This was the first time Higgins experimented with his designs and applied them to heavy duty work boats. He concentrated on speed, maneuverability, and durability. The outcome was the "spoonbill-bow Eureka, the direct ancestor of the famous "Higgins boats" of World War II." The significant design modification in the Eureka was that: .
The water was forced out from under the forequarters and out the aft. Any object thrown in the water close to the front of a Eureka while it was moving would be pushed away from the boat at a point between the bow and the midship. Any object placed anywhere in the back of midship would be pulled under the craft and into the direct path of the propellers. .
This design allowed the propeller to receive a constant stream of water rather than the aerated wake from the craft giving it more power and better turning ability. Higgins, predicting the military's need for a shallow draft landing craft, realized that speed and maneuverability would mean nothing without durability. To solve this problem, Higgins used a rounded bow vice a pointed bow. This "bumper" was constructed of a hand carved piece of solid pine and strengthened by "drilling holes in it and plugging them with wooden pegs that had been dipped in marine glue." This allowed the craft to be run full speed onto the shore without any damage, a must for a military amphibious landing.
Higgins" impetus was the idea that the US Navy would be interested in his shallow draft boats once they saw their performance. Unfortunately, the Navy had other plans. Higgins made numerous attempts to sell his craft but he was competing with the government operated Bureau of Construction and Repair (BCR) which was currently working on a landing craft of its own. The US Navy insisted that LST's (landing ship, tank) were the answer to amphibious operations. These were 327 foot long flat-bottom ships that had a 4,000 ton displacement and were very difficult to control in rough waters.
