The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Ducks Coming to Chicago?-- Part 1: DUKWs

From the Jan. 18, 2015, Chicago Tribune "Company hoping to run duck boats on the river-- and streets" by Lizzie Johnson.

"Duck boat tours could be coming to the Chicago River as soon as this summer."  Entertainment Cruises operates more than 30 vessels across the country in various cities.  Chicago had a duck boat tour service in the late 1990s, but it was discontinued.  The boats hold 37 passengers and ramps would be constructed at Marina Towers and West Polk Street.  Of course, there are a lot of permits that must be obtained.

The DUKW stands for: "D" The model year 1942, "U"- the body style, utility, "K" stands for all-wheel vehicle and "W" represents dual rear axles.Ducks are very popular in the Wisconsin Dells and are massive World War II-era vehicles with many restored and retrofitted.

They were used for amphibious operations during World War II and were 31 feet long, had a boat shaped hull/body with maximum land speed of 50 mph and water speed of 6.4 mph.

During the war, they were based on the GMC cargo truck and more than 20,000 were built.

--GreGen

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