[snippy_about_it]

Higgins Boats



Higgin's boats, also called LCVP (Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel), were flat bottomed craft with a very shallow draft specially designed for amphibious landings. They featured a bow ramp that fall open when the craft would run aground on the beach allowing the troops inside to exit onto the beach and begin operations. They were used in most all amphibious landings in both the European and Pacific Theaters.

Unfortunately at Tarawa the Higgins boats could not traverse the reef the surrounded Betio even with their shallow draft on D-Day. That was due to the "Neap Tide" that November morning, which meant the reef would barely be covered with water in that critical stage of the invasion.


Higgins boats head for the beach. Ahead through the smoke lies Betio. Before that lies the edge of the reef. In the upper left corner notice the plane which has probably just dumped its load of bombs.


These Higgin's Boats are probably near the edge of the reef. The boat to the right appears to still have troops aboard. In the background LVTs can be seen heading for Red Beach 1. Red Beach 3 is getting blasted in the center of the picture. The northern point of Green Beach is to the right.
Click here for a larger version.


Supplies are being taken to Betio in an LCVP. They will be unloaded at the long pier. Notice the bow of a Higgins boat sticking out of the water. It was most likely hit from a 127mm AA gun or one of the anti-boat guns located in the


Click here for a larger version.

For more information and specifications on Higgins Boats click here to go to the Higgins Boat Project.

---

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
www.higginsboat.org/html/higind.html
ANDREW JACKSON HIGGINS AND THE BOATS THAT WON WORLD WAR II
ISBN 0-8071-1903-2 / LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
http://www.higginsmemorial.com/

www.tarawaontheweb.org/higgins.htm

[snippy_about_it]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



It's Friday. Good Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[steveegg]

Good morning, snippy. It's good to be back.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Morning, snippy! Morning, SAM and FoxHole crew!

The FReeper Foxhole Studies the Higgins Boat - March 28th, 2004

Thanks for keeping me on my toes, each morning, lol.

Second cup of coffee on the way...for me, too!

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 26:
1479 Vasili III great prince of Moscow (1505-33)/son of Ivan III
1516 Konrad von Gesner Zürich Switzerland, naturalist (Bibliotheca Universalis)
1659 William Wollaston Coton England, philosopher
1753 Benjamin Thompson physicist (Royal Institute of Great Britain, Woburn MA)
1773 Nathaniel Bowditch mathematician/astronomer/polyglot/author (Marine Sextant)
1813 Thomas West Sherman Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1879
1817 Herman Haupt Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1905
1840 George Smith London England, assyriologist (cuneiform (script))
1863 Henry Royce founder (Rolls-Royce Limited in 1884)
1868 Fuad I king of Egypt (1922-36)
1874 Robert Frost San Francisco CA, poet (Mending Wall, Road Not Taken)
1875 Syngman Rhee President of South Korea (1948-60)
1880 Duncan Hines US, restaurant guide writer (Out of Kentucky Kitchens)
1904 Joseph Campbell mythologist (Mythic Image)
1905 Viktor Emil Frankl pyschiatrist (Man's Search for Meaning)
1908 Hank Sylvern Brooklyn NY, orchestra leader (Jane Froman's USA Canteen)
1911 Tennessee Williams Columbus MS, dramatist (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
1914 William Westmoreland Saxon SC, army general (Vietnam era)
1916 Sterling Hayden Upper Montclair NJ, actor (Dr Strangelove, Asphalt Jungle, Cobra)
1917 Rufus Thomas Cayce MS, singer (Walking the Dog)
1919 Strother Martin Kokomo IN, actor (Cool Hand Luke)(What we have here is a failure to communicate)
1921 Peter Horsley CEO (Osprey Aviation)
1930 Sandra Day O'Connor El Paso TX, 1st woman Supreme Court Justice (1981- )
1931 Leonard Nimoy Boston MA, actor (Spock-Star Trek, Mission Impossible)
1934 Alan Arkin New York NY, actor (Catch 22, In-Laws, Simon, Wait Until Dark)
1934 Gino Cappelletti ORFU, AFL running back (AFL Player of Year 1964)
1937 Wayne Embry holder of 7 basketball records (Miami of Ohio)
1939 James Caan Bronx NY, actor (Brian's Song, Killer Elite, Godfather)
1940 Nancy Pelosi (Representative-Democrat-CA)
1942 Erica Jong [Mann] New York NY, author (Fear of Flying)
1943 Robert Woodward investigative reporter (Watergate, CIA crimes)
1944 Diana Ross [Earle] Detroit MI, (Supremes, Lady Sings the Blues, Mahogany)
1946 Johnny Crawford Los Angeles CA, actor (Mark-The Rifleman)
1948 Steven Tyler New York NY, rock vocalist (Dream On, Walk This Way, Aerosmith-Janie's Got a Gun)
1949 Vicki Lawrence Inglewood CA, actress (Carol Burnett Show, Mama's Family)
1950 Martin Short Hamilton Ontario, comedian (Saturday Night Live, SCTV, 3 Amigos)
1954 Curtis Sliwa founder (Guardian Angels)/radio personality (WABC)
1960 Marcus Allen NFL running back (Los Angeles Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, Heisman 1981)
1962 Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko Russia, Lieutenant-Colonel/cosmonaut
1969 Elizabeth Howell Clinton MS, Miss Mississippi-America (1990)
2233 James T Kirk captain of USS Enterprise (Star Trek)

---

Deaths which occurred on March 26:
0752 Pope Stephen II dies only 4 days after his election
0809 Liudger missionary/1st bishop of Münster/saint, dies at about 66
1649 John Winthrop Puritan & 1st Governor (Massachusetts), dies
1797 James Hutton geologist, dies

1827 Ludwig van Beethoven German composer (Appassionata), dies in Wien (Vienna) at 56

1831 Richard Allen AME Church Bishop, dies at 71
1892 Walt Whitman poet, dies in Camden NJ at 72
1900 Isaac Mayer Wise rabbi/found American Hebrew Congregations, dies at 80
1923 Sarah Bernhardt [Henriette-Rosine Bernard] actress (Qn Elizabeth), dies at 77
1945 David Lloyd George British (L) premier (1916-22), dies at 82
1959 Raymond T Chandler US detective writer (Long Goodbye), dies at 71
1973 Noel Coward English playwright (Private Letters), dies at 73
1976 Richard Arlen actor (Apache Uprising, Wings), dies at 75
1983 Anthony F Blunt British art historian/spy for USSR, dies at 75
1990 Roy "Halston" Frowick fashion designer, dies of AIDs at 68
1994 Constantine Koukouchkine Russian diplomat, murdered in Algeria at 41
1996 David Packard electronic engineer/businessman, dies at 83
1996 Edmund S Muskie Vice Presidential candidate/(Governor-Democrat-ME), dies at 81

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1964 THOMPSON FLOYD J.
[03/16/73 RELEASED, ALIVE IN 98]
1964 WHITESIDES RICHARD L.---STOCKTON CA.
[NVA TOLD THOMPSON, FLOYD J. HE WAS KILLED]
1967 CROW FREDERICK A. JR.---HAMPTON VA.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 FOWLER HENRY P.---CHEVY CHASE MD.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE 98]
1968 ALLGOOD FRANKIE E.---FORT SCOTT KS.
[SAR FAILED PILOT/CO-PILOT RESCUED]
1968 EVANCHO RICHARD---FREELAND PA.
[SAR FAILED]
1968 GREEN LARRY E.---MT MORRIS MI.
[SAR FAILED]
1968 KERR ERNEST C. JR.---AKRON OH.
[SAR FAILED]
1968 LOMAX RICHARD E.---MANSFIELD OH.
1968 MOWREY GLENN W.---CHILLICOTHE OH.
[SAR FAILED]
1970 ALLEN HENRY L.---DAYTONA FL.
1970 ELZINGA RICHARD G.---SHEDD OR.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

---

On this day...
1027 John XIX crowns Conrad II the Salier Roman German emperor
1147 Jewish community in Cologne fast to commemorate anti-Jewish violence
1150 Tichborne family of Hampshire England started tradition of giving a gallon of flour to each resident to keep deathbed promise
1636 University of Utrecht opening ceremony
1668 England takes control of Bombay India
1780 1st British Sunday newspaper appears (British Gazette & Sunday Monitor)
1790 Congress passes Naturalization Act, requires 2-year residency
1793 Pro-royalist uprising in Vendée region of France
1799 Napolean captures Jaffa Palestine
1804 Congress orders removal of Indians east of Mississippi to Louisiana
1804 Territory of Orleans organized in Louisiana Purchase
1812 Earthquake destroys 90% of Caracas; about 20,000 die
1824 1st performance of Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis"
1845 Joseph Francis, New York NY, patents a corrugated sheet-iron lifeboat
1845 Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precusor of bandaid
1859 1st sighting of Vulcan, a planet thought to orbit inside Mercury
1862 Battle of La Glorieta Pass New Mexico Territory (Apache Canyon, Pigeon's Ranch)
1863 Voters in West Virginia approve gradual emancipation of slaves
1871 Paris Commune founded
1872 Thomas J Martin patents fire extinguisher
1878 Sabi Game Reserve, world's 1st official designated game reserve, opens
1885 Eastman Film Co manufactures 1st commercial motion picture film
1885 Louis Riel's forces defeat Canadian forces at Duck Lake, Saskatchewan
1910 US forbid immigration to criminals, anarchists, paupers & the sick
1913 Dayton OH almost destroyed when Scioto, Miami, & Muskingum River reach flood stage simultaneously
1916 Birdman of Alcatraz receives solitary
1926 The 1st lip-reading tournament held in America
1930 Congress appropriates $50,000 for Inter-American highway
1931 New Delhi replaces Calcutta as capitol of British-Indies
1936 200" telescope lens shipped, Corning Glass Works, New York-Cal Tech
1936 Mary Joyce ends a 1,000 mile trip by dog in Alaska
1937 Joe DiMaggio takes Ty Cobb's advice & replace his 40 with 36 oz bat
1937 Spinach growers of Crystal City TX, erect statue of Popeye
1937 William H Hastie becomes 1st black federal judge (Virgin Islands)
1942 1st "Eichmann transport" to Auschwitz & Birkenau Camps
1942 1st 700 Jews from Polish Lvov-district reach concentration camp Belzec
1945 British premier Churchill looks over at the Rhine (near Ginsberg)
1945 Japanese resistance ends on Iwo Jima
1945 Kamikazes attack US battle fleet near Kerama Retto
1951 USAF flag approved
1953 Dr Jonas Salk announces new vaccine to prevent polio [myelitis]
1955 "Ballad of Davy Crockett" becomes the #1 record in US
1958 US Army launches America's third successful satellite, "Explorer III"
1962 Supreme Court backs 1-man-1-vote apportionment of seats in state legislature
1967 Pope Paul VI publishes encyclical Populorum progressio
1969 Marcus Welby MD, a TV movie is shown on ABC-TV
1970 Golden Gate Park Conservatory made city landmark
1970 Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary) pleads guilty to "taking immoral liberties" with a 14 year old girl
1971 "Benny Hill Show" tops TV ratings
1971 "Cannon" with William Conrad premieres on CBS-TV
1971 Bangladesh (East Pakistan) declares its independence
1974 George Foreman TKOs Ken Norton in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
1974 Romanian communist party names party leader Nicolae Ceausescu President
1979 Camp David peace treaty between Israel & Egypt
1981 Police & Albanian demonstrators battle in Kosovo Yugoslavia
1982 Ground-breaking in Washington DC for Vietnam Veterans Memorial
1989 1st free elections in USSR: 190 M votes cast; Boris Yeltsin wins
1992 Mike Tyson sentenced to 10 years in rape of Desiree Washington
1994 Bonnie Blair skates world record 500 meter ladies (38.99 seconds)
1997 The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate techno-religious cult who'd committed suicide were found inside a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
1999 Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted in Pontiac, Mich., of second-degree murder for giving a patient with Lou Gehrig's disease a lethal injection, an action videotaped and broadcast on television.

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bangladesh : Independence Day (1971)
Hampshire, England : Tichborne Dole (1150)
Hawaii : Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianole Day/Regatta Day
Lesotho, Spain : Arbor Day/Fiesta del Arbol (1895)
Taiwan : Birthday of Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy
Alaska : Seward Day (1867) (Monday)
US Virgin Island : Transfer Day (1917) (Monday)
US : Make Up Your Own Holiday.
US : Chocolate Week (Day 6)
National Poetry Month

---

Religious Observances
Christian : Commemoration of St Braulio of Aragon
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Ludger, bishop, confessor

---

Religious History
1830 Joseph Smith, 24, first published "The Book of Mormon." Having derived it from golden plates he had discovered with the aid of the angel Moroni, Smith maintained that the plates were written in "Reformed Egyptian" which he had translated with the aid of "Urim and Thummim" two stones hrough which he had viewed the writings.
1840 Birth of George Smith, famed English Assyriologist. During several expeditions to the site of ancient Nineveh, (1873Â74), Smith unearthed over 3,000 cuneiform tablets, including one which told the story of an ancient deluge, similar to Noah's Flood.
1862 Hymnwriter Joseph H. Gilmore, 27, a professor of Hebrew at Newton Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, penned the words to the enduring hymn, "He Leadeth Me."
1929 The Congregation of the Sacraments within the Catholic Church published a document instructing that a plate of silver or metal gilt be held under the chin of the communicant at the reception of the Holy Communion.
1957 Dr. Basil W. Miller founded the Basil Miller Foundation in Altadena, CA. In 1959 its name was changed to World_Wide Missions.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday."

---

Newspaper Headlines in the Year 2035...
Castro finally dies at age 112; Cuban cigars can now be imported legally, but President Chelsea Clinton has banned all smoking.

---

New State Slogans...
Virginia: Who Says Government Stiffs and Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?

---

Female Language Patterns...
All we're going to buy is a soap dish REALLY MEANS,
It goes without saying that we're stopping at the cosmetics department, the shoe department, I need to look at a few new pocket books, and OMIGOD those pink sheets would look great in the bedroom and did you bring your checkbook?

---

Male Language Patterns...
"I brought you a present," REALLY MEANS,
"It was free ice scraper night at the hockey game."

---

***** IMPORTANT INFORMATION/DISCLAIMER *****
This document should be read only by those persons to whom it is addressed. If you have received this message it was obviously addressed to you and therefore you can read it, even it we didnt mean to send it to you. However, if the contents of this email make no sense whatsoever then you probably were not the intended recipient, or, you are a mindless cretin; either way, you should immediately delete yourself & destroy your computer! Once you have taken this action please contact us.. no you idiot, you cant use your computer, you just destroyed it, and by the way, you are also deleted, but we digress

[RobFromGa]

I went and saw the D-Day Museum in New Orleans six months ago and there is a Higgins Boat in the lobby, as well as a lot of great information.

The book about D-Day by Ambrose has a great deal of information about these boats built in Louisiana. I highly recommend this book.

[stand watie]

fyi, after WW2, Higgins built a BUNCH of civilian motorboats.

i owned a 1955 ski-boat, when i was an undergrad.-wish i had been SMART ENOUGH to not sell it!

free dixie,sw

[Mudboy Slim]

"Kerry!!"
(To be sung to Nirvana's "Polly")

Kerry is a cracker...enslavin' black folks worst!!
All he wants is Power...still FRiends call him "Lurch"!!

He's Jean Kerry...demon seed...
He ain't hip...to righteous dreams...
He knows Clinton LIED...RE-IMPEACH!!
Right needs yer help...to whup Kerry!!
We hold out hope...that we'll be bold!!
Promise you...fight Dem fools...
We know FReedom's Right...Devolve Power!!
Right needs yer help...Guv'ment devours!!

Kerry's a whipcracker...DemRATS, they're still Clinton's fools!!
Left asks us to entrust them..."Justice Fer Clinton, you Poltroons!!"

So, we must FReep...endlessly...
It's still hip...to laugh and sing!!
Hanoi Jean, he lied...'bout his pals...
In Viet Nam, Jean pussied out!!
I hold out hope...Right'll be bold!!
Promise you...FReep fer Truth!!
We know FReedom's Right...Devolve Power!!
Right needs yer help...help FRee yerselves!!

(bass guitar solo)

Kerry's FRench...
Kerry loves Big Guv'ment...he is our enemy!!
Right must be on guard...'cuz Hanoi Jean, he LOATHES Liberty!!

He's Jean Kerry...effete breed...
Help US whup...RAT's elite dweebs!!
Hanoi Jean, he LIES...marries wealth...
We need yer help...to Unleash HELL!!
We hold out hope...you'll be bold!!
Righteous, show some pride...help yerselves!!
We need yer help...FReep with stealth......

Mudboy Slim (3/24/04)

[Samwise]

Cool thread, snippy.