The M116 Husky was a tracked

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

cargo carrier/marginal terrain vehicle that served with the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

Design

The M116 was a lightweight low-silhouette vehicle designed to transport cargo or personnel over unimproved roads, loose sand, soft marshy terrain and inland waterways. Its low ground pressure of when fully loaded gave good mobility on marginal terrain. The M116 was designed by

Pacific Car and Foundry The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

as a replacement for the

M76 Otter The M76 Otter was an amphibious cargo carrier used by the United States Marine Corps (USMC). History It was designed and built by Pontiac Motor Division in the late 1940s and intended as a replacement for the M29 Weasel. It entered service with ...

. Pacific Car and Foundry built four prototypes and then three pre-production models, however the production contract was awarded to

Blaw-Knox Blaw-Knox is a manufacturer of road paving equipment. The company was created in 1917 from the merger of Blaw Collapsible Steel Centering Company and the Knox Pressed and Welded Steel Company. Blaw-Knox was sold to new owners in 1968, changed owne ...

which produced 197.

Variants

The M733 was an armored variant of the M116 with steel armour plates added to provide ballistic protection capable of stopping

.30-caliber The 7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the imperial unit and customary unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for i ...

ball ammunition A full metal jacket (FMJ) bullet is a small-arms projectile consisting of a soft core (often lead) encased in an outer shell ("jacket") of harder metal, such as gilding metal, cupronickel, or, less commonly, a steel alloy. A bullet jacket usual ...

. The purpose of the vehicle was to provide small arms protection for infantry security elements accompanying marginal terrain vehicles. The primary armament was one

M60 machine gun The M60, officially the Machine Gun, Caliber 7.62 mm, M60, is a family of American general-purpose machine guns firing 7.62×51mm NATO cartridges from a disintegrating belt of M13 links. There are several types of ammunition approved for ...

, but two other pintle mounts were provided for additional M60s. The M733 could also mount the

M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...

.50 caliber machine gun or an

81mm mortar An 81 mm mortar is a medium-weight mortar. It is a smooth-bore, muzzle-loading, high-angle-of-fire weapon used for long-range indirect fire support to light infantry, air assault, and airborne units across the entire front of a battalion zone o ...

. The M733 was produced by Pacific Car and Foundry which built 93 with the first deliveries occurring in 1966.

History

Both the M116 and M733 served with the Marines in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. The M116E1 was placed into service in April 1969 by the 11th Motor Transport Battalion to support the

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF). It is the ...

in the low and often inundated areas south of

Danang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...

. Virtually unaffected by weather, the M116 had the effect of reducing reliance on helicopter support. The M733 was placed into service in August as a convoy escort.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:M116 Husky Military vehicles of the United States Tracked amphibious vehicles Armored personnel carriers of the United States Amphibious armoured personnel carriers Military vehicles introduced in the 1960s