Higgins Industries

  1930 to 1959

  United States of America

TYPE: Shipyard & aircraft manufacturer

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: New Orleans, LA

FORMER NAME: Nil

SUBSEQUENT NAME: New York Ship (sold 1959)

Higgins Industries was a shipyard founded in 1930 by shipping & lumber industry tycoon Andrew Higgins. Originally established to service his own fleet of sailing ships, claimed to be the largest in America at the time, the shipyard soon turned to designing transport ships for the military. In 1938, the US Navy tested Higgins' first home design, the Eureka boat, a flat-bottom craft able to sail into shallow waters. It was ordered in February 1939 as the LCPL (Landing Craft Personnel, Large), which became the backbone of the Navy's early WWII amphibious operations. The LCPL was rapidly developped into the LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) or "Higgins Boat", a ramp-bow 36-soldier craft used extensively during the war, and the larger LCM (Landing Craft, Mechanized) able to carry tanks. From a small outfit in 1939, Higgins Industries grew into a 20,000-employee shipyard that produced over 23,000 boats during the war.

During the war, Higgins Aircraft was founded as an aviation subsidiary of Higgins Industries. Its main purpose was the production of military aircraft under license from Curtiss-Wright. Both the all-plywood Curtiss C-76 Caravan and the C-46 Commando were to be manufactured by Higgins Aircraft, but both contracts were cancelled at an early stage and only two Commandos were completed before production was shut down. The Commando contract was cancelled on 10 August 1944, and the factory complex ended up repossessed by the government in 1946.

Andrew Higgins died prematurely in 1952, and management of the shipyard was passed on to his sons. Mounting debts forced them to sell to New York Ship in 1959.

June 1944* to September 1944*

• Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando: 42-96546 (loaned 1944)