DUKW: Encyclopedia - DUKW

DUKW

The DUKW, popularly called the DUCK, is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck developed by the United States during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks.

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, at Normandy alone DUKWs carried 18 million tons of supplies ashore in the 90 days after the landing. See Mulberry harbor.

The DUKW was designed by Rod Stephens Jr.of Sparkman & Stephens Inc. yacht designers and developed by the National Defense Research Committee and the Office of Scientific Research and Development, but was originally rejected by the armed services. When a U.S. Coast Guard patrol craft ran aground on a sandbar near Provincetown, Massachusetts, an experimental DUKW happened to be in the area for a scheduled demonstration a few days later. Winds up to 60 knots (110 km/h), rain, and heavy surf prevented conventional craft from rescuing the seven stranded coastguardsmen, but the DUKW had no trouble, and the military opposition melted. Subsequently, DUKWs have proved their seaworthiness by crossing the English Channel and performing many other exploits at sea.

Although its designation as a DUKW may seem to be a military pun, the terminology developed 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; and that the DUKW was built around a conventional six-wheel-drive military truck called the CCKW, with the addition of a watertight hull and a propeller. 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 cubic inches (4.4 L). The DUKW weighed 7.5 tons and operated at 6.4 mph (10 km/h) on water and 50 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. Contrary to its outward appearance it was not an armored vehicle, being plated with sheet steel between 1/16" and 1/8" thick to keep the weight down. 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, with the tires 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, and such arrangements are now a common feature on many military vehicles. The DUKWs were the only wheeled vehicles capable of operating on the beach at Iwo Jima, for instance.

DUKW - Duck tours

Many DUKWs are still in use, primarily as tourist transport in harbor and river cities such as London, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Wisconsin Dells, Seattle, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dublin, and Liverpool (UK). 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.

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.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "DUKW", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki