The M76 Otter was an
amphibious cargo carrier used by 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 ...
(USMC).
History
![Otter Resupply, 1968 (15178209581)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Otter_Resupply%2C_1968_%2815178209581%29.jpg)
It was designed and built by Pontiac Motor Division in the late 1940s and intended as a replacement for the
M29 Weasel
The M29 Weasel is a World War II tracked vehicle designed for operation in snow. Built by Studebaker, Weasels were also used in sandy, muddy, and desert terrains, including towing loads over terrain wheeled vehicles could not negotiate as in the ...
. It entered service with the USMC in the early 1950s and many saw action in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by 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 Vietnam a ...
. It was replaced in USMC service by the
M116 Husky
The M116 Husky was a tracked amphibious cargo carrier/marginal terrain vehicle that served with the United States Marine Corps.
Design
The M116 was a lightweight low-silhouette vehicle designed to transport cargo or personnel over unimproved ro ...
.
Preserved vehicles on display
There are Otters on display at the following locations:
*
Pacific War Museum
The Pacific War Museum is on Guam. It contains exhibits related to the military in the Pacific theater of World War II with a focus on the U.S. Marines.Brent, P.T. "One determined Marine: John Gerber and the Pacific War Museum", '' Leatherneck ...
,
Guam
Guam (; ch, GuÄhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
* Kensington American Legion,
Kensington, New Hampshire
Kensington is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,095 at the 2020 census.
History
Once a parish of Hampton, Kensington was incorporated in 1737 by New Hampshire governor Jonathan Belcher. Of the 27 town ...
* Marine Corps Mechanized Museum, Camp Pendleton
References
External links
Video of M76 used as a firefighting vehicle
{{Post-WWII US Soft Vehicles
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 1950s