The
DUKW is a six-wheel-drive
amphibious truckAn amphibious vehicle , is a vehicle or craft, that is a means of transport, viable on land as well as on water – just like an amphibian....
that was designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Stephens and General Motors Corporation (GMC) during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in
amphibiousAmphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
attacks. Designed to last only long enough to meet the demands of combat, productionized Ducks, a modification of the 2-ton capacity "deuce" trucks used by the US military in World War II, were later used as tourist craft in marine environments.
Designation
The designation of
DUKW is not a military acronym; rather, the name comes from the model naming terminology used by GMC:
- "D" indicated a vehicle designed in 1942,
- "U" meant "utility",
- "K" indicated front-wheel drive,
- "W" indicated two powered rear axles.
Decades later, the DUKW designation was explained erroneously by writers such as Donald Clarke who wrote in 1978 that it was an acronym for "Duplex Universal Karrier, Wheeled". This mistaken explanation is likely a
backronymA backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
fabricated by someone unaware of GMC naming practice.
Description
The DUKW was designed by Rod Stephens Jr. of
Sparkman & StephensSparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with main offices on 5th Avenue in New York City, USA and offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new vessels for pleasure, commercial, and military use....
Inc. yacht designers,
Dennis PulestonDennis Puleston was a British-born American environmentalist, adventurer and designer. He is perhaps best known for playing a key part in securing a nationwide ban in the United States on the use of the pesticide DDT, a decision regarded as the first important success of the emerging...
, a British deep water sailor resident in the US, and Frank W. Speir, a
Reserve Officers' Training CorpsThe Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a college-based, officer commissioning program, predominantly in the United States. It is designed as a college elective that focuses on leadership development, problem solving, strategic planning, and professional ethics.The U.S...
Lieutenant out of MIT. Developed by the
National Defense Research CommitteeThe National Defense Research Committee was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the United States from June 27, 1940 until June 28, 1941...
and the
Office of Scientific Research and DevelopmentThe Office of Scientific Research and Development was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May 1941, and it was created formally by on June 28, 1941...
, it was initially rejected by the armed services. When a
United States Coast GuardThe United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
patrol craft ran aground on a sandbar near
Provincetown, MassachusettsProvincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
, 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 ChannelThe English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
The DUKW prototype was built around the GMC ACKWX, a cab-over-engine (COE) version of the
GMC CCKWThe GMC CCKW is a 2½ ton 6X6 U.S. Army cargo truck that saw service in World War II and the Korean War, often incorrectly referred to as a "Deuce and a Half" or "Jimmy"...
six-wheel-drive military truck, with the addition of a watertight hull and a propeller. The final production design, perfected by a few engineers at Yellow Truck & Coach in Pontiac Michigan, was based on the CCKW. The vehicle was built by the GMC division of General Motors (which was still 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 6.5 tons empty and operated at 50 miles per hour (80.5 km/h) on road and 5.5 knots (3 m/s) on water. It was 31 feet (9.4 m) long, 8 foot wide, 7 foot high with the folding-canvas top down and 8.8 feet (2.6 m) high with the top up. 21,137 were manufactured. It was not an armored vehicle, being plated with sheet steel between 1/16 and 1/8 inches (1.6–3.2 mm) thick to minimize weight. A high capacity
bilge pumpA bilge pump is a water pump used to remove bilge water. Since fuel can be present in the bilge, electric bilge pumps are designed to not cause sparks. Electric bilge pumps are often fitted with float switches which turn on the pump when the bilge fills to a set level. Since bilge pumps can fail,...
system kept the DUKW afloat if the thin hull was breached by holes up to 2 inches (50.8 mm) in diameter. One of every four vehicles were produced with a ring mount for machine gun, which would usually have held a .50-caliber (12.7 mm) Browning heavy machine gun.
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.
The DUKW's windshields were provided by GM rival Libbey Glass (Ford) under the "Defense Plant Corporation" umbrella as a result of Henry Gassaway, one of the GM engineers whose wife's family worked for Libby, and whose test driving broke the first windshields.
Service history
The DUKW was supplied to the US Army, US Marine Corps and Allied forces. 2,000 were supplied to Britain under the
Lend-LeaseLend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
program and 535 were acquired by Australian forces. 586 were supplied to the Soviet Union, and they would build their own version post war: the
BAV 485The ZiS-485, army designation BAV , is a Soviet amphibious transport, similar to the DUKW....
(see Developments).
The DUKW was used in landings in the Mediterranean,
PacificThe Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
, on the
D-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
beaches of Operation Husky,
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, but also during the
Battle of the ScheldtThe Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations of the Canadian 1st Army, led by Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds. The battle took place in northern Belgium and southwestern Netherlands during World War II from 2 October-8 November 1944...
,
Operation VeritableOperation Veritable was a Second World War pincer movement conducted by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group to clear and occupy the land between the Rhine and Maas rivers. It took place between 8 February and 11 March 1945. It was a part of General Dwight Eisenhower's "broad front"...
and
Operation PlunderCommencing on the night of 23 March 1945 during World War II, Operation Plunder was the crossing of the River Rhine at Rees, Wesel, and south of the Lippe River by the British 2nd Army, under Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey , and the U.S. Ninth Army , under Lieutenant General William Simpson...
. Its principal use was to ferry supplies from ship to shore, but it was used for other tasks, such as transporting wounded combatants to hospital ships or operations in flooded (polder) landscape.
After World War II, reduced numbers of DUKWs were kept in service by the United States, Britain, France and Australia with many more stored pending disposal. Australia transferred many to
Citizens Military ForceThe Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen Military Forces, the Militia and, unofficially, the...
units.
The US Army reactivated and deployed several hundred DUKWs at the outbreak of the
Korean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
with the 1st Transportation Replacement Training Group providing crew training. DUKWs were used extensively to bring supplies ashore during the
Battle of Pusan PerimeterThe Battle of Pusan Perimeter was a large-scale battle between United Nations and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 – September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the Korean War...
and in the amphibious landings at Inchon.
Ex-US Army DUKWs were transferred to the French military after World War II and were used by the
Troupes de marineThe or Infanterie de marine, formerly Troupes coloniales, are an arm of the French Army with a colonial heritage. The Troupes de marine have a dedicated overseas service role. Despite their title they have been a part of the Army since 1958...
and
naval commandosThe Naval Commandos are the special forces of the French Navy. They are made up of ~500 members, mostly based in northwestern France , with several bases across the country for specific training needs. The Naval Commandos are nicknamed bérets verts . Their qualification training is one of the...
. Many were used for general utility duties in
overseas territoriesThe French Overseas Departments and Territories consist broadly of French-administered territories outside of the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France , and consequently the...
. France deployed DUKWs to
French IndochinaFrench Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
during the
First Indochina WarThe First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
. Some French DUKWs were given new hulls in the 1970s with the last being retired in 1982.
Britain deployed DUKWs to Malaya during the
Malayan EmergencyThe Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
of 1948–60. Many were redeployed to
BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation of 1962–66.
The
Royal MarinesThe Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
still use four of these vehicles for training purposes at 11 (Amphibious Trials and Training) Squadron, 1 Assault Group Royal Marines at
InstowInstow is a village in north Devon, England. It is on the estuary where the rivers Taw and Torridge meet, between the villages of Westleigh and Yelland and on the opposite bank of Appledore....
North
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. The DUKWs are used for safety to allow the training of all ranks to undertake drills for boat work for the landing craft ranks and the drivers undertaking wading drills from the LCU (Landing Craft Utility.
Principal military users
Australia – 535 Canada – approximately 800 France - Soviet Union – 586 United Kingdom – approximately 2,000 United States -
Peacetime use
Although DUKWs were used predominantly for the military, many were used by civilian organizations such as police departments, fire stations and rescue units.
The Australian Army lent two DUKWs and crew to
Australian National Antarctic Research ExpeditionsThe Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions is the historical name for the Australian Antarctic Program administered for Australia by the Australian Antarctic Division .-The ANARE Name:...
in 1948 for an expedition to
Macquarie IslandMacquarie Island lies in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, about half-way between New Zealand and Antarctica, at 54°30S, 158°57E. Politically, it has formed part of the Australian state of Tasmania since 1900 and became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 1978. In 1997 it became a world heritage...
. Australian DUKWs were used on Antarctic supply voyages until 1970. From 1945 to 1965, the Australian Commonwealth Lighthouse Service supply ship
Cape York carried ex-Army DUKWs for supplying
lighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
s on remote islands.
Several were used by abalone fishermen of San Luis Obispo County
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
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.
Whenever a natural disaster or an emergency situation occurs, DUKWs are well equipped for the land and water rescue efforts.
Australian Army ReserveThe Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen Military Forces, the Militia and, unofficially, the...
DUKWs were used extensively for rescue and transport during the 1955 Hunter Valley floods.
One of the last DUKWs manufactured in 1945 was loaned to a fire department during the
Great Flood of 1993The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 occurred in the American Midwest, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood was among the most costly and devastating to ever occur in the United States, with $15 billion in damages...
, and in 2005, Duck Riders of Grapevine, TX deployed the vehicle to help in the aftermath of
Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. The DUKW was well equipped to maneuver its way through flood waters, transporting victims stranded on their rooftops to
helicopterA helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
pads set up throughout New Orleans.
Some such as the "Moby Duck" have been adapted as props by local groups such as Seattle's
Seafair PiratesThe Seattle, Washington Seafair Pirates are a voluntary group of people started in 1949 by the members of the Washington State Press Club. They joined together with other community leaders to create Seattle's first Seafair Festival in 1950....
to be used in parades and events.
One DUKW is in use by the THW of Germersheim in Germany ("Technisches Hilfswerk", a public organization supplying technical support).
Developments
In the latter 1940s and throughout the 1950s, 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
BARCLARC-LX , or as it was originally designated BARC is a welded steel hulled amphibious cargo vehicle. It could carry up to 100 tons of cargo or 200 people, but a more typical load was 60 tons of cargo or 120 people...
(Barge, Amphibious, Resupply, Cargo), a good many DUKWs were made surplus and put to use as amphibious rescue vehicles by fire departments and even, coming full circle, by Coast Guard stations.
In 1952 the USSR produced a derivative of the DUKW adding a rear loading ramp – the
Zavod imeni StalinaZIL and similar may refer to:*Zil, a village in the Tabasaran rayon of Dagestan, Russia*Zil stands for Zulfikar Industries Pvt. Ltd. Pakistan, a Chemical factory in Pakistan producting soaps and related chemical products since 1976...
factory built the
BAV 485The ZiS-485, army designation BAV , is a Soviet amphibious transport, similar to the DUKW....
on the structure of their ZiS-151 truck. Production continued until 1962 with over 2,000 units delivered.
Tourist attraction
DUKWs are still in use, as well as purpose-built amphibious tour buses, primarily as
touristTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
transport in harbor and river cities. The first "duck tour" company was started in 1946 by Mel Flath in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The company is still in operation under the name Original Wisconsin Ducks.
DUKWs in fiction
Two DUKWs, Gert and Daisy (named after radio music-hall artistes
Elsie and Doris WatersGert and Daisy were the two characters of a British female comedy act who are particularly remembered for their contribution to film and radio entertainment during World War II...
), are central to
Ron DawsonDr. Ronald Leslie Dawson, . Special Educational Needs educator, psychologist, researcher and author. Author and co-author of numerous books and articles concerning the education of pupils with SEN...
's novel,
The Last Viking: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Heist. The novel tells the story of a modern day Viking raid by a group of Birmingham gangsters who capture and loot the island of Guernsey on the tenth anniversary of D Day with disastrous consequences. The novel is probably unique in featuring two DUKWs in a post-World War II adventure.
A DUKW was prominently featured in the ending sequence of the 1987 film
Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in ParadiseRevenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise is the 1987 sequel to the 1984 comedy Revenge of the Nerds. Its cast featured most of the main actors from the earlier film, including Robert Carradine, Anthony Edwards, Curtis Armstrong, Larry B. Scott, Timothy Busfield, Donald Gibb, and Andrew Cassese....
.
A DUKW is also central to the
2000 AD2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
story
Disaster 1990Invasion! was a series created by Pat Mills and mostly written by Gerry Finley-Day that appeared in the first 51 editions of the weekly comic 2000 AD....
, in which the lead character, London hardman
Bill SavageBill Savage is a fictional character in 2000 AD. He first appeared in the story Invasion! in progs 1-51. He is a resistance fighter in the Free European Army against the Volgans, who invaded and conquered Britain in 1999 during the Eight Hour War...
, liberates one from a war museum to survive a futuristic flooded Britain.
See also
- Ford GPA
The Ford GPA 'Seep , was an amphibious version of the WWII Ford GPW Jeep. Unlike the jeep, the seep was not a successful design being too slow and heavy on land and lacking sufficient seagoing abilities in open water...
and GAZ 46The GAZ-46, army designation MAV , is a Russian-made light four-wheel drive amphibious military vehicle, that entered service in the 1950s and has been used by many Eastern Bloc allied forces since.During the Second World War Canada, Britain and the US forwarded large quantities of military...
- 4 wheel amphibious jeeps
- Landwasserschlepper
Landwasserschlepper was an unarmed amphibious tractor produced in Germany during World War II.-Origins and development:Ordered by the Heereswaffenamt in 1935 for use by German Army engineers, the Landwasserschlepper was intended as a lightweight river tug with some capacity to operate on...
- PTS
The PTS is a Soviet tracked amphibious transport. PTS stands for Plavayushchij Transportyer - Sryednyj or medium amphibious transport vehicle...
- Terrapin (amphibious vehicle)
The Terrapin "4-ton amphibian" was a British-manufactured, amphibious armoured transport vehicle of the Second World War. It was first used at Antwerp in 1944, and to great effect during the Battle of the Scheldt....
– a contemporary British equivalent vehicle
- LARC-V
LARC-V , is an aluminium-hulled amphibious cargo vehicle capable of transporting 5 tons. It was developed in the United States during the 1950s, and is used in a variety of auxiliary roles to this day....
- Landing Vehicle Tracked
The Landing Vehicle Tracked was a class of amphibious vehicles introduced by the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Army during World War II. Originally intended solely as cargo carriers for ship to shore operations, they rapidly evolved into assault troop and fire support vehicles as well...
- tracked supply and combat amphibious vehicle
- List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog designation
External links