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Contact London Duck Tours
This website has no connection with any shipping company, cruise line, boat operator or other commercial organisation
London Duck Tours
This page is devoted to London Duck Tours, who use WW2 amphibious DUKWs on the Thames and in London.
This is one a of series of
Simplon Postcards
pages devoted to
River Thames Excursion Boats
.
For details contact:
London Duck Tours
The DUKW (popularly pronounced DUCK) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was designed by General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks. The designation of DUKW is not a military pun - the name comes from the terminology used for military vehicles in World War II; the D indicates a vehicle designed in 1942, the U meant "utility (amphibious)", the K indicated all-wheel (or front wheel?) drive and the W indicated two powered rear axles.
The DUKW was designed by Rod Stephens Jr. of Sparkman & Stephens (yacht designers), Dennis Puleston, a British deep water sailor, and Frank W. Speir, an ROTC Lieutenant out of MIT. The DUKW prototype was built around the cab over engine (COE) six-wheel-drive military truck GMC ACKWX (a COE version of the GMC CCKW), with the addition of a watertight hull and a propeller. The final production design was based on the CCKW. The vehicle was built by the GMC division of General Motors (called Yellow Truck and Coach at the beginning of the war). It was powered by a GMC Straight-6 engine of 270 in³ (4416 cc). The DUKW weighed 7.5 tons and operated at 6.4 mph (10 km/h) on water and 50-55 mph (80 km/h) on land. It was 31 feet (9.3 m) long, 8.25 feet (2.4 m) wide, and 8.8 feet (2.6 m) high with the folding-canvas top up. More than 21,000 were manufactured. It was not an armoured vehicle, being plated with sheet steel between 1/16" and 1/8" thick to minimise weight. A high capacity bilge pump system kept the DUKW afloat if the thin hull was breached by holes up to 2" in diameter.
The DUKW was the first vehicle to allow the driver to vary the tire pressure from inside the cab, an accomplishment of Speir's device. The tires could be fully inflated for hard surfaces such as roads and less inflated for softer surfaces, especially beach sand. This added to the DUKW's great versatility as an amphibious vehicle. This feature is now standard on many military vehicles.
London Duck Tours' DUKWS were built in the USA by General Motors and started life in the mid 1940s as military ship to shore transports. Many were used in the D-Day landings and in other wartime theatres. They remained in service with the British and other armies into the 1970s.
DUKWs are still in use, alongside modern purpose-built amphibious tour buses in some cases, as tourist transport in harbour and river cities such as London, Dublin, Singapore plus US cities Chattanooga, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington, DC, Memphis, Boston, Miami, Seattle, Grapevine, Texas, Wisconsin Dells, Peachtree City and Georgia. New York recently joined this list, but with all-new vehicles.
Contact:
London Duck Tours
DUKWs on this Page:-
Beatrice
Cleopatra
Desdemona
Thames Passenger Boat Pages:-
River Thames Excursion Boats
- Thames Header Page - Full List of Companies
River Thames - Harwich-Southend-Tilbury-Tower Pier Cruise
River Thames - Runneymede Circular Cruise
River Thames - Windsor-Maidenhead Cruise
River Thames - Maidenhead-Marlow Cruise
River Thames - Marlow-Henley Cruise
River Thames - Henley-Reading Cruise
Associated Pages:-
UK Excursion Ships
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Ocean Liner Postcards
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References:-
Royal River Highway:
Written by Frank L. Dix - published David & Charles 1984
Trip Out Guides
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Written and published by G.P.Hamer - various editions from 1977 to 2005 consulted
Trip Out Guides are available from Geoffrey Hamer, PO Box 485, Southall, UB1 9BH
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London Duck Tours
Beatrice
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 23rd May 2007
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Cleopatra
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 24th June 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 24th June 2006
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Desdemona
Photo: © Ian Boyle, 24th June 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 24th June 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 24th June 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 24th June 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 24th June 2006
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Photo: © Ian Boyle, 24th June 2006
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