The craft derived from a prototype designed by the Eureka Tug-Boat Company of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Manufactured initially in boatyards in and around New Orleans, as requirements grew it was produced in a number of yards around the United States.

Typically constructed of pine planks and plywood, and fitted with some armor plate, this shallow-draft boat with a crew of 3 could ferry an infantry platoon of 36 to shore at 8 knots (13 km/h).

During the 1930s, the United States Marine Corps (USMC) sought boats practical for landing troops on beaches.

[2] The boat's draft was rather shallow, 18 inches (46 cm), and it could cut through vegetation and slide over logs without ruining its propeller.

[5] The general lines of the boat were accepted by the USMC, and in September 1940 Andrew J. Higgins, president of the Eureka Tug-Boat Company, was contracted to build a slightly larger craft to carry 24 fully equipped troops, or two squads.

The Admiralty's Inter-Service Training and Development Centre wanted a 36 ft 8 in (11.18 m) craft, intending the boat to carry a full British army platoon and two or three attached signallers or assault engineers.

They were invented by Louisiana native Andrew Higgins before the war and were designed with a shallow draft to operate in swamps.

Other craft, especially those with a ramp like the LCV and LCVP, were structurally weak in the bow and could not be loaded before lowering from davits; personnel being transported in these types climbed down scramble nets into these boats.

The 3-man crew of a British LCP(L) was led by a Leading Seaman or Royal Marine Corporal coxswain who steered the boat and operated engine controls on the port side of the cockpit.

At other times LCP(L)s might be led or towed by coastal forces craft when a raid was within reasonable range of a sally port.

This widened the bow to the full width of the craft to maximize the ramp size and speed of egress.