| BARC
- (LARC 60) |
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BARC stands for Barge
Amphibious Resupply Cargo.
It is 6,5 m (19 feet, 5 in) high and 21 m (62 feet, 6
11/16in) long.
On land the driver has no vision from the control cabin on the back of
the vehicle so he/she must rely on hand signals from the person on the
bow.
The earlier versions of the BARC Hull no. 6 to 20
have the control cabin on the front see the pictures with the DUCW and
the rail road picture.
The drawback of the front control cab is that the raising of the
loading ramp gives a lot or jarring to the controls.
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This picture taken by Hugh W.
Gillett shows Barc 10 or 12.
He writes:
I was stationed at Ft. Story from 1959 -- 1962 with the 554 trans,
Plat,(BARC).
As you can see neither of these BARCs have the cabin forward.
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This picture taken by Hugh W.
Gillett shows Barc 9 to 13.
They al have the cabin in the back.
So the control cabins must have been moved at
some point in time.
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It was used in the Vietnam
war by the U.S army.
159th, the 545th, the 544th and the 540th BARC Company have used the
Barc (that I know of).
(If there are any Vets that can tell me more, especialy more tech.
details about the BARC, please give me "Hans" a mail.)
Bob Rose who was in the 305th transportation co.
has send in much info and many pictures.
Tom Moon, a Vietnam veteran, with two years
experience on Barc's in Vietnam was the first to contribute info to
this page:
Clarence L. Rush, he was also in the 38, brought
in a point about the steering.
Steve Luety has a great website at http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/9930/VUNGROBAY.html
There are good pictures of the bay in which they loaded the Barc's, but
no Barc pictures.
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It has 4 diesel engines (yes,
four - one on each wheel!!)
2 on each side.
These are mostly (other engines have been used) General Motors 2
stroke, 71 series diesel engines, each with a 7 litre capacity and a
power of 165 bhp at 2100 rpm. From those engines the power goes trough
a torque converter then to an automatic 3 speed transmission to end in
each wheel.
For water propulsion is has two 48 inch diameter propellers.
The total system includes 12 gearboxes, 2 air
compressors and 8 hydraulic pumps and 2 dynamos. All engine controls
are air operated and the steering is hydraulic.
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The little car on the right
of the BARC is a DUKW.
I only can imagine what it is to drive the beast, it has the size of a
house.
but I can not imagine driving a house down the street.
Some of the Barc's Tom worked on in Vietnam were,
the 18, 17, 23, and later the 54. he also remembers the 38 being in
Vietnam. It seems the 19 was there, but he can't remember for sure.
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These units were build by the
Treadwell Construction Co,
Great lakes Engineering works of River Rouge Michigan
and the Transval Electronic Corporation in the USA.
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A wheel is 3,2 m (10
feet) high and al 4 can steer independently.
The BARC can crab to the right or left at about 30 degrees.
A problem with the wheels was the swelling of the
wheel to the hub,
a normal problem with amphibians, but sins the wheels on the BARC are
larger
the problem is larger to.
The use of many hydraulic jacks and a cargo net hooked to the fuel
truck to
get a wheel off was more or less normal.
Three Barc's were lost in Vietnam that Tom knows
of, all because of mechanical failure, once they were broached on the
beach, they could not be saved. They tried everything, including
bulldozers and crane helicopters, once the sand had it's suction it
would not release the heavy Barc's.
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Everything on the BARC can be
controlled from the cabin with exception of the front ramp that is
operated with controls at the front of the vehicle.
The greatest weakness of the Barc's were it's air
compressors. They were located way down in the engine room next to the
marine gear. Engineers had a hard time there in their engine checks.
The whole system dependent on air pressure, and once the 2 air
compressors were down, there was serious trouble.
With the run from Vung Ro to Tuy Hoa, that was
about ten miles, they would always travel in pairs. This was a long run
for a Barc that was designed for short ship to shore runs. They always
had a 50' air hose on each Barc to use in case of an emergency.
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More pictures of of a BARC
taken in the General G.C. Marshall museum in Zwyndrecht, Netherlands.
are in a special directory.
A recording of a BARC starting his 4 engines can
be heard at that
museum.
a small MP3 recording of
that tape can be found here.
A
special story about a maintenance detachment at Wunder beach.
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Tom Moon wrote:
I arrived in Vietnam in May 1968 and was assigned to the Barc
detachment at Wunder Beach. We were made up of three platoons, the
540th, 545th, and the 544th. The three platoons were stationed at
Wunder Beach until September 1968. The 545th and 544th were assigned to
Cam Rahn Bay. The 540th was transported by US Navy LSD to Vung Ro Bay
were we became the 540th Barc company. We had three barc's at that
time, later three more would arrive from the states to Qui Nhon. I was
there at Qui Nhon to move them from the ship to the beach. The 540th
was deactivated in April 1970, the Barc's were sent back to CONUS and
the rest of us assigned to the 1098th in Da Nang. I loved the Barc's
they always got me to were I was going. |
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This is René Pohl in front of
the left propeller and rudder of the BARC that
stood indoor in the General George C. Marshall - Ground Transportation
Museum
in Zwijndrecht Holland
A propeller is 1,2 meter (48 inch) wide.
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It can load officially load
60 tons but it is known to carry 130 tons. |
Official US army photo.
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Russ has wrote me:
I was stationed at Ft. Story Va. in 1964.
There were a few BARC's there.
I Went to Qui Nhon in 1965 and saw some of them there.
They made an unforgettable sound.
I looked at some military books about VietNam
that listed all the army equipment that was used there, they had no
mention of the BARC's.
I was an engineer equipment mechanic at Ft. Story and was interested in
them as a mechanic, and had an opportunity to load my cranes and
bulldozers on one but did not know much else about them.
I do know its possible to burn up a clutch on a
20 ton truck mounted crane getting it on and off a BARC. Our motor
officer wasn't happy to see our TD-24 towing the crane off the BARC
while the commander of Ft. Eustis (Ft. Story was under the command of
Ft. Eustis) was there to observe our proficiency.
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Official US army photo.
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Ronald Sheetz wrote:
They were
really fun to drive.
I can remember having drag races on the beach at Fort Story on a slow
day. Also made many trips out toward eastern shore fishing when
the blues' were running. We had an old Colonel who liked to fish
so we accommodated him anytime he wanted.
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Official US army photo.
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A BARC giving birth to a LARC
V. :) |
Official US army photo.
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A BARC giving birth to a LARC
V in a different view. :)
In 1999 the last active BARC was at old Fort
Story, but even then it hasn't moved for a while.
So it is safe to conclude that the BARC is no longer active in the US
army.
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