Manufactured by Higgins Industries in New Orleans, this was the standard American infantry landing craft of the war. Thirty six feet long and ten-and-a-half feet wide, it was made primarily of wood, except for the metal ramp at the bow. Powered by a diesel engine, it could carry a rifle platoon (36 men) or a jeep and a rifle squad (12 men). More than 20,000 examples of this craft were built by the end of the war. Higgins boats dropped their ramps on the beachheads of Italy, France, and throughout the Pacific Theater.
