The production of this amphibian was launched in the USA in April 1941 by the General Motors concern together with the shipbuilding company Sparkman and Stefens from New York. With this unusual vehicle, much was the first time. For the first time, an amphibious truck went into mass production, for the first time all axles received single-wheel wheels that followed a track and did not create additional resistance to movement, for the first time the wheels received special ten-layer elastic tires that allowed operation at reduced pressure, which significantly increased the cross-country ability by in soft soils and wheel bearing surfaces, it was first applied to the DUKW chassis with the innovation of centralized tire pressure management.
In total, from 1942 to 1945. more than 21 thousand DUKW amphibious vehicles were manufactured in the USA. Of these, at least 586 amphibians entered service with the Red Army as part of the Lend-Lease program. According to the official website of the US Coast Guard, which currently manages all American amphibious vehicles, as of June 25, 2002, in the United States alone, 75 DUKW amphibians were still used for commercial purposes, another 140 were under state jurisdiction, cars were used on non-navigable waterways. So the amphibian, released during the Second World War, remains in demand at the beginning of the XXI century. Some of them are used by excursion companies and yacht clubs.
The abbreviation DUKW comes from the system of names adopted by General Motors for the models of automotive equipment it produces, it stands for it as follows:
"D" means the car was designed in 1942;
"U" stands for "utility" (in this case, "auxiliary");
"K" stands for all-wheel drive - all-wheel drive;
"W" means the vehicle has a double rear axle.
By early 1942, the American army was in dire need of a large amphibious vehicle. The expansion of hostilities in the Pacific and the planned landing of allied troops in North Africa spurred the American military on. They needed a cargo floating vehicle that could be loaded with the necessary property, equipment and personnel right at the side of the transport ship, then ferrying all this to the shore and independently getting out to the place of disembarkation. The DUKW car turned out to be just such an amphibious vehicle. In the American army, this amphibious all-terrain vehicle received the informal nickname Duck (duck) and was in service with engineering regiments and units of the amphibious engineering command. DUKW amphibious vehicles have been widely used in numerous amphibious operations in the Pacific theater of operations.
The DUKW amphibious vehicle was finally adopted in October 1942, widely used by the American military and its allies until the end of World War II. For the first time, these amphibians were used in the 8th British Army during the landing in Sicily. During this campaign, the British were armed with 230 DUKW vehicles, which could carry troops, anti-tank guns and ammunition. Soon, DUKW amphibians were used to transport goods across the Strait of Messina, and also participated in the liberation of Salerno. In addition, amphibians were used when crossing rivers in Italy, Western Europe and Burma.
DUKW amphibious vehicle
The GMC DUKW amphibious amphibious amphibious amphibious transport vehicle was designed by American designers from Marmon Herrington on the basis of chassis components and assemblies of the massive 2, 5-ton heavy-duty army trucks GMC ACKWX-353 (1940 model) and GMC CCKW-353 (model 1941), which had a 6x6 wheel arrangement. Due to this legacy in the USSR, the amphibian was often called the DUKW-353. Engineers at Marmon Herrington developed the layout of the new machine, designed a power take-off with a propeller and winch drive (installed at the back), bilge pumps, a propeller with a water steering, engine heat exchangers with a very serious ventilation system and many other components.
The amphibious displacement hull and its contours were designed by the New York shipbuilding company Sparkman & Stephen. At the same time, the boat was not a supporting structure - an ordinary ACKWX-353 chassis was located inside the hull with minor changes in the nodes, which was caused by the specifics of the application. The existing truck frame with chassis assemblies was installed in a displacement pontoon-type boat hull. The body was welded and manufactured from 1, 9 mm thick sheet steel. The amphibious body was distinguished by the presence of power braces and amplifiers, with hydrodynamic forms that were very successful for such a versatile vehicle, which almost did not limit its mobility in off-road conditions. In the bottom of the hull-boat there were recesses for wheels, cardan shafts, axles and a propeller.
The body of the amphibious vehicle was specially divided by bulkheads into 3 parts: bow, landing and stern. In the bow there was a 94 hp engine. sec., as well as a radiator, which could be accessed through two special hatches. Here, on the bow, there was a control compartment: a steering wheel, a dashboard, a driver's seat and a right seat for his assistant or vehicle commander. The front control compartment was protected by a windshield, and on the sides - by detachable tarpaulin sidewalls. The crew of the DUKW amphibious vehicle usually consisted of 2-3 people. The troop compartment could accommodate 25 airborne personnel or a payload weighing up to 2.3 tons (including a 105-mm artillery gun along with its crew). At the same time, there was no hinged tailgate in the troop compartment, so all loading and unloading operations were carried out through the amphibious board. From above, the troop compartment could be covered with a tarpaulin awning, which was stretched over the existing arcs. On some amphibians, it was possible to install weapons - a large-caliber 12, 7-mm Browning M2 machine gun.
In addition to the controls usual for trucks, the amphibians of the GMC concern also had levers for turning on the propeller, pump valves, as well as toggle switches designed to turn on tire inflation. All this additional equipment was located in the control department. On amphibians DUKW with adjustable tire pressure, a two-cylinder compressor permanently connected to the engine was mounted.
The suspension and chassis (two-spar frame, box-type spars) of the DUKW amphibians did not differ from the base truck. But unlike the truck in the amphibious car, all tires were single-tire oversized with a large tread pattern, designated "reversible all-terrain vehicle", with a single track. All this significantly improved the cross-country ability of the DUKW, since it was of great importance when the amphibian exits the water onto a muddy, sandy or marshy coast. Subsequently, in September 1942 (after the production of 2005 amphibious vehicles), a centralized system for regulating tire pressure (on the move) was introduced into their design, which made it possible to reduce the pressure from the normal 2, 8 kgf / sq. Cm (when the amphibian was moving on the roads with a hard surface) up to 0.7 kgf / sq. cm when driving on soft soils (mud, sand), in particular, when going ashore from the water. Due to the resulting deformation (flattening) of the tires, the contact area of the tread with the ground increased, which significantly reduced the pressure exerted on the ground and increased the permeability.
On the water, the DUKW amphibious vehicle was driven by a three-blade propeller, which was installed in a specially designed tunnel located at the rear of the hull and connected to the power take-off with three longitudinal propeller shafts at once. On the water, the car could maneuver using a water steering wheel located immediately behind the propeller. The steering wheel was constantly connected to the steering mechanism by a cable transmission and could turn in both directions in sync with the turning of the front wheels of the car. On water, this made it possible to reduce the radius of circulation to 6.1 meters.
To pump out water that could get into the body of the amphibious machine, it had 2 pumps: centrifugal and gear, they were driven from the propeller shaft. Behind, in the aft niche of the amphibian hull, a drum winch was usually installed, with a pulling force of 9 tf. The winch served to facilitate the loading of artillery systems, vehicles, ammunition and other cargo into the cargo compartment. For self-recovery, the winch could only be activated when moving backward. The maximum wave height in the coastal zone, which still allowed the use of DUKW amphibious vehicles, was approximately 3 meters.
Mass production of GMC DUKW amphibious trucks was mastered in March 1942 by Yellow Truck & Coach Mfg factories, and, starting in 1943, by Pontiac, where only their final assembly was carried out. In 1943, 4508 amphibians of this type were manufactured, and in total by the end of 1945 - 21,147 units. The first DUKW amphibious vehicles entered the US Army in October 1942 and were widely used by the US military until the end of World War II. At the same time, amphibious vehicles entered service with engineering regiments and battalions of a specially created amphibious engineering command.
The first combat use of DUKW amphibians, as noted above, occurred in the summer of 1943 during the landing of the 8th British Army in Sicily. Later, in 1944-1945, these amphibians were used by the Anglo-American forces during various military operations in Europe. They were used when the Allies landed in Normandy, as well as when crossing water barriers: the Seine, Weser, Meuse, Main, Rhine, lakes and numerous canals. In addition, amphibians were naturally very widely used during the battles with the Japanese in the Pacific theater of operations.
From about mid-1944, amphibious amphibious vehicles GMC DUKW-353 began to arrive in the Soviet Union as part of the Lend-Lease program of military assistance. In the Red Army, amphibians were in service with separate battalions of amphibious vehicles. They were widely used by the Soviet military when crossing the Daugava and Svir rivers, during the Vistula-Oder offensive, and also in August 1945 during the battles with the Japanese in Manchuria. The use of these amphibians, unique at that time, made it possible to solve complex combat missions with significantly lower losses than when using ordinary ferry means.
The performance characteristics of DUKW:
Overall dimensions: length - 9.45 m, width - 2.5 m, height - 2.17 m.
The mass of the car with full equipment is 6.5 tons.
Carrying capacity - 2300 kg (on land).
The power plant is a 6-cylinder gasoline engine GMC with a capacity of 94 hp.
Thrust-to-weight ratio - 14 hp / t.
Maximum speed - 80 km / h (on land), 10, 2 km / h (on water).
Cruising range - 640 km (on land), 93 km (on water).
Crew - 2-3 people.
