DUKW A 2.5-ton, six-wheel amphibious truck used during amphibious operations in World War II by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps. Its primary use was to ferry ammunition, supplies, and equipment from supply ships in transport areas offshore to supply dumps and fighting units at the beach. The DUKW (an acronym based on D-model year 1942, U-amphibian, K-all wheel drive, W-dual rear axles), called "duck," was shaped like a boat. It had a hollow airtight body for buoyancy and used a single propeller for forward momentum. It was designed according to Army criteria and was based on the Army's 2.5-ton truck. The vehicle was capable of carrying 25 soldiers and their equipment, an artillery piece, or 5,000 pounds of general cargo. At sea the vehicle could maintain a speed of 5 knots, and on land it could go 50 miles (80 kilometres) per hour. The United States produced 20,000 DUKWs during World War II. Through lend-lease the British were provided 2,000 of the trucks. The vehicle was first used in "Operation Husky," the invasion of Sicily in 1943 http://inspect503.tripod.com/dukw.htm -------------------------------------------------- The DUKW is capable of carrying a 2 1/2 ton payload over land or water. It is equipped with a GMC 270 cubic inch 6 cylinder gasoline engine. It has a 5 speed transmission with a 2 speed transfer case. This gives a total of 10 forward speeds and 2 in reverse. It has 6 wheel drive, a water propeller and a 10 ton winch. All or any of these can be run separately or together in any combination. Top speed on land is 50 to 55 mph while on the water top speed is only 6 mph (land miles per hour not knots). It also has a tire inflation system with a 2 cylinder air compressor and air storage tank. This allows the driver to inflate or deflate any one or all six tires at the same time from the dashboard. The dashboard also has a tire pressure gauge so that air pressure can be monitored. The front brake lines are protected in steel conduit with barbed wire cutters on the outside. The DUKW weighs 7 1/2 tons empty and is 31 feet long. DUKWs were manufactured from 1942 to 1945 by General Motors Corporation. http://my.voyager.net/~dukw/tech.htm -------------------------------------------------- DUKW's in Normandy In the Normandy Invasion of 1944, DUKWs were used by the infantry, engineers, rangers, artillery, and service support units. By ferrying weapons, troops, ammunition, and supplies to the beaches, they played a vital role in the overall success of the landing. Due to the high seas and to the overloading of vehicles, a number of accidents occurred. At Omaha Beach, for instance, the 1st Infantry Division attempted to deploy its 105-millimetre howitzers, gun crews, ammunition, and sand bags in DUKWs; 12 of the 13 DUKWs of the 111th Field Artillery Battalion sank. Six howitzers from the 7th Field Artillery and five howitzers belonging to the 16th Infantry Cannon Company also went to the bottom of the English Channel. These accidents caused a considerable loss of life. Still, the DUKW was a successful amphibious vehicle. The Engineer Special Brigades at Normandy used the DUKWs to great effect in the race to build-up forces and material. In the Pacific, both the Marine Corps and the Army also successfully employed the DUKW. www.britannica.com/normandy/articles/DUKW.html --------------------------------------------------
G'day Beware Martin, some Belgian friends are planning a 10 day tour to Britain shortly, and will go up the Thames with their DUKW. They will have an extra generator to keep the waterpump going if the engine stalls. Another friend said he had a US Coast Guard report about an accident with a DUKW that sunk killing eight people, due to engine problems and losing the waterpump,and down it went. ski
This is very true Martin. An unfortuanate end to a vehicle. I've just read a modelling article on a British DUKW in Malaya in 1966 in a pale grey colour scheme very interesting. Anyone got info on this?
Thought this might interest someone; it reminds me of the DUKW- www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/larc.htm
G'day Donno if they went to Beltring but he said Daddy would go on the Thames with the DUKW and he would take care of emptying the fridge. Daddy owns 3 (three) DUKW and a GPA Willy's among other "stuff". Crazy people these Belgians. Blubski
At the end of the day the DUKW was the forerunner to a few post war variation on the them. IMHO the most successful was the Alvis Stalwart. See this: http://www.tankmuseum.com/single/stalwart.htm
I've registered with this forum specifically to ask the following question.......... In 1958, prior to attending the UK nuclear tests at Christmas Island, I trained as a DUKW driver with the RASC in north Devon and, despite the fact that I've subsequently come to understand that the letters, DUKW stand for something completely different, I clearly recall being told that they stood for 'Data Universal Kaiser Works.' Can anyone (especially from the USA, perhaps) suggest whether there is a connection of some sorts to explain this misunderstanding, please?
The standard explanation given above is accepted as the Acronym for this CCKW based vehicle, though we could quibble all day about whether k= front wheel drive & W=Driven twin rear axles or just driven rear axles (I'd have to check wheels and tracks to refresh the memory and be sure). I see the unusual Kaiser works explanation is quoted here too: The Australian War Memorial Glossary Perhaps it was the official Aussie interpretation of the Acronym & somehow transferred itself. Clerical error/indifference seems the most likely explanation as debate over the 'official' interpretation of many of these acronyms still rumbles on in the MV world, with many advocates of different explanations being able to provide original 'official' sources for their pet reading of them. The situation was apparently mildly confused at the time and continues to be somewhat so. Kaiser (works) is a Ford reference if I remember right. I don't think Ford built the Dukws what with them being an understandably GMC product (based on their truck) but part of their their R&D department was heavily involved in the initial improvement/testing programme. I wonder if it picked up the 'wrong' acronym then... I'll have a proper shufti in 'Wheels and tracks' later as there are too many DUKW references in the index to check now, the mighty Bart Vanderveen was often rather good on these little controversies. Cheers, (and welcome!) Adam.
Hello Omnibusologist, Trawled the whole 75 issues of After the Battle's 'Wheels & Tracks' magazine using the (admittedly dodgy) index, it often answers nuggets like this but on this occasion no mention or discussion of that acronym I'm afraid. Sorry I took a couple of days to get back to you, got distracted by... the magazine. Will bear it in mind whenever I'm looking at DUKWs. Might be worth asking the 'HMVF' forum, or 'Maple Leaf Up', as they're often rather clued up about such details. Cheers, Adam.
This is what i understood it to mean. D - The year it was designed, in this case, 1942 U - Amphibous K - Front wheel drive W - Dual rear driving axles I just found this page Home - Vehicles of Victory Go down about 2/3 of the page.
A video of a British DUKW drivers' reunion on the beaches amphibious drivers have been trained since WW2. YouTube - RASC Final Fling - October, 2010.‏
