Higgins PT Boats

Big Jake ;

 thanks for the links .Those photos reminded me of my three years as a apprentice at Rybovich Boats in Florida ! . You started as a sweeper and if you were smart ,Three years later you had a crew and when your boat was done , if the old man bought it .You were considered a proffessional boat Builder . 10 years and you could be a Master builder .

 I took a short-cut and joined the firm with those " Big Grey Boats ."

 When I visited the plant in the year before I switched services , I was told my time in the Navy , qualified me as a Master Boat builder . This from the old man himself !

Thanks Jake. Wow, 300 years!

Are you still living there? I loved that museum, and really need to go back. Always adding things.

I wore my "Battleships of Pearl Harbor" Aloha shirt on Memorial Day that I bought at the Museum gift store. One of my favorites.

Met Jon Bon Jovi right outside on the street.

Yes, I would love to go back.

Higgins greatest accomplishment was probably the LCVP. Essentially this was the Eureka boat or LCPL with a hinged ramp as a bow door. Over 23,000 LCVPs -Landing Craft Vehicle, Personnel were built.

There is a recent book by Charles C. Roberts Jr. The Boat That Won The War available from the Naval Institute Press. The book tells the whole story.

Well ;

    Do you know that many of the Higgins Bow Ramp boats ( LCVP ) are still around ?They convert to great little powered live aboard vessels wher speed is not a requirement . And they are fairly roomy too . Best "Tiny House  "afloat among many .