1942: Higgins Boats

In this Sept. 29, 1942 photograph, New Orleans’ shipbuilder and “man who won the war” Andrew Jackson Higgins is giving President Franklin Roosevelt a tour of the Higgins Industries’ City Park factory that built the famed PT Boats. Roosevelt is in the front seat with Higgins behind him, talking into the president’s ear. Others in the convertible are Louisiana governor Sam Jones and Admiral Frank Leighton.

The president’s visit was a short stopover during a secret nationwide tour of military bases, shipyards and war production plants. It was so secret, The Times-Picayune didn’t mention it until Oct. 2, long after Roosevelt left town. While in New Orleans, discussions between Higgins and the president centered around Higgins’ proposal to build 200 Liberty ships and supercargo airplanes at his Michoud plant.

The Times-Picayune quoted an optimistic Higgins: “We were very gratified with the president’s evident pleasure in seeing what we were accomplishing and with his interest in those operations we were able to show him in the brief time of his visit.”

Unfortunately, the federal government approved but later cancelled Higgins’ plans to build the ships and planes. Yet, Higgins’ unparalleled contributions to the war effort included not only PT Boats but also the famed landing craft that ferried American troops ashore in the South Pacific and Europe. Later in the war, Higgins’ Michoud plant also produced parts for the Manhattan Project.

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In a 1992 lecture at the Historic New Orleans Collection, University of New Orleans historian Stephen Ambrose, a prime mover in the creation of the World War II Museum, repeated a conversation he once had with Eisenhower. “Without the Higgins’ boats,” Eisenhower said, “we could never have landed on an open beach. Had Higgins not designed and then built in such quantities the LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel), the whole strategy of the war would have been different, and probably not successful.” Eisenhower went on to describe Higgins as, “The man who won the war for us.”

In 1938, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command, Higgins operated a small boatyard with about 75 employees. By the end of 1943, he had seven plants scattered across New Orleans with more than 25,000 employees who constructed over 20,000 boats. He was so successful Adolph Hitler supposedly dubbed Higgins the “New Noah.”

The story gets better. An article published by the World War II Museum states that “Higgins’ workforce was the first in New Orleans to be racially integrated. His employees included undrafted white males, women, African Americans, the elderly and handicapped persons. All were paid equal wages according to their job rating. They responded by shattering production records.”

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Higgins, born in 1882 Columbus, Nebraska, died in New Orleans in 1952. He is buried in Metairie Cemetery.

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