John Furlong’s family has been in the transport business since his father started Furlong Coaches in the mid-1970s.
It was when John was driving bus tours of the Normandy beaches that his interest in the vehicles of World War 2 began. His current collection includes a DUKW, several Jeeps and a Dodge WC – 51.
John considers himself to be an ‘old skool’ mechanic and in 1998 he lent his knowledge of the DUKW 6×6 amphibious truck to assist with the establishment of Dublin’s award-wining Viking Splash Tours. He works in font-line tourism driving for Paddywagon Tours.
In Part 1 of our two-part episode, John takes us through the design process and military campaigns fought by the DUKWs. And in Part 2 John will talk us through the history of his own 1945 DUKW and his plans for it’s restoration.
The idea of an amphibious military vehicle was first formulated in the 1940s by civilian engineer Roger W. Hofheims who designed and prototyped the ‘Aqua-Cheetah’ powered by a mid-mounted Ford V8 engine and chains driving all wheels. Later versions of his ‘Aqua-Cheetah’ used Dodge WC axles.
Despite improvements to the design and the testing of ‘Aqua-Cheetah’ prototypes the US military were just not interested. Their thinking for warfare did not include an amphibious capability. However, with the advent of World War 2 and the operational requirement for large scale amphibious landings, the army began to warm to the idea of creating a vehicle that could be shipped to an offshore location, unloaded into the water and then self-propel.
This vehicle would then be loaded with 5,000 lb (2,300 kg) supplies or 24 troops and ferry them to the beach. Once the beachhead was established, this vehicle would then transport troops and supplies further inland.
The National Defense research committee (NDRC) ordered a prototype from General Motors Corporation (GMC) and they in turn engaged New York yacht designers Sparkman and Stephens. The design project led was a young Rod Stephens Jr. and he was assisted by Frank W. Speir from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and in just 38 days of design work they had come up with a suitable amphibious truck.
Their design used the G-508 (the original “Deuce and a Half”) GMC truck, popularly known as the ‘Jimmy’. To which they fitted a watertight hull and a propeller. Their design gave a projected combat-life for the DUKW at 5 hours, just enough time for several back and forth ferrying trips with troops and supplies.
The DUKW was a unique vehicle that combined many ordinary components into an extraordinary machine. Power for road and water use came from a GMC 270 straight-six engine using a 5-speed overdrive transmission that drove a transfer case for the propeller and a 2-speed (high and low ratio) transfer case to drive the axles. From the transfer case front wheel drive and the propeller were selectable.
In addition, a power-take-off on the transmission drove an air compressor and heavy-duty winch. A powerful Higgins bilge pump was able to keep the DUKW afloat even if it suffered a hull breach of holes up to 51 mm in diameter. The DUKW was the first vehicle to allow the driver to control from their driving position the tire pressure in all six wheels.
The DUKW name came from the internal naming system used by the General Motors Corporation (GMC): D – 1942 production series:
U – utility vehicle
K – front wheel drive
W – tandem rear axles, both driven
US troops love a good nickname and the DUKW pronounced DUCK was born!! The US Navy-Marine Corps named them ‘LVM’s’ (Landing Vehicle Wheeled) but that wasn’t catchy enough and the DUKW name stuck!
Even with the obvious amphibious capabilities of the DUKW the military were not impressed with the design and rejected the vehicle. Amongst other issues, they felt the DUKW was vulnerable as it was too lightly armored, slow on the water and with no landing ramp or ladder, troops laden with equipment would have to jump 1.8m to the ground to disembark.
A few prototypes were made and they were scattered around the county and placed on display in an effort to drum up public support but as far as the military was concerned the DUKW project was shelved. Then fate intervened when a Coast Guard patrol craft was washed onto a sandbar during a storm off the coast of Provincetown MA.
Conventional water-craft were unable to brave the 60 knot winds, surf and strong seas to rescue the seven crew members. A DUKW on display in nearby Boston was called up and driven to the coast with a 2-man army crew. They drove the DUKW straight into the stormy sea and reaching the location of the stranded patrol craft, drove onto the sandbar and rescued the seven crew members who did not even have to get their feet wet!
The rescue made the newspapers across the USA, with the headlines ‘Amphibious Truck Rescues Coastguard Crew’. With headlines like these it was not long before the military realized they had a capable amphibious vehicle. In October 1942 an order was placed for 2,000 DUKW units and they were initially manufactured at the Yellow Truck & Coach plant in Pontiac Michigan and after 1943 by GMC Truck & Coach division. Between 1942 and 1945, 21,147 DUKWs were made.
DUKWs were first used in a military operation by the 2nd Brigade, 87th Engineer Battalion of the US Army to land troops on Noumea island, New Caledonia in March 1943. However, it was not until July 1943 when General Montgomery invaded Sicily using 230 DUKWs that the US military really took notice of the DUKW’s capabilities.
If further confirmation were needed of just how capable these machines really were, for the September 9th 1943 invasion of Salerno, 150 DUKW’s between them moved 190,000 troops, 30.000 vehicles and 12,000 tons of supplies.
General Eisenhower was especially impressed and used the DUKWs for the Normandy landings in June 1944 when 2,000 were off-loaded from LSTs (Landing Ship Tank) 14 miles offshore and forming two columns, they headed for the beaches. These DUKWs were to transport 3,500,000 tons of ammunition, supplies and equipment into France and Belgium between June 1944 and July 1945.
Information sources: 1. DUKW TRIALS – John Havers2. GMC DUKW: America’s Amphibious Duck in World War II and Korea3. Higgins Industries (USA)4. National Inventors Hall of Fame (USA) 5. The Illustrated Guide to Amphibious Warfare Vehicles 6. www.458thdrstigers.org7. www.Britannica.com
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