Hi Ron,
>You WWII types, please excuse my ignorance, but were MBs, GPWs, and Weasles
>designed to be waterproof from the factory or were they smeared,wrapped or
>otherwise waterproofed in the field prior to fording?
Well... a certain amount of this is in fact true for all vehicles. So I
think the answer to your question is "yes, all military and civilian
vehicles are designed to be waterproof from the factory". But I think
what you are getting at is if these vehicles meet the following DoD
definition of "amphibious":
An amphibious vehicle in Category VII(f) is an automotive vehicle or
chassis which embodies all-wheel drive, is equipped to meet special
military requirements, and which has sealed electrical systems or
adaptation features for deep water fording.
The Weasel might not, since technically it is not an "automotive vehicle
or chassis" or "all-wheel drive". It is a special built chasis that is
only driven by two wheels out of 36 :-) It was also designed to be an
ATV of sorts, which is not what I call a "special military requirement"
(no more than transporting cargo on a highway is). Its electrical system
is also not sealed, but it is adapted for deep water fording. DUKWs and
GPAs probably fit this definition for all the same reasons the Weasel
does not.
So "funny" enough, although I think of a Weasel as being amphibious by
Webster's definition of the word, as well as common usage of it, the DoD
definition (which is the only thing that matters here) appears to exempt
it. One the negative side, it also includes a whole host of vehicles
fitted with "deep water fording kits" which, in my opinion, doesn't make
them truly amphibious.
Steve
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 08 2001 - 10:59:10 PDT