Was it Quacktastic ?
D
Weekend Fun! Rode a Duck!
The paramilitary amphibious troop transport Duck, that is. Or DUKW.
http://www.phillyducks.com/
The Ride The Ducks vehicle is based on the famous WWII DUKW amphibious design. Today, we build our vehicles from the ground up using the latest in marine design and safety. The vehicles are United States Coast Guard certified and tested regularly to ensure a safe and comfortable tour for our guests.
In our 29 year history our specially prepared vehicles have safely carried over 10 million guests on over 500,000 tours!
DUKW's in History
Ducks were first built by General Motors in 1942 and were basically a truck enclosed in a water-tight shell. You may think they are called ducks because they can splash into the water and out again, but actually the name is a military acronym. The letters are codes indicating that it was designed in 1942 (D), for utility/amphibious purposes (U), with front wheel drive (K), and two rear driving axles (W).
The first operational use of the DUKW was in March, 1943, when the U.S. landed Army
troops on Noumea, New Caledonia. Later organized into companies, the DUKW displayed its versatility by carrying ammunition directly from anchored ships to shore. This use of the DUKWs kept American casualties to a minimum, but a bigger purpose surfaced as American ingenuity took over... some of the DUKWs were modified to carry 4.5-inch rockets.
General Patton and General Eisenhower realized the DUKW was an invaluable war tool, and they were impressed by its capabilities. Over 1,000 DUKWs were used in the Sicilian landings of 1943alone. Operation Overlord, the landing in Normandy, was the most crucial operation in history with circumstances that made the DUKWs virtually indispensable. Approximately, 2,000 DUKWs brought to shore 40% of all supplies landed between June 6 and September 1, 1944.
Our tour covered Liberty Mile. (All pictures contained herein are around 5-600KB@640x480 because I was too lazy to resize.)
That's a good portion of the one-mile-square area in Philadelphia that includes Independence Mall, the Liberty Bell, South Street, Betsy Ross' house, the first Post Office of America, and other places) and we took a ~half mile ride in the river, too(1, 2. Included seeing Penn's Landing (1, 2, 3, 4) from the water (1, the top of Dana Barret's building from Ghostbusters, the US Mint of Philadelphia, the first Fire Hall, Elfreth's Alley (the oldest inhabited alleyway in the US), Will Smith's Dad's condo (top left), the Jupiter of Philadelphia, the lone surviving tugboat (of four) that took the USS New Jersey out to sea in 1942, and brought her back when she came back to Camden, the first step of a three-step arch that will become one of the longest water-crossing air-tram lines connecting Philly and Camden.
Even got to see Philly's City Hall (when my brother and I got misdirected when driving from the parking garage to pick up the family) and spied some rather attractive tourists and Spongebob.
Sergon
19 years ago