The stodgy old WW1 leftover Admirals and chair bound Generals in the 30's were convinced that amphibious warfare was a thing of the past or if it was necessary to land Military personnel on the beach it would be a piece of cake operation. It took a Marine captain with vision and a small boat building company in New Orleans to convince the US Navy that we were no longer living in the 19th century. Higgins built his boat despite the Navy's opinion that it wasn't needed and when the sea trials finally convinced the Navy they awarded the contract to Cris-Craft. To his credit, Senator Truman intervened and Higgins was given the contract. He had 24 hour shifts working under canvas tents producing the landing craft that ultimately took the Marines to the beaches and the Normandy Troops to the beaches of France. Every landing craft was called a Higgins boat for good reason.
