History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's DUKW page on 10 February 2025, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The DUKW (GMC type nomenclature, colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the 2+1⁄2-ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War. Designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Stephens and General Motors Corporation (GMC), the DUKW was used for the transportation of goods and troops over land and water. Excelling at approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious warfare attacks, it was intended only to last long enough to meet the demands of combat. Surviving DUKWs have since found popularity as tourist craft providing travel across aquatic areas.

The name DUKW comes from General Motors Corporation model nomenclature: D, 1942 production series; U, Utility; K, all wheel drive; W, tandem rear axles, both driven. Decades later, the designation was explained erroneously by writers such as Donald Clarke, who wrote in 1978 that it was an initialism for "Duplex Universal Karrier, Wheeled". The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps alternative designation of LVW (Landing Vehicle, Wheeled) was seldom used.

The DUKW was designed by Rod Stephens Jr. of Sparkman & Stephens, Inc. yacht designers, Dennis Puleston, a British deep-water sailor resident in the U.S., and Frank W. Speir from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Developed by the National Defense Research Committee and the Office of Scientific Research and Development to solve the problem of resupply to units which had just performed an amphibious landing, it was initially rejected by the armed services. When a United States Coast Guard patrol craft ran aground on a sand bar near Provincetown, Massachusetts, an experimental DUKW happened to be in the area for a demonstration. Winds up to 60 knots (110 km/h; 69 mph), rain, and heavy surf prevented conventional craft from rescuing the seven stranded Coast Guardsmen, but the DUKW had no trouble, and military opposition to the DUKW melted. The DUKW later proved its seaworthiness by crossing the English Channel.

The final production design was perfected by a few engineers at Yellow Truck & Coach in Pontiac, Michigan.

Article Index

Date	Article	Details
11 September 2023	DUKW Amphibious Passenger Vessels This statutory mandate was enacted after the sinking of the Stretch Duck 7 on July 19, 2018, which resulted in the loss of 17 lives on Table Rock Lake, Missouri.	Federal Register Notice (text) Agency: U.S. Coast Guard Byline: Wayne R. Arguin Topic: DUKW
5 October 2023	DUKW Amphibious Passenger Vessels In rule document 2023-19421, appearing on pages 62295-62301 in the issue of Monday, September 11, 2023, make the following correction...	Federal Register Notice (text) Agency: U.S. Coast Guard Topic: DUKW