How an often overlooked World War II-era shipbuilder designed the boat that Eisenhower said 'won the war for us'

• The Higgins boat is one of the iconic vessels of World War II.
• The Higgins boat, known as an LCVP, took US and allied troops ashore across Europe and the Pacific.
• The man behind it, Andrew Higgins, was a prolific inventor who churned out boats during the war.

A day after Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, New Orleans-based shipbuilder Andrew Higgins filed an idea with the US Patent Office for a landing craft that could transport US soldiers from ships at sea to enemy-controlled beaches.