Military
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At this site at 1755 St. Charles Avenue in May 1941, Andrew Jackson Higgins and Higgins Industries Inc. designed and produced America’s first successful tank landing craft. Higgins produced his shallow draft "Eureka" work boats here, and they evolved into the famed Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel, or LCVP. During World War II, Higgins Industry produced 20,094 boats for the Allied forces. The Higgins LCVP and the larger Landing Craft Mechanized boats revolutionized modern warfare by allowing an amphibious force to land men and equipment across a bow ramp over an open beach. Higgins boats took part in the landings at Salerno, Normandy, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Tarawa, and hundreds of lesser known amphibious assaults. Many of these same craft remained in service until the 1970s and may still be found on rivers around the world. Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower once referred to Higgins as "the man who won the war for us."
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