Artifact of the Month
The side view Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) on exhibit at the TC Museum.
The front view Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) on exhibit at the TC Museum
The rear view Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) on exhibit at the TC Museum.
Soldiers inside the LCVP heading to a breachhead.
Soldiers loading into the LCVP for a beachhead.
The need for a swift and safe landing craft was recognized by Marine Lieutenant Victor Krulak who had observed a Japanese amphibious landing in China prior to America’s involvement in World War II. In March of 1941 he met with Andrew Higgins who was experienced in building shallow draft boats. He used Krulak’s photographs and sketches and by December 1941 the first prototypes of the LCVP (also known as Higgins Boat) had been produced.
Constructed mainly of wood, with a quarter inch of steel plate on the bow and side for protection, the LCVP was inexpensive and simple to build. The LCVP could arrive on the beaches and unload up to 36 fully equipped troops using a fully retractable bow that formed a full width ramp. By the end of the war Higgins had produced more than 20,000 boats for Allied forces.
The Army would begin phasing out their LCVPs, and slight larger LCM-6s, in the 1950s when LCM-8s began production. The lineage of this LCVP is unknown but when it was last restored, prior to its arrival at the museum, US Navy Markings “PA-33-21” were applied. The markings were for boat #21 assigned to the Attack Transport USS Bayfield (APA-33).