This Higgins boat was used for amphibious landings and has a well-documented military history — but it remains unclear how it wound up at the bottom of Lake Shasta.
U.S. Forest ServiceRoughly 23,000 Higgins boats were made during World War II , and many historians arrogate they changed the way that naval conflict were agitate .
As many part in the western United States present ongoing droughts , a turn of object that once lurked beneath the surfaces of lakes and rivers are give away themselves to the world . And now , an previous , rusted sauceboat used during World War II has inexplicably been feel in a lake in Northern California .
AsThe New York Timesreports , there had long been rumor about a watercraft at the bottom of Lake Shasta . But those reports remain for the most part unsubstantiated until last fall , when a unpaid worker fire-eater and military vehicle collector distinguish James Dunsdon set out to find the gravy boat .
U.S. Forest ServiceRoughly 23,000 Higgins boats were made during World War II, and many historians claim they changed the way that naval battles were fought.
“ It just came over the celestial horizon like a ghost , ” Dunsdon told theTimes . “ There it was with original World War II pigment and lumber and steel and in the emplacement with the ramp down . ”
The 36 - foot landing craft was surprisingly well - preserve , and attend as if it sank while making a beach landing . expert are now have-to doe with to the old Higgins vessel as the “ specter sauceboat , ” and while the discovery is itself fascinating , how the boat came to be in Lake Shasta in the first lieu remains a secret .
According to theShasta - Trinity National Forest , the gravy boat , which is marked “ 31 - 17 , ” was impute to the USSMonroviaattack transport in the summertime of 1943 . It hold U.S. military personnel to engagement during the Allied intrusion of Sicily , and served as General George Patton ’s home base during the invasion .
U.S. Forest ServiceHiggins boats, outfitted with guns and a bow ramp, were designed to carry troops across shallow waters.
Later that year , the boat was deployed in the Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific . expert believe the ship sink in shallow waters during that battle , but was later salvage , and that at one point in time , Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower himself stood aboard the vas . The gravy boat then went on to play a role in D - Day invasions , harmonize to Shasta - Trinity National Forest representatives .
U.S. Forest ServiceHiggins boat , fit with artillery and a bow incline , were designed to hold troops across shallow waters .
Once the sauceboat is in stable enough condition to transport , it will be displayed in the Nebraska National Guard Museum , located about 50 mile south of Columbus , Nebraska — the birthplace of Andrew Jackson Higgins , the sauceboat ’s namesake and graphic designer .
U.S. Forest ServiceIn recent years, a few Higgins boats have reappeared in parts of the U.S., including one found in a barn in the Midwest.
Gerald Meyer , executive director of the museum , is part of the on-going restoration and preservation of the “ ghost gravy holder . ” He hopes that the publicity surrounding the breakthrough will help researcher solve the mystery of how the sauceboat wound up in Lake Shasta .
“ Someone has to know , ” Meyer told theTimes . “ Someone is going to say : ‘ I know . I remember Bob bought that boat back in ’ 54 . ’ But that person has yet to be found . ”
U.S. Forest ServiceIn recent days , a few Higgins boats have re-emerge in parts of the U.S. , let in one found in a b in the Midwest .
Jerry E. Strahan , writer ofAndrew Jackson Higgins and the Boats that Won World War II , told theTimesthat the condition of the Lake Shasta ghost boat is peculiarly remarkable because Higgins gravy boat were fabricate out of mahogany plyboard .
“ Wooden gravy boat were n’t entail to last that long , ” Strahan said . “ But I ’d imagine that being submersed in a cold - water lake , forth from oxygen , allowed it to survive . ”
According toABC News , this is n’t the only Higgins boat to have been revealed in a drouth - strike lake this year .
In July , a Higgins boat surface on the waters of Lake Mead in Nebraska , just month aftermultiple dead body were discovered in Lake Meadthanks to its dropping water levels .
As curious as discoveries like this are , they are also a stark monitor of the impact of climate variety on the born environs . Union datashows that Shasta County , for instance , is go through its driest year to date base on information from the last 128 years .
In fact , all over the populace , stern drought are revealing long - lost artifacts , relics , and evenentire Ithiel Town — but is the environmental price worth it ?
After learn about the find of this Higgins boat , check outthese exposure from D - Day . Then , explorethe history of the Salton Sea , the now - toxic abandoned California lake that once brought in lot of tourer .
