Battle Stations II
The
'Duck'
Weight 7.5
tons (empty)
Length 31ft (9.4m)
Engine GMC 270 cubic inch 6-cylinder petrol engine
Maximum speed Land 55mph, water 6mph
Payload 2.5 tons or 25 soldiers and their equipment
The DUKW – nicknamed the 'Duck' – was a six-wheel amphibious landing craft based on the US Army's 2.5-ton truck, encased in a water-tight shell. DUKW was an acronym: 'D' was the code for the first year of production, 1942; 'U' stood for 'utility truck (amphibious)'; K for front-wheel drive; W for two rear-driving wheels (tandem axle). During World War II, the US produced 20,000 Ducks, of which some 2,000 were supplied to the British under the terms of Lend-Lease.
The Duck was a stalwart of amphibious operations during the war. Designed to deliver ammunition, supplies, equipment and men from ships in transport areas offshore to dumps and fighting units on beach-heads, it represented a practical solution to the problem facing the Allies when dock facilities in landing areas were non-existent.
Shaped like a boat, the Duck had a hollow, airtight body for buoyancy, and used a single propeller to sustain forward momentum. It had a five-speed transmission with a two-speed transfer case, giving it 10 forward speeds and two in reverse. It also had a tyre inflation system comprising a two-cylinder air compressor and an air storage tank. This enabled the driver to inflate or deflate any one of the six tyres or all of them at the same time from the dashboard, where a pressure gauge monitored the air pressure at all times on sand, coral or mud.
The Ducks' combat debut came during Operation Husky – the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. In Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, they were employed by the Allied infantry, engineers, rangers, artillery and service support units. At Omaha Beach, 12 of the 111th Field Artillery Battalion's 13 Ducks, carrying men and 105mm howitzers, went to the bottom with considerable loss of life. Nevertheless, over 40% of all over-beach supplies delivered in Normandy between June and September 1944 came courtesy of the Duck.
It was also effective in the Pacific, where it played a vital role in US Marine Corps and Army operations in New Guinea, on Bougainville and during the invasion of the Philippines. Ducks also supported the landings on Iwo Jima and took part in the struggle for Okinawa.
In Europe, the last amphibious operations undertaken by Ducks were the Rhine crossings of 21-23 March 1945, in which no fewer than 370 Ducks were employed. Between D-Day and 8 May 1945, Ducks moved more than 19% of all the supplies and equipment unloaded by Allied forces – a total of 3,050,000 tons.
Following its service in the Korean War, an improved version – the DRAKE – was developed in 1956 but never went into production. The Duck continued to serve with the US Army until the mid-1960s, and it was also put to many civilian uses by police and fire departments and rescue units.
The Duck's record of robustness and longevity is a tribute to the American genius for problem-solving and mass production.
