The activities of the American company Higgins Industries were extremely versatile. Over the years, its specialists have designed and produced not only all kinds of shallow-draft ships, boats and landing craft, but also torpedo boats and even helicopters. For example, the Higgins EB-1 helicopter, created back in 1943, looked extremely promising and favorably differed from the first helicopter models with its ideal streamlined shape. The torpedo boats built by this company were supplied to the Soviet Union during the war years. So, as part of the Lend-Lease program in 1943-45, the USSR received 52 Higgins Industries PT625 torpedo boats, they were in service with the Northern and Pacific fleets.
Separately, one can single out such a development by Higgins Industries as the landing craft LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel - landing craft of personnel and equipment), which for the Americans became one of the symbols of the Second World War. These boats were used during the famous Operation Overlord. The LCVP became the largest production landing craft in the history of the US Navy. In total, 22,492 boats of this type were manufactured for the US Navy during the war years. Another 2336 boats were built under the Lend-Lease program. Landing craft LCVP were very successful, they had a bow ramp for loading / unloading troops and cargo and could transport up to 36 soldiers, one army vehicle or up to 3.7 tons of various cargo from ship to shore in one voyage.
It is worth noting that the Second World War was a real catalyst for the development of Higgins Industries. Before the war, it was a small company, which employed only 70 people, but by 1943 it was 7 separate factories, which employed about 20 thousand workers. Higgins Industries was based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Taking into account the terrain and the famous landscapes of this state with an abundance of water bodies and swamps, it is quite logical that at some point the company's specialists decided to turn their attention to swamp vehicles. This was also facilitated by the fact that the company has accumulated rich experience in the construction of various landing craft, boats and torpedo boats. All this knowledge could come in handy when creating amphibious vehicles.
It is customary to call swamp vehicles special all-terrain vehicles designed to perform all sorts of operations in wetlands that are difficult to reach for conventional vehicles and humans, and overcome difficult areas that are inaccessible to other simpler off-road vehicles. The Higgins Industries company during the war years proposed several projects of large wheeled swamp vehicles, outwardly resembling amphibious assault vehicles, which received wheels. According to one of the versions, these swamp vehicles were even supposed to be equipped with armor. One such project was the Swamp Cat wheeled swamp vehicle.
Higgins Industries was able to become famous for its gigantic amphibians, but this was already in the post-war period. The very first projects were implemented during the Second World War as part of research and development work on the creation of various types of swamp-going vehicles. Their main area of application was to be in Southeast Asia, where the Americans fought the Japanese on a thousand different islands and archipelagos, many of which were swampy and covered with jungle. At the same time, the company's specialists did not need to reinvent the wheel, the first swamp-going vehicles on huge wheels began to dissect the spaces of Louisiana and Florida back in the 30s of the XX century, but the military, of course, needed something truly special. They needed an amphibian that would not only be able to confidently move through swampy terrain, but also swim normally, transport various goods and get ashore in arbitrary places (very important when carrying out amphibious operations). It was also highly desirable to provide this vehicle with at least some kind of booking that protects the landing force and the crew from enemy fire.
Taking into account a set of technical requirements, engineers at Higgins Industries tried to create an original swamp-going vehicle on large metal drum wheels. This is how the Swamp Cat was born. It was a six-wheeled monster, which was supposed to combine the features and advantages of a buggy with the carrying capacity and seaworthiness of normal amphibians. As a result, a rather strange vehicle turned out when a semblance of a boat hull was built around a classic four-wheeled car, adding another pair of wheels in the stern. At the same time, the internal volume suitable for cargo was only in the bow of the hull, since the huge wheel arches located in the middle and stern parts of the car made it possible to leave enough space only for installing the engine.
At the same time, judging by the photos published today in the public domain, this amphibious swamp-going vehicle felt great without a detachable bow, the buoyancy of the car was provided by metal hollow wheels of large diameter and the body itself. At the same time, non-specialists can only guess about the purpose for which the designers used the rear pair of wheels extremely close to each other. Perhaps it was additional insurance against the fact that the swamp-going vehicle could "sit on its belly", and perhaps the last pair of wheels was rowing, as on the classic American paddle steamers. All this today is anyone's guess, but in any case, a similar design has never been used by Higgins Industries engineers again. Another swamp rover project, Higgins Mindhopper, already used only two pairs of wheels.
