Higgins Industries Higgins Industries was the company owned by Andrew Higgins based in New Orleans , Louisiana , United States . Higgins Industries is most famous for the design and production of the Higgins boat , an amphibious landing craft referred to as LCVP ( landing craft , vehicles , personnel ) , which was used extensively in the Allied forces ' D - Day Invasion of Normandy . Higgins also manufactured PT boat s , and produced the first American airborne lifeboat , the model A - 1 lifeboat . Andrew Higgins also owned the New Orleans - based Higgins Lumber and Export Co . , and Higgins Aircraft , which contracted to provide aircraft for the US military during World War II . Before World War Two , Higgens got its big start with the design and production of small shallow - draft boats that were designed to operated in the shallow marsh areas common to Louisiana . These small but fast boats were called Eureka Boats or Spoonbills , and they could impact partially submerged logs without suffering damage . The propeller was partially enclosed in a tunnel to protect it against submerged objects . The " Spoonbill " was the first design used for a personnel landing craft used by the US Navy , the LCPL , before the famous and much improved Higgins LCVP was offered . These were the landing craft that were main type used on the invasion of Guadalcanal . Unfortunately , these first primitive landing craft ( LCPL ) required the landing party to go over the sides to exit the craft exposing them to enemy fire . But later in the war they were found extremely successful for combat engineer units , rescue , etc . Higgins Industries expanded rapidly to meet military needs during World War II , going from a single plant employing fewer than 75 people before the war to 7 plants employing more than 20 , 000 workers by 1943 . Higgins employed the first fully integrated working force of women and men , African Americans and whites in New Orleans . In 1964 , Dwight D . Eisenhower said to historian Stephen Ambrose : " [ Andrew Higgins ] is the man who won the war for us . If Higgins had not designed and built those landing craft , we never would have landed over an open beach . The whole strategy of the war would have been different . " Higgins Industries produced over sixty different items for the US government during the war . Higgins ranked 70th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts . The resulting business success allowed Andrew Higgins to expand into several other ventures , including Higgins Aircraft , Higgins Engine Co . , and Higgins Plastics Corp . After the war he tried to transition this capability into consumer products such as appliances , personal watercraft , and housing materials . In late 1945 Frank P . Higgins , brother of Andrew , became director of marketing , operating the Higgins Marine Sales Corp . However , labor strife complicated the picture , and on 9 November 1945 Andrew Higgins liquidated the business . In January of the following year he formed another company ( Higgins , Inc . ) to resume building pleasure watercraft . The other industrial properties of the previous Higgins Industries were transferred to ownership of the new company , but were never successful in finding markets for their products . By 1948 all the other plants were closed , and watercraft production was concentrated in the Industrial Canal plant . Andrew Higgins died of a stomach problem on 1 August 1952 , after which his sons continued the business for a time . However , in 1959 all the remaining assets were sold to New York Ship , which was later sold to Equitable equipment Co . Higgins Marine Sales Corp . continued at the old City Park plant until 1970 , when it moved to Thalia Street . It was permanently closed in 1975 . Andrew Higgins died of a stomach ailment at age sixty - five on August 1 , 1952 . His sons ( Ed , Andrew Jr . , Frank , and Roland ) continued the business through the 1950s , but mounting debts resulted in the sale of Higgins , Inc . to New York Ship in 1959 . New York Ship was subsequently sold to what would eventually become Equitable Equipment Company . Higgins Marine Sales Corporation continued at the old City Park Plant until 1970 , when it moved to Thalia Street , where it operated for five more years before closing . One of the Higgins factories in New Orleans was converted into NASA ' s Michoud Assembly Facility in 1961 .