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Replica LCVPs

This page added 9-11-2020.

An American Auto Industry in World War Two Special Edition
The guideline that I am using to define a replica is that the LCVP was built after World War Two, and is intended for display use only. 

Owner:  The National WWII Museum
Location:  New Orleans, LA
Date of Photos:  March 2018

This replica was built by volunteers at the National World War Two Museum in New Orleans, LA.  It is now on display at the entrance to the museum.  What is interesting about this replica is that it is not like any of the known LCVPs I have personally visited or seen in contemporary or most historical photos.  However, there appears to be one historical photo that shows an LCVP similar to this one.  See below for more details.  Author's photo.

Note that towards the bow area of the boat, it is not flat and there is a sharp angle where it changes.  All of the LCVPs I have seen to date in several different museums all have flat sides.  All but one World War Two photos of LCVPs show flat sides.  The museum is reported to have used original Higgins engineering drawings to make the replica.  These apparently were not the same drawings used during World War Two for the majority of the LCVPs built during World War Two.  Without the flat sides, it would be difficult to mount the quarter-inch thick armor plates to the side of this boat.  Author's photo.

USPA-89-11 looks like it has the kink in the side.  It also appears to have a rounded transom, which would indicate this LCVP was built by Higgins Industries.  Maybe there was a short-lived engineering change that had the non-flat side.  This is a mystery.

Also different is the kink in the interior bulkhead about one-third the way up.  Other World War Two LCVPs don't have this.  Author's photo.

A partial hull number can be seen behind the fire extinguisher.  Author's photo.

Owner:  Andrew Jackson Higgins National Memorial
Location:  Columbus, NE
Date of Photos:  Unknown
Comments:  This is a steel replica with a kinked hull similar to the wooden replica at the National WWII Museum.

Owner:  Utah Beach Memorial Museum
Location:  Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Normandy, France
Date of Photos:  Various
Comments:  This is an identical or very similar steel replica to the one in Columbus, NE.  It was built by Duo-Lift of Columbus, NE and was dedicated at the Utah Beach Memorial Museum in June 2015.

This shows the steel replica under construction at Duo-Lift.

 Behlen Manufacturing of Columbus, NE packed the replica for shipment. 

Note that this replica has the unusual bent or kinked side of the boat, just like the wooden replica in New Orleans and steel replica in Columbus, NE.  The builder apparently used the same engineering drawings that were used for the New Orleans replica.

The boat is now an outside display at Utah Beach in Normandy. 

Owner:  Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History
Location:  Brussels, Belgium
Comments:  There is a report of a replica LCVP at this museum and a partial photo of the interior of an LCVP.  A search of key words pertaining to the LCVP on the museum's website yielded no results.

Owner:  Camp Gordon Johnston Museum
Location:  Carrabelle Beach, FL
Date of Photos:  Unknown
Comments:  This is a half-size replica of the LCVP.  I was unaware of what looks like a cool military museum on the Florida panhandle.  I look forward to visiting the museum and its mini-LCVP on a future trip.  I found it interesting that the several rotating photos on the top of the museum's website actually show LCVs rather than LCVPs, making training landings at Camp Gordon Johnston.  To the un-initiated, this is a common error.

Photo courtesy of Jody High and RoadsideAmerica.com.