How the World War II ‘Duck’ vehicle evolved into an American tourist staple

Melvin Flath encountered a Frankenstein’s monster of a vehicle — a boat and truck hybrid snatched up from a postwar surplus sale — and had an idea.

The vehicle was a 2.5 ton military cargo hauler sealed tight with a makeshift hull to move troops and supplies ashore during War War II. But Flath envisioned a new life for the DUKW, hauling sightseers eager to experience the twisting waterways along the Wisconsin River.

The first vehicle, owned by Flath’s business partner Robert Unger, set out in 1946, lumbering through Wisconsin’s serene Dells region.

Troops in Normandy, Italy and the Pacific had already untangled the initialism, calling the vehicles ‘Ducks.’ The name stuck for Unger and Flath.

The Original Wisconsin Ducks now operates 92 authentic but modernized DUKW vehicles, general manager Dan Gavinski told the Washington Post on Saturday.

Troops dropped the “W” in the name to make it sound like the bird that drifts from land to water.

The business model grew, arriving in Branson, Mo., 40 years ago.

On Thursday, a replica of one of the vehicles capsized and submerged into Table Rock Lake, killing at least 17 people.

The history of DUKW is charted over seven decades.

Its development partially solved the problem of amphibious combat — how to get troops, ammunition and supplies off ships and onto the shore. But top war planners showed little interest in its design phase, even ahead of a demonstration of its abilities off Cape Cod in December 1942, until a massive storm hit.

The skies darkened and churned the water that Dec. 1. A Coast Guard vessel smashed against a sandbar. Violent waves kept rescue boats away.

One of the designers of the vehicle, Roderick Stephens, tore across the sand in the DUKW and plunged into the water to help pluck seven Guardsmen from the boat as it broke apart.

But its biggest endorsement came just eight months after the demonstration. Gen. George Patton used 1,000 DUKW vehicles for the crucial mission of resupply for the invasion of Sicily in July 1943.

DUKWs saw some service in the Korean War and were later phased out of service. Some were bought by police departments and fire departments for water rescue.

It is unclear how the deadly incident in Branson may affect the Duck boat industry. This past week’s tragedy is not the first involving the vehicles: More than 40 people have died in incidents involving Ducks since 1999, according to the Associated Press.