the Sherman Bocage cutter! All of these were designed specifically to overcome a problem. Many were designed, concept approved, then massed produced in just 2 years which is a great outcome in itself.
Should the Western Allies eventually attempt an amphibious invasion of say, for example, on the beaches of Normandy, the humble craft could prove to be quite important.
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Thank you for everything you do, glad to see you soldier on through any weather!
Don't be silly, we all know the allies will use those landing crafts to land in Calais!
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At the bottom of my road is a LCT and I am thinking it the last in the world - do you want any photos etc?
Why would the Allies land in Normandy? There aren’t any ports there to enable operations.
I was honestly expecting either the jeeps or the trucks, but this is also interesting.
everyone knew about trucks and jeeps ...
this is how a couple of them raised an eyebrow in surprise
Yeah, its a clickbait title
@@AndreLuis-gw5ox Yes, how dare they try and encourage viewers
My thoughts exactly
Every Comrade knows its T34.
A Brit buddy of mine's grandfather was a captain of one of these boats in Italy. He became famous with the locals as 'that English (he was Irish) soldier that brought food'. After the troops had landed he was at the shore for a few months unloading supplies. When possible he would load up his jeep with food and drive around giving it to the local civilians who were in a terrible state as there was no food available. That's how he met his Italian wife. He was a good man, I always remember him...
So he was giving food to bone some chicks... Noysss
@@armija You're a sad little person aren't ya?
@@armija No, he's was giving out food and GOT a chick, massive difference in the moral character described and I am glad he found happiness.
@@jfrorn nah, I just live in a real world... it is all nice to romanticize our grandfathers as some heroes and saints, but believe me 19 or 20 yo guys that serve in military all think about same thing...
Higgins was also cool in that he voluntarily desegregated his workforce
We do love to see it
@Robert Sears okay boomer
@Robert Sears and thats why your not in charge of anything. These boats performed better than the counterpart and may have saved more lives.
@Robert Sears You keep posting your criticism of the Higgins boat, multiple times, yet fail to cite why they were an "evil boat". Or offer anything superior.
@Robert Sears man, I am not sure if you are just trolling, or are really so stupid.
Would love to see a special on the Landing Ship Tank (LST) and perhaps smaller vessels. A small ship that could carry multiple tanks, beach itself, disgorge the tanks and thousands of tons of supplies, then haul itself off the beach and sail across an ocean was amazing. A few even experimented with launching and retrieving light aircraft.
My father was a "fireman" (engine room mechanic) on an LST. He was at Iwo Jima and Ie Shima. They were the workhorses of the Navy.
I have a LCT at the end of my road and it only just been fully restored and put on display
@@jamesdunn9609 My daughter was a Fireman on a US Coast Guard cutter in the Pacific just 18 months ago. It had two, big Caterpillar diesels. She was not amused that I kept referring to her as a "CAT Lady."
@@amerigo88 🤔😆😅
@@jamesdunn9609 My daughter was following in the steps of her great-grandfather. He was "too young for WWI and too old for WWII." By WWII, he was a dentist and ended up serving in the Coast Guard in Hawaii. He was pulling teeth for Uncle Sam. About 75 years later, his great-granddaughter served on a Hawaii-based Coast Guard cutter.
"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense." - Mark Twain
I met a Vietnam veteran who used modified leftover higgin's boats in the war as resupply ships for troops stationed near rivers - these boats saw all sorts of combat!
Damn, would not have known that. Thanks for sharing.
I live near New Orleans and have been a member of the WW2 Museum dating back to when it was the D-Day Museum, I am 51 and have studied WW2 as long as I can remember so I was beyond happy when it opened so close to me. I found this channel right before you started the Pearl Harbor mini series and since then have not missed a single episode and have also been going further back watching previous episodes, keep up the great work!
That really means a lot to us David, we're really honoured to have the support of someone so passionate about World War Two history. Is Citino still working at the WW2 Museum? Great historian.
@@WorldWarTwo Sorry, I don’t know any of the historians there. Wish I did! Would love to sit down with some of them and talk.
Fellow Louisianan here ☺️ That museum and the people you can meet there are national treasures.
I would have thought this episode was about the Liberty Ships, they were produced faster than the Germans could make Torpedoes and they helped get the armies around the world to fight on everything corner of the earth.
it should be brought up since no army can fight without supplies.
Also, for countries recovering in the post-war, the Liberty ships were keystone vessels for economic rehabilitation, founding many modern merchant navies.
@@BHuang92 the Victory class did share the burden though
Liberty ships also popularized the Kilroy graffiti.
@Robert Sears Yes, the allies never made something more evil and bad than this amphibious vehicle. Japan only surrendered after all the firebombing and nukes because the Allies threatened to take them on boat rides.
My father built Higgins boats in Australia with the 411th engineers special construction battalion. He spent two months at the Higgins factory in Louisiana learning how to build them.
Thanks for sharing that!
“Andrew Higgins is the man who won the war for us.” -President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1964 interview. The President went on to explain: “If Higgins had not designed and built those LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel), we never could have landed over an open beach. The whole strategy of the war would have been different.” And as Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (Ret) said, “The Higgins boats broke the gridlock on the ship-to-shore movement. It is impossible to overstate the tactical advantages this craft gave U.S. amphibious commanders in World War II.”
@Robert Sears are you okay?
@Robert Sears you do realise that the vast majority of amphibious landings didn’t end up like the start of Saving Private Ryan?
@@rickglorie He's the guy who constantly hates on the AR-15 and 5.56x45mm on InRangeTV, and to my knowledge has never said anything good about anything, so probably just a troll.
@@hailexiao2770 thank you, I saw his remarks further down, along the same lines indeed.
@Robert Sears were killed*, illiterate
Laughing at the Minecraft sound when the ramp is being lowered into the water at 8:35
lmaooo
Amphibious operations are widely seen as some of the most difficult in warfare. The allies experience in this area, earned in blood over the coming battles, will prove decisive in the late stages of the war
But in hindsight we can say that the pacific landings were utterly pointless. Germany would have kept the war going despite the two atomic bombs..... japan did despite one !!
LeonG that statement is misleading at best. No one can say that Nazi Germany *might have* continued fighting after two atomic bombs dropped on it, because that did not happen. Japan was in disarray after the first atomic bomb, some officers going so far as trying a coup. Since the second atomic bomb *was* dropped on Japan, we can not know if they *could* have continued after only one.
I'm so glad to see a video on Higgins Boats. My great grandfather helped build them in New Orleans during the war.
Your great grandfather made a great ship :)
@Robert Sears If you think that, you should probably learn more about WW2 amphibious landings than just watching the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan lol. Omaha Beach was the exception, not the rule.
@Robert Sears and tell me if you consider the higgins useless then what are poorly made vehicles made by lets say Germany called?
@Robert Sears anyway if you can reply to my counter argument to your baseless claims in another section that will be nice.
The Universal Carrier, known as the Bren Gun Carrier, is vastly underrated. A small, tracked, go anywhere vehicle, that performed just about every role. Made in the UK and Canada. Used by many allied armies.
One of the few vehicles the Germans put to use in numbers when captured.
The Bren carrier was a death trap for its riders.
@@craigclemens986
Please elaborate.
@@johnburns4017
It was noisy, not very fast and very open to even light gun fire
@@monza1002000
It was not a tank. It was to carry equipment. It was even used to mount machine guns, tow other vehicles, etc. It was brilliant. It is the most produced armoured fighting vehicle in history.
It was made by the Americans, and copied by the Germans/Italians. Very few countries in the world did not use it. An amazing vehicle.
@@johnburns4017
I know exactly what it was and is was all of those things l said.
The fact that the Jeep was in the thumbnail along with the boat made me do a double take once y'all starting explaining the origin of the Higgins. Since the Jeep is also in the pantheon of war winning vehicles. No doubt a deliberate choice for the thumbnail.
Finally. A video on the mighty Bob Semple tank!
A weapon so powerful that it was never deployed.
Rumor has it that they didn't want to be brought up on charges of cruelty.
@@eldorados_lost_searcher To their own men that is xD
th-cam.com/video/NoFabPOFsHQ/w-d-xo.html
@@luisurdiales3091
Shh.
The only tank to be undefeated in battle!
Here in Russia the T-34 is one of the "weapons of Victory". Heard a lot about it. Not the Higgins boat though. Thanks for sharing!
Yep, not much need for landing craft in a basically land war.
I am sure there was some equivalent used over the Volga during Stalingrad. And at least an equally interesting story as well. But history tends to forget the "not so sexy" things like landing boats. Cheers!
@@DawidKov The "adaptations" and "versatile" is the point worth remembering. The very fact that there was a *flotilla* is seldom understood. That they "made do" with barges, tugs and ingenuity is a story that should be told. The adaptations at least would rival the rhino tanks modifications in Normandy, and we have heard a lot about that. And to make my point again... regular barges make no headlines, but in this case they should. Respectfully. 👍
In the US/western allies most Consider the "weapons of victory" to be the higgins boats, jeep, M4 sherman, the M1 garrand or bren gun (depending on if the individual is American or common wealth).
@Nihil Patel Nice :D
Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II, wiki:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Traps
As a native of New Orleans I absolutely love this... A restored to actual use version of this boat can be experienced at the National World War 2 Museum in the warehouse district of downtown New Orleans. Sidenote : The production line was spread out to a portion of ST. Charles avenue where Mardi Gras rolls down every year...
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Great piece about the Higgins boat. And that whole series on Pearl Harbor is intense, highly recommended.
Thank you!
I would submit the Canadian Military pattern truck as a close runner up. Logistics, workshops, medical, basis for armoured vehicles, improvised bridge foundations and almost everyone involved in the war had some.
Came here to say exactly this.
Canadian Military pattern truck wiki:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Military_Pattern_truck
As a canuck who's unfamiliar with its specifics why this truck over other trucks of the war?
I'm unsure why the CMP would rate over the CCKW. Similar capacity and similar role.
@@elektrotehnik94 That is a really interesting article!
According the the national WW2 museum in NOLA the reason New Orleans was chosen as the site of the museum was due to the Higgins boat being built there.
The deuce and a half is probably one of the most slept on vehicles when it comes to war winning ones.
I don't know if you guys already did a segment on this but I would like to nominate the Willy's Jeep as one of the most important vehicles of the Second World War. That and the Bren Gun Carrier used by the British and the Canadians.
Wish that Indy had mentioned that many Higgins boats were used to cross the Rhine. They just stacked them onto train cars and shipped them East.
Higgins LNC was a great invention but it was 2 small to carry a tank or armored truck - so the Naval architects redesigned it to a larger LNC which can carry a tank their after develop a even bigger one that can carry multiple tanks , serval trucks -supplies by the ton and sort of small ship - and it was vital for D day landings
It seems pretty straightforward, each phase of the war in a given theater had its own requirements. In the years where Europe was occuppied and the US was trying to wrest control of the Pacific from the Japanese, the bomber and the aircraft carrier well proved their worth. When the Allies were at a point of taking territory, the amphibious landing craft was the star. After landing and driving into land such as after D-day, vehicles like the Sherman and the Jeep prove their worth.
I'd almost be more interested to hear about the machines of war that really didn't prove themselves despite widespread contemporary value and esteem heaped on them.
Flying fortresses weren’t particularly capable of hitting anything.
The Eastern Front is the only major theater not impacted by the Higgins Boat ( and the other innovative landing and supply craft it sailed with ). From North Africa to both Western Fronts in Europe to the Pacific and beyond the Allies had to have something that put men and their supplies into the fight.
The Jeep, CCKW 6x6 Truck, C-47, Higgins Boat, Liberty Ship these all proved critical to us and our allies during WWIl. We could get stuff anywhere and everything with these logistical super weapons.
1:20 ah, the minecraft water sound effect
Classic
Submitted for the title: the liberty ship. The entire UN concept for winning the war was out producing and fielding the axis. You need to move vast amounts of supplies to do this, or earlier to keep a blockaded population fighting. Even the jeeps and the legendary logistics trucks needed to get to the front to work.
When you contrast these to how the British/ANZACs assaulted the beaches at Gallipoli in WW1, it plainly made a huge difference to both speed & ease of disembarkation (when used correctly)
Liberty cargo ships should be mentioned of literally carrying the war
Absolutely the most important. Maybe t-34 too.
@@romansmith2861 Zhukov stated that Soviet tanks were made with American steel plates. Hence Liberty ships were essential even for T-34 production
Liberty Ships are probably number one, but my thoughts went to the 2-1/2 ton truck or the Jeep.
the ships were not special. look at war factories how fast they were made
My first thought as well. Quantity over quality in this example.
Great video Indy and crew. I totally agree that American amphibious assaults were totally redesigned around the gradually more efficient Higgins Boats. As member of your Patreon, I would also greatly appreciate more videos going into depth of the USMC’s amphibious strategies and equipment. The Higgins Boats were essential obviously, but in the pacific it was found they often couldn’t reach the actual beaches because they would ground themselves on reefs or hidden sand dunes, either delaying the boat’s arrival or stranding it altogether. Vehicles like the AmTrac and AmTanks deserve their time in the spotlight as much as the Higgins Boats, Shermans, or Liberty Ships
Thanks for the support Brent! As Island Hopping begins to get into full swing you can be sure we'll increasingly cover the USMC
A disadvantage of the Higgins Boat to the British landing craft, was that the helmsman was not protected by armour.
I’ve been to the museum in New Orleans. Everyone should go at least once
Love your content as always Indy & the team!
As someone from New Orleans, I was pretty excited to watch this episode. I remember visiting the National WWII museum in New Orleans and being impressed by the exhibit dedicated just to Higgins and my home town's crucial contribution to the Allied effort. Keep up the great work ☺️☺️☺️
Love you! Do one on the Jeep. That got the job done after we exited the LCPs, Thanks!
Especially after seeing episode after episode about German supply problems on the Eastern Front I was honestly expecting a video about humble supply trucks. Armies, especially mechanized ones, can’t accomplish much without their supply chain.
The were a wider variety of trucks used then landing craft of this size by the Allies. It would be a bit more... contentious to say which individual supply truck was as instrumental as a Higgins boat.
@@wills2140 The ten wheel two ton truck supplied to Russia and used in the Red Ball Express would be a candidate. made by Studebaker and others i believe.
Andrew Blake , it can not be denied that supply ships and trucks were vital to the Allies efforts. But they can not get ashore with out efficient landing craft. The Higgins boat ( and its British counterpart, mentioned in this video, as well the other innovative landing craft like used in the Pacific ) made it possible to land and supply troops for the initial assault(s), thus enabling the rest of the needed supplies and men have a place to go.
Higgins boats ( LCVP ) over 23 000 produced, LCA ( British ) 2 000 produced ( the workhorse of D Day ).
The way Indy delivers his reports is so engaging, he’s the number one reason I keep watching! I loved his work on The Great War channel and was sad to see his departure, but the history buff in me is thrilled to see him doing WWII work. The short briefs, packed with information and delivered as an “Extra Extra!” Special makes for a winning formula. Great job to you all at TimeGhost! Your efforts are preserving the greatest conflicts and sacrifices of the 20th century so that we may never forget!
F. Smith Thank you for the glowing praise & your dedication. The whole TimeGhost team works their butts off every week, and it means the world to us having such thoughtful & engaged people as you in the audience. Thanks & stay tuned!
I had never stopped to think about just how much of a difference maker the Higgins boats were. Thanks for another great episode!
Nice episode! I was think of the earth movers, especially the Bull dozer - which made roads, cleared mine fields, fill bomb holes, made airfields, cleared rubble from cities taken so ports & roads could be used, ect.
But the Higgen's boat I had not thought of. Kudos!
Churchill said that the cadence of Allied operations was largely dependent on the supply (and location) of the LST (Landing Ship Tanks), at least for the European landings he was most interested in.
First decent documentary I’ve seen on landing crafts! Very interesting.
Thanks Peter!
We were still using them in 1980 (and later!) when we were preparing for the potential invasion of Iran (hostage crisis). The only differences between the LCVP then and 1944 was that ours had fiberglass hulls and no machine guns. I spent a lot of hours and days bobbing around in those things!
Fiberglass hulls? I'm amazed.
Thank god that disaster never took place.
@Robert Sears I see you spamming this a lot here -- mind letting us know exactly *why* you're so upset about these things?
@@DashRantic I'd like to imagine his wive fell in love with one and rode it off into the sunset. I see no other reason to be this upset about a boat.
@Robert Sears did you just watch Saving Private Ryan for the first time or something?
Shouting "this boat is evil" over and over again is not very constructive. Do you have any sources that show more men were killed due to the front ramp VS other offloading techniques? Do you have any evidence to support your claim that the Higgins Boat was designed by Nazis?
I would be quite interested to learn more if you do, but please provide actual sources.
I’m from New Orleans and knew plenty of Higgins Industries workers who worked at the City Park plant. It currently houses Delgado Community College.
A professor’s uncle had worked there and gave us a talk. The Lakefront area and sea wall in West End is where they tested the Eurekas, then the PT boats, and LCVPs.
JEEP's do one on the JEEP's and the Victory Ship as well those did such an amazing job for the war efforts. All the Allies used them, at least that is my understanding. Great job Indy always love to hear from you.
After learning of U.S. Marine Lieutenant Victor Krulak’s account of a Japanese landing craft with a retractable bow ramp during Japan’s 1937 invasion of China, Higgins modified his craft to include this feature. He filed for a patent on December 8, 1941, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The LCVP’s ramp, protected by U.S. patent no. 2,341,866, would become America’s not-so-secret weapon for quickly offloading machinery and troops throughout the war.
The patented boat that won the war | USPTO page
Your "Liutenant" was probably pissed as hell when he looked at his pay check since he was wearing Lt. General stars.
I'm guessing he was a Lieutenant at the time Indy was talking about.... :D
@@Raskolnikov70 I seriously doubt it. No way would the Corps delegate something so important to an O1 or O2. I could be wrong, but that sure does not sound like my beloved Corps
Krulak was a Lt. at the time, and worked for Major Linsert, USMC. He did take photos of the ramp in China and showed them to his boss Linsert- the liason to the Navy Dept. Krulak probably never met Higgins He was later a test driver for the Alligator in the Caribbean. My great Uncle Captain Ralph Samuel McDowell ,USN,Annapolis class of 1918 purchased the Eureka boat for the Navy Dept ( and thus USMC). He also worked with Mr. Higgins on a hull modification in Washington DC. See my comment above and Progress and Purpose; A Developmental History of the USMC. Uncle Ralph also knew Gen H.M McTyeire, both from Alabama who was involved . It was a team effort, but LT. Krulak played a tiny part. Uncle Ralph is interred in Arlington, and was a vet of WW1 and WW2. He never talked about the War. John Shoemaker, Jr.
You are correct sir. LT. Krulak only played a tiny part, and probably never even met Higgins. See my comments here. Remember, you have to be a politician to make Gen. ,and sometimes your resume becomes exaggerated over time. John Shoemaker,Jr.
LT. Krulak had very little to do with it and probably never even met Higgins. See my comment above. John Shoemaker, Jr.
I think the most important vehicle varies by the front and stage of the war. The Studebaker trucks that were given to the USSR via lend lease were absolutely game changers. They are what facilitated most non rail movement of the red army in 43 and 44.
Not to mention Soviets copying and endlessly modifying Studebaker trucks long after WWII.
many truck brands would of worked
What about the LCA? The rangers preferred it because it has silenced motors and some armour, as well as seats for the troops. Both LCA and Higgins boats were vital to achieve the Allied war aims.
Production numbers?
@Robert Sears Show us where the Higgins Boat touched you
My Great-Grandfather was mention in despatches whilst acting as the coaxswain on one of these at Normandy and towing an ammunition barge which was on fire out of harms way from the other ships which was witnessed by an American officer.
Great video as always, but I have a bit of a correction. At 2:00 you start talking about Victor Krulak, and refer to him as a lieutenant; however the picture shows him as a Lieutenant General (three stars, and a rank he did attain and according to his NYT obit he was at least a major going into the Second World War. I just wanted to point this out because it confused me at first because a lieutenant and a LG are on opposite ends of the officer totem pole. Still great video though, thank for bringing excellent content every week!
This confused me as well, so I checked. Krulak was a lieutenant at the time of his observations in China, so referring to him as such is entirely correct.
Plus, (minor quibble) they spelled it liutenant
@@toddclayton Dyslexics of the world....Untie!!
@Whomever, okay that makes more sense, thank you! Yeah just hearing him being called a lieutenant while showing a pic of him as a general just threw me way off for a min
@@jamesharmer9293 Love it!!!
One thing I definitely know about WW2 it's that Logistics played a huge part in who won.
So I would say the vehicle that had an underrated impact was probably a truck of some kind.
Lots of trucks helped the Russians advance. Many also used as weapons platforms (Katyushas/Stalin Organs)
Lots of trucks kept the supplies going to the western troops for far longer than expected between D-day and the actual capture of a proper function harbor (see Red Ball Express)
There were 20,000+ higgins boats built for WWII.
I would argue that the single vehicle that contributed the most to winning the war, it would be the humble supply truck, or the supply ship.
No doubt that supply ships and trucks were the backbone of Allied logistics, but nearly all theaters needed some way to get the initial assault wave of men and supplies to the fight because neither supply ships or trucks could do that on their own. I am fairly sure logistics vehicles will get a future episode.
i didnt even consider this, but ye the landing craft was insanely important , a true silent hero
My grand uncle was a Coxswain mate in the USN before the war. Small boat driver. He was a LCVP driver all through the war in the Pacific. He came home with debilitating PTSD. He would not talk about the war. For a while after he came home, he lived in the woods. He got help in the 50s. All my family had been Army, WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Of all of them, I respected my granduncle the most for what had done, so I went into the Navy after HS. He was still around and when I came home on leave. One day we had lunch. It was then he told me some of what he went through. He said he was heading into a beach with USMC, boats to his left and right. The boat on his right disappeared in a flash, with a cloud of wood, guts and blood spraying all over (and them). He told me, on many of the landings, the bow ramp go down and the whole front line of Marines go down, KIA. The Gunny had the rest go over the sides or over the KIA. Then my granduncle took all the KIA back to the ship and did that over and over and over. He said, after the landings, he make trips in with bullets, food and fuel, and come back with a boat full of KIA. Over and over and over. He stayed in long enough to be part of the Japan occupation. He passed away in the 00s living alone and out of touch with us (again) like he liked.
Dear Christopher, thank you for sharing that very personal story with us. War has left many souls scarred with wounds no time could heal. No wonder some preferred to keep their demons within, reluctant to share what they have seen...
That’s why the national WWII museum is down here in New Orleans on Higgens Blvd. you can ride an LCV on Lake Pontchatrain. Worth a visit!!!
OK... Indy
You got me on this one .
I was looking at the Jeep not the Higgins LC .
In land though it will be the Jeep that outnumbers other vehicles .
Both the British and American Glider Troops will have Jeeps on Evey other glider .
Great movie about the LCP / LCM craft is " Away all Boats " .
Like other people, I half expected this episode to be about the jeep, but I think that's partially because my dad (US Navy) loved both "jeep" and "bazooka" as words. My dad was a huge fan of the strip Toonerville Trolley and Bob Burns' comedy bits
Nice especially since I’m knee deep in the pacific. Just finished Ian Toll series and now I’m on Neptunes Inferno. Great stuff thanks Drachinfel
we still used those nets when i was in the Marines. they are alot more work to climb up and down wearing full kit than many think.
For whatever reason i always loved the Higgins boats
"jeep", the miracle vehicle.
What you guys do is special. Top quality. I'm impressed each time I watch your production work. And I've been a student and amateur historian my whole life.
I did not know enough about these boats. I did know about Churchill and his views on landing craft and their importance, and how it was felt in allied circles that we never had enough, or enough to go around.
Thanks!
Thanks for the support Adm!
One thing I was told about Higgins Boats was the trouble they had with reefs damaging the vessels or getting stuck on said reefs
You're probably thinking about the Battle of Tarawa, fought on 20-23 November 1943. Many of the tropical islands in the Pacific have fringing coral reefs, or are just the fringing coral reefs around a central lagoon (called an atoll). Coral doesn't grow at the higher latitudes where amphibious operations took place in the European theater. But even at Tarawa, the problem wasn't just that there was a reef, but that the invasion started during a neap tide, when the water depth over the reef was less than invasion planners expected. After that the Navy got smarter by developing teams of frogmen to scout enemy-held beaches before the main force invaded.
Worked on an albacore boat out of San Pedro, Cal in the '60s. Guy who tied up next to us had a Higgins boat that had been converted to a fishing boat. You could see where the new bow had been added.
At 0:23 you show a Higgins Boat, PA26-23. That was from the USS Samuel Chase(APA26), an attack transport. My father was CCM on that ship and participated in 7 landings. Good Luck, Rick
Thanks for sharing you father's story Rick. Really helps remind us all that this is still living history.
Knew a guy who was a driver of one of these. He also talked about a winch anchor they had that would help to pull them back off the beach
I was still driving a Higgins Boat (LCVP) in 1985, from the USS Cayuga LST 1186.
I'm learning how to sail. That rudder in front of the prop? That's really interesting. Prop walk is the tendency of a boat to veer in one direction based on the direction the prop turns. In the sail boats I charter they always want to turn hard to rear-left (port). In reverse the rudder is almost useless. The way to keep this from happening is to slowly back up. 'Slowly' is not what anyone would want while under fire. So that rudder in front? cool feature, that makes the boat steerable in reverse. Well done Higgins Boat Company! And cheers World War Two Channel for yet more information on a subject I thought I already knew.
Glad you learned something new! Cheers!
I feel these videos put me in the middle of the action. No other videos on WW II have the detail and information as these. These videos should be used in schools as a teaching aid in history...they are simply that good!
I was able to look at one of these guys in person, there is a still completely in tact example of a Higgins Boat in the lobby of the National WW2 Museum in New Orleans, the place where these boats were manufactured.
Hi Indy.
I was waiting for this episode..
Wondered about this higgins boat for a long time..
Had seen in movie and in your intro..
Well i learned about it..
Thanks..
Glad we delivered!
Coast Guard still using LCVPs through the 1970s on polar icebreakers. (There is no dock at Point Barrow.) Amazingly useful boats.
A well deserved mention. Pictures from movies like "save private Ryan" give us the somewhat false impression these landing crafts were sure death traps.
i would have gone for the DUKW/Duck...
nice detail, two of those old beasts have been (still are?) used by the watership that maintains one of our most important dikes "de Hondsbossche en Pettemer zeewering". this is the dike that is laid in the gap between the dunes at the coast of the province of Noord-Holland. they bring out huge mats that are used to prevent the sand in the front of the dike to erode and the stones that are dumped on these mats called "zinkstukken"...
In the 90s we managed to buy an amphibious ford jeep engine, which we still possess. We bought it at an auction by the Calcutta Port trust. There were a few hundred of these jeeps brought in here for the Burma China India front, but it came too late to make any difference.
Great subject. I really like a short video on a really good subject. When it's over I feel like I've learned something and will actually remember it.
This series should be called "Nuts & Bolts", like spies and ties
Thanks for this one. I learned something new! Can you the history of the PT boats. Thanks.
ok i definitely heard the minecraft water sound
Indy: "What's the most important vehicle in WWII?"
Me: "Studebaker trucks!"
Indy: "No."
Me: "Willis Jeep!"
Indy: "No."
Me: "The Douglass DC-43!"
Indy: "Not even close."
Me: "The boots of Russians ;-;"
Indy: "You fool! Boots aren't a vehicle!" **whip crack from a particularly durable tie**
Me: **weeping** "Gun carriers like the M18 and M36!!"
Indy: **omnipresent voice** "NO."
Me: "The f*ckin' landing boats, I doubt it but its all I go-"
Indy: **still in an omnipresent voice** "Correct! The Allied landing craft. You win a tie."
**Indy places tie around my neck**
**a halo appears above my head**
**ascends to landing craft heaven**
**doesn't recognize 99 of every 100 lost souls because I'm Russian and we just used boats 99.92% of the time**
Truly, a worthy fate.
Great episode Indy, love ya' :)) All the best to you and yours ❤🙏🏻
😂😂😂😂😂
"Jumping over the side made men vulnerable."
*Redesign has ramp in the front where enemy gunners can mow down everyone in the boat.
Because people can quickly charge out of the front of a boat but if they jump in the water wearing heavy equipment, not only might they drown, but are exposed to enemy fire whilst struggling to the shore.
Awesome episode!
If i may, here's an idea for an episode; on wood gas vehicles used during ww2.
It's the jeep, the DC-3, the liberty ship or the B-29, depending on your perspective. All worth a special of their own.
Wow, you guys even mentioned the Daihatsu landing craft. Freaking bravo!
Also, Marine general Victor Krulak's son, Charles, would follow in his father's footsteps and joined the Marines in 1963. Charles Krulak would gain combat experience in the Vietnam War and awarded the Silver Star (among others), and would eventually become Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995-1999.
Thanks for noticing that detail! Glad you enjoyed the video!
Excellent! Thank you for another well done and informative video!!
Thank you George! The TimeGhost Army makes it all possible!
In the Pacific where more landings occurred and obstacles like reefs exited the LVT was a better craft. The DUKW was found to have advantages for landing supplies in Europe during the Italian and D-Day campaigns, since it could drive on land and not stop at the waters edge.
The DUKW was also handy for river crossings when all the bridges were blown, and for evacuating wounded soldiers on the return trip.
I read lots of debate here about the most important contributing vehicle to victory in World War Two, and there are many candidates. However, if we consider which was the most unique contributor, I believe that the Higgins Boat may indeed win out. Before the war, there were trucks (maybe not Jeeps, but these were basically small, handy trucks), cargo ships, cargo planes, bombers, and all the rest. But there were no ships specifically designed for and able to land on, unload, and withdraw from a defended beach. That was the Higgins Boat. The tracked and armored landing vehicles took on more and more significance as the war in the Pacific continued; the larger landing craft also played their important role. But you have to first take the beach, and that is what the Higgins Boat allowed the Allies to do.
My pitch for another episode: machines and technologies that allowed the Allies to efficiently train such large groups of men for the risky tasks that they would face. My father was an Army Air Force Staff Sergeant who spent his wartime years as a Link Trainer instrument and radio direction finding instructor. The Link Trainer was the world's first successful flight simulator, used in this war to teach cadet pilots how to navigate and land by radio and instruments alone, without having to risk life, limb and valuable government equipment in order to do so. I have often wondered how many Army Air Force (and Allied Air Force) lives were saved by this innovation. I also wonder what were the other training wonders of the war. Maybe we can share some of that knowledge here.
i saw the picture and was thinking the willy jeeps. but landing craft wasn't on my mind, but definitely great video.
Great episode and I agree that this landing craft was great and probably the best in the Pacific theatre but I think that in Europe it would probably be the 2.5 ton 6×6 truck
Higgins boats pretty much killed many of the soldiers landing at Normandy. As soon as the ramp went down the were raked with machine gun fire. The LVTs manufactured by Borg-Warner could drive up on the beach as far as needed and troops were let out the back. There was also a armored tank version that could've accompanied them. The Marines used these in the Pacific and were able to get further onto the beach. If anything, they should've stuck with the faster Eurekas and built a ramp on the back.
Thank you.
@Michael Rains Thank you for watching!
Cool craft! Thanks Indy!
I thought 4x2 trucks, amtracks, shermans, liberty ships, and LCTs on my immediate list...need to discuss each of these in their broader strategic impact.
love the Higgins boats and PT boats as they changed the pacific and invasion problem with many cheap boats built out of wood that could do a 'man's' job
most thought that wooden ships and planes were inferior
There's references from Middle Ages sources (around C12th) of vessels that sound suspiciously like landing craft. Although some references say the ramp was at the stern and the boats reversed onto to beach.
"So the fleet came to land, and when they were landed, forth came the knights out of the transports, all mounted; for the transports were built in such fashion that they had doors, which were easily opened, and a bridge was thrust out whereby the knights could come forth to land all mounted."
Sadly in reviewing WWII military history, many people say this individual bit of kit that won WWII, no it did not.
It was a combination of all of them,
1. Landing ships , DUKWS, Higgins Boats, Landing Craft Assault, LVT Buffalo etc.
2. Pipe Line Under The Ocean, Mulberry harbours.
3. Then we have Percy Hobart's Funnies, the DD Sherman, Flail and Crab tank for clearing minefields, Bobbin mat layer, Crocodile flame thrower, Assault vehicle for tackling concrete bunkers. Armoured Bulldozers. Churchill Ark equipped with two ramps to allow vehicles to drive over it, The AVRE Churchill would come also come with girder bridges, also fascines to be dropped into anti tank ditches.
4. Then we have the Jeep, Universal Carrier, Duce and half, CMP military truck, Sherman Firefly and its American equivalent, finally not forget the Sherman Bocage cutter!
All of these were designed specifically to overcome a problem. Many were designed, concept approved, then massed produced in just 2 years which is a great outcome in itself.
Great episode. I don't think you would find this many other places.
Thank you!
Five vehicles that won the war -
The Higgins landing-craft.
The Jeep.
The M35 (deuce-and-a-half) truck.
The Douglas DC3 Dakota.
The Liberty ship.
It is worth to mention that there was also a LCM. Landing Craft Mechanized. For vehicles.