DUKW's

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Just some Monday morning quarterbacking .......

Wouldn't it be great if the LA National Guard was equipped with several hundred 'Ducks'? Amphibious capability, 2 ton capacity, go anywhere vehicle.

They served us well during World War II, keeping supplies and troops moving.
 
The Marines are on the way with LCACs and Amtracs. It takes time for ships to get there though.

TC
 
I didn't realize a 6X6 could float in 10 feet of water.

A DUKW has got to be cheaper to run than the Blackhawk helicopters I see plucking people off roofs. More capacity too.
 
I don't know anything about LCAC's.

I am talking about the DUKW's that are converted Ford or GM straight trucks used in WWII to move supplies to beaches. I've ridden the 'Ducks' in Branson, Chattanooga and Boston. I think Washington DC also has them. They carry about 25 persons.

Here's a link to some DUKW sites.
http://www.dukw.com/
http://www.bostonducktours.com/index.html
http://www.chattanoogaducks.com/
http://www.ridetheducks.com/

I don't think the amtracs can carry much in the way of supplies. DUKW's would probably be easier to load and unload.
 
Aren't the Strykers amphibious?

Having crew served weapons available would also be useful.
 
No, the Strykers are not amphibious. M113's are if given time for set-up.

Trying to think out of the box here.
 
The city of Hot Springs, Arkansas had some of the "Ducks" operating tours of the lake (Lake Ouchita, IIRC).

Maybe if some of the AR NG guys are going to "Nawlins", maybe take a couple of 'Ducks" with them. Perhaps not the best choice, but I would take a 'duck ride' over having to wade in the gator-n-snake filled waters there right now..
 
Duck!

A 'duck' would make an excellent vehicle for the task at hand - trouble is, the last one was built in 1945 or so. The few that are still around are kept running by a few dedicated companies and collectors - the price on 'em has really sky-rocketed. I even considered buying one a while back, but didn't have a spare quarter-mil hanging around.

I remember the Coast Guard using DUKW's the last time this area got hit with real, prolonged flooding - the Ash Wednesday storm of '63. The Coasties were racing 'em up and down Atlantic Avenue. The vehicles have long since been disposed of. Too bad. When sold, the CG let 'em go for a pittance.

As Mr. Natural sez: "The right tool for the right job."

Cheers
 
Common misconception, the silver bullet fallacy.
There aren't many old DUKWs around. The ones left are not ideal for all the jobs. But if you can get some in, they are a lot better than nothing and would support the helicopters, boats, and more modern amphibs.
Something like this you need to throw in whatever is available and not wait on the perfect solution.
 
LCACs are 88 x 47 feet. Aren't they going to have a problem navigating in flooded city streets?
Click to expand...

I don't think they'll use them in city streets. However, they're ideal for picking up large items and delivering them to close to where they need to be: and they could load several hundred refugees from collection points and get them out to ships, or to another staging area across Lake Pontchartrain. They will probably be very useful in NO.

(Of course, if the flooding remains as high as it is in certain areas, they can go over the houses, ignoring the streets! :D )
 
IIRC the DUKW was a pretty much a standard (1942) 2.5 ton truck in a boat-shaped hull. Interesting, but seriously obsolete these days. A more modern vehicle, though also one that's also getting seriously obsolete, is the Alvis Stalwart, a 5 ton 6x6 fully amphibious truck. It even looks cool! :D

The downside to the Stalwart is its mechanical complexity and lack of independent diffs (all wheels on a side share one). Anyone designing one today probably ought to take a long hard look at making it diesel-hydraulic or diesel-electric.

For right now, FEMA and the army will have to use M113s or borrow some Amtracs.

Cheers,
ErikM :evil:
 
Wouldn't an amphibious transport like a "duck" move a lot more supplies than an armored fighting vehicle? I'd expect it to be a lot cheaper--and you'd be able to pack more on an aircraft. Or even drop them by chinook.

I agree that we can gather up relics at this point, but I think its a valid idea for future consideration.
 
The helicopter, in whatever version, was/is intended to replace the DUKW. Not much, if anything, would do a better job than the DUKW for the sort of in-and-around movement of people and cargo inside the city. As has been mentioned before, it is a deuce and a half inside a boat hull. Loads and unloads over the side just as a normal truck (no tailgate, of course). More importantly, it can drive from distant staging points over roads or crosscountry until waters edge, at which time it becomes a boat. As I recall, the military still has thousands of that size truck. A few with hulls would have helped.
 
There is a good scene in one of the last episodes of Band of Brothers that involves a DUKW. The cast is riding on one through the Alps headed to Bertchesgarden (prior to liberating the Eagles Nest). That darned vehicle is as good a truck as it is a boat (made an ocean rescue in 1943 that the CG couldn't do). So sad that they've been told they're obsolete.
 
What about the big rubber boats, the landing crafts? I'd think theyt could operate in low water.

And unfortunately, I do think anything going in is going to need to be armed :(
 
DUKWs would be perfect with their big open cargo areas.

In WWII, right after the invasion at Normandy, a gale in the channel tore up the floating docks the allies were using to unload supplies off the cargo ships. While they rebuilt them, they were using DUKWs to motor out to the ships, load up with cargo, then they drove them right up through the surf, up over the beach and drove down the roads to the supply depots just inland.

I believe the Marines use the hovercraft LCACs to do just that kind of thing today, but LCACs are huge.
 
LARC-5 is the replacement for the DUKW according to a former beachmaster friend of mine.

It sounds like a floating 5 ton truck, room for 30 people, seaworthy.
 
I think they stopped making the LARC (Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo) 5, 15 and 60 back in the 1960's. The LARC was designed to directly receive cargo offloaded from a ship, carry the cargo through the surf onto the beach, up the beach a short distance, and then offload the cargo to other wheeled vehicles. The LARC was not designed for prolonged driving on land insofar as among other issues, they had no suspension as originally designed and built. After the Army surplused them, the Coast Guard, Corps of Engineers and various civilian agencies and private citizens used them. They are still available today on the used market, and a quick Google noted that a junker goes for around $ 40,000 and a restored model or one converted to an amphibious tourist carrier goes for $ 250,000 on up.
 
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