Higgins Boats and Machine Guns?

Question

Why is it that the Higgins boats used at Normandy on D-day had no way to provide cover for disembarking troops (mounted machine guns, rockets, etc), and opened in the front, exposing the men inside to fire? I've seen that the boats used to cross the Rhine river in Operation Varsity did have at least one kind of mounted machine gun, and opened in the rear of the boat. was it really too hard to slap a few MG's on a landing boat on D-Day?

Answer 1

The job of the Higgins boats was to drop the troops off and get the hell out of there to pick up another load. They would have had to include extra crew to man the MG's thus reducing the amount of troops they could carry.

It was also not considered particularly wise to put machine gunners in a position where they were firing over the heads of their own troops.

Rocket launchers have recoil and firing rocket launchers while personnel were disembarking might have endangered more people than it helped.

If you have a boat that opens in the rear, you have to get even closer to the beach and into even shallower water so that the guys stepping off the back of the boat don't drown. And then they have to wade all the way around the boat, giving them even more time to get shot at.


Think about it. There was no "good" way to deliver troops to a beachhead under hostile fire, but getting the Higgins boats in and out as quickly as possible to enhance build up on the shore was probably determined to be the least bad way.

Answer 2

The landing on D-day was anticipated by the Germans, so they they literally prevented the Higgins boats from getting anywhere near the beach. They did that by using hundreds of Hedgehogs scattered along the beach and out into the shallow surf. They also used barbed wire and exposives. The idea was to make our men have to leave the boats while still out in deep water as opposed to landing on the beach. The front door or hatch of the boats was designed to drop down on the sandy beach, not 6 feet of sea water. Mounting small weapons on the boats would not have done much good because the boats were forced to be emptied prematurely. The small machine guns being shot from a bobbing boat would have been no match for the big guns on the cliffs. Unfortunately we were sitting ducks, but we won anyway, at the cost many brave souls. God bless them.

Answer 3

The boats were maxed out on weight so they dumped the guns as the boats job wasn't to support the troops just dump em and get back to pick up some more. The support ships were supposed to cover the troops. As for the front ramp or doors on English built versions what did you want them to do jump off the back into deep water? Side doors would have weakened the structure too seriously to be used. In the pacific where the boats had guns .50 cals and sometimes 20mm cannon these were expected to support the troops as support ships couldn't get close enough due to reefs to do this effectively on a lot of islands. Other landing craft were converted into gunfire and rocket support boats some mounting a single 5" 38 cal gun! They made there debut at Okinawa I believe but don't hold me to it.

Answer 4

I've always wondered that myself. I guess they opened in front because that is where the beach is. It seems that they could open from the side and spit out some smoke for cover and they would be a lot better off than in front.

Answer 5

The D in D-Day is basically a designator, like the H in H-Hour, or the W in W-Week (I in basic terms made that one up). It has no meaning in any respect, different than the be conscious 'day' starts off with the letter 'D.'

Answer 6

they needed alot more stuff than they had so the used whatever they could find.Machine guns were hard to find and were needed for the troops when they landed

Answer 7

They were just stupid then. They thought good intentions and bravery could stop bullets.