Higgins Boat Company PT Boat Badge, REPRODUCTION, World War II collectible
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Higgins Industries was owned by Andrew Higgins based in New Orleans, Louisiana that 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 during the Allied D-Day Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.
Higgins expanded rapidly to meet the U.S. Government's requirements during World War II, going from a single plant employing fewer than 75 people before the War to seven 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."
In addition to the LCVP landing craft, Higgins Industries also manufactured PT boats, (short for patrol torpedo boat) which were motor torpedo boats used by the U.S. Navy. The PT boat was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the USN they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs).
During World War II, PT boats engaged enemy Japanese warships, transports, tankers, barges, and sampans. Some were converted into gunboats, which could be effective against enemy small craft, especially armored barges used by the Japanese for inter-island transport.
Nicknamed "the mosquito fleet" and "devil boats" by the Japanese, the PT boat squadrons were hailed for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Higgins expanded rapidly to meet the U.S. Government's requirements during World War II, going from a single plant employing fewer than 75 people before the War to seven 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."
In addition to the LCVP landing craft, Higgins Industries also manufactured PT boats, (short for patrol torpedo boat) which were motor torpedo boats used by the U.S. Navy. The PT boat was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the war by ineffective torpedoes, limited armament, and comparatively fragile construction that limited some of the variants to coastal waters. In the USN they were organized in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRONs).
During World War II, PT boats engaged enemy Japanese warships, transports, tankers, barges, and sampans. Some were converted into gunboats, which could be effective against enemy small craft, especially armored barges used by the Japanese for inter-island transport.
Nicknamed "the mosquito fleet" and "devil boats" by the Japanese, the PT boat squadrons were hailed for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This badge is an historical REPRODUCTION of the one Andrew Higgins is said to have proudly handed out to U.S. Navy personnel at the time the Navy Department took possession of one of his boats.
Higgins designed the badges with the letter H for Higgins prominently displayed on the port side and privately paid for their manufacture by GEMSCO, a military insignia company based in Milford, Connecticut.
Our Higgins badges were also manufactured by GEMSCO, using their original Higgins mold! They were ordered by Mrs. Kaufman expressly for Kaufman's in 1980.
Although the WWII badges had a pin-back fastener and were marked with GEMSCO's name on the reverse side, Kaufman’s REPRODUCTION has two clutches on the reverse side instead for easier attachment and GEMSCO's name is not included.
A non-regulation military rarity that would be a fine addition in any WWII collection!
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