DUKW

The 'DUKW' (popularly pronounced ''DUCK'') is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was originally designed inside General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks.

Contents

Description

Nomenclature

Service history

Post-War use

Tourist attraction

Trivia

See also

External links

Description

The DUKW was designed by Rod Stephens Jr. of Sparkman & Stephens Inc. yacht designers, Dennis Puleston, a British deep water sailor, and Frank W. Speir, an ROTC Lieutenant out of MIT. Developed by the National Defense Research Committee and the Office of Scientific Research and Development, it was initially rejected by the armed services. When a United States Coast Guard patrol craft ran aground on a sandbar near Provincetown, Massachusetts, an experimental DUKW happened to be in the area for a demonstration. Winds up to 60 knots (110 km/h), rain, and heavy surf prevented conventional craft from rescuing the seven stranded Coast Guardsmen, but the DUKW had no trouble, and the military opposition melted. The DUKW would later prove its seaworthiness by crossing the English Channel.
The DUKW prototype was built around the cab over engine (COE) six-wheel-drive military truck GMC ACKWX (a COE version of the GMC CCKW), with the addition of a watertight hull and a propeller. The final production design was based on the CCKW. The vehicle was built by the GMC division of General Motors (called Yellow Truck and Coach at the beginning of the war). It was powered by a GMC Straight-6 engine of 270 in³ (4.416 L). The DUKW weighed 7.5 tons and operated at 6.4 mph (10 km/h) on water and 50-55 mph (80 km/h) on land. It was 31 feet (9.3 m) long, 8.25 feet (2.4 m) wide, and 8.8 feet (2.6 m) high with the folding-canvas top up. More than 21,000 were manufactured. It was not an armored vehicle, being plated with sheet steel between 1/16" and 1/8" thick to minimize weight. A high capacity bilge pump system kept the DUKW afloat if the thin hull was breached by holes up to a couple inches in diameter.
The DUKW was the first vehicle to allow the driver to vary the tire pressure from inside the cab, an accomplishment of Speir's device. The tires could be fully inflated for hard surfaces such as roads and less inflated for softer surfaces—especially beach sand. This added to the DUKW's great versatility as an amphibious vehicle. This feature is now standard on many military vehicles.

Nomenclature

The designation as a ''DUKW'' is not a military pun - the name comes from the terminology used for military vehicles in World War II; the ''D'' indicates a vehicle designed in 1942, the ''U'' meant "utility (amphibious)", the ''K'' indicated all-wheel drive and the ''W'' indicated two powered rear axles.
Although technically a misnomer, DUKWs are often referred to as 'duck boats'. Another popular nickname was 'old magoo' or simply 'magoo'. Though the origin of this term remains unknown, it probably refers to the odd shape of the vehicle.

Service history

The DUKW was used in landings in the Pacific, in North Africa, and on the D-Day beaches of Normandy. With the enemy holding all available ports, DUKWs carried 18 million tons of supplies ashore in the 90 days following the landing.

Post-War use

In the latter '40s and throughout the '50s, while Speir, now Project Engineer for the Army's Amphibious Warfare Program, worked on 'bigger and better' Amphibious vehicles such as the 'Super Duck,' the 'Drake' and the mammoth ''BARC'' (Barge, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo), a good many DUKWs were surplussed and put to good use as amphibious rescue vehicles by fire departments and even, coming full circle, by various Coast Guard stations.
Several were used by abalone fisherman of San Luis Obispo County California to take their catch right off the boats and directly to market, neatly combining the two steps of off-loading onto smaller craft, and then transferring to trucks once they reached the beach.
Britain's Royal Marines still keep a small number of these vehicles for training purposes in Scotland.
In the 1950's the USSR copied the DUKW and the Zavod Imeni Likhacheva factory started producing the ZiL-485 know also as BAW (russian. большой автомобиль водоплавающий). Production was stopped in 1962.
Whenever a natural disaster or an emergency situation occurs, DUKWs are well equipped for the land and water rescue efforts. One particular duck built in 1945 was loaned to a fire department during the Great Flood of 1993 and in 2005, the vehicle spent 10 days rescuing survivors from Hurricane Katrina. The DUKW maneuvered through flood waters, transporting victims from their rooftops to helicopter pads setup throughout New Orleans.
Although DUKWs were used predominantly for the military, many were used by civilians organizations such as police departments, fire stations and rescue units.

Tourist attraction

Many DUKWs are still in use, as well as modern, purpose-built, amphibious tour buses, primarily as tourist transport in harbor and river cities, such as Baltimore, Washington, DC, Memphis, Boston, Miami, London, and Singapore. One well-established tour operator in the United States is Ride the Ducks.
Duck tours, whether using actual DUKWs or modern amphibious tour buses, are generally light-hearted, with drivers frequently wearing outlandish hats or costumes, and onboard PA systems frequently outfitted with humorous sound effects.
The Boston Red Sox celebrated their 2004 World Series victory with a parade of 17 DUKWs carrying members of the team over land and across the Charles River. The Seafair Pirates in Seattle use a DUKW modified to look like a Spanish Galleon as their primary means of amphibious transport.
Almost all have been repainted, and given modern diesel engines and enclosed tops, making them more resemble conventional buses. Most require a bus-type Public Service Vehicle license and a passenger-use boat license.

Trivia

A DUKW is central to the '' 2000 AD'' story Disaster 1990, in which the lead character, London hardman Bill Savage liberates one from a war museum to survive a futuristic flooded Britain.

See also

★ Amphibious vehicle

★ Mulberry harbor

★ Tourist trolley

★ Terrapin - a contemporary British equivalent vehicle

External links

★ US Army Transportation Museum DUKW page, includes many photos

★ Marine Corps DUKWs in World War II

★ Sparkman & Stephens ':' the company at which Rod Stephens Jr., the DUKW's designer, worked (see also this photo with explanatory caption, on the S&S site)

★ Lace and DUKWs... both part of the Speir Family legacy, several photos, statistics, and a few details of Speir's tire inflation system from his son Dean Speir