Amphibious assault vehicles that sink are 'death traps' for the troops inside, Marine veterans say
after fatal accidentA sinking Marine Corps amphibious assault vehicle is a "death trap" because of how hard it can be to get everyone out alive, Marine veterans told Insider after a deadly incident this summer.
Several former Marines said that the ways the aging AAVs are designed and operated make it "tough" to get a full load of Marines out in a crisis. If it sinks, troops in heavy combat gear have to hold their breath and climb out of a flooded vehicle through narrow, hard-to-open hatches. The escape plans for the often overcrowded vehicles appear problematic at best and at worst, disasters waiting to happen.
AAVs rarely sink and fatal mishaps are uncommon for the 26-ton tracked vehicles made to move Marines from warships at sea to shore under fire, but tragedy struck in late July when an amphibious vehicle sank rapidly to a depth of 385 feet off the coast of southern California during a training exercise.
The Marine Corps says that its AAVs can hold roughly two dozen troops, but they look like they could only reasonably hold about half that. The vehicle that sank in July was pretty packed, carrying 16 service members at the time of the accident.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/amphibious-assault-vehicles-sink-death-123000428.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
.. in the old AmTrac. In the 60's.
We all knew we could never get out if she went down. 30 guys in that 40 ton coffin.
That plunge... and rise to the surface...is the longest period of time in history.
High pucker-factor.
And crowded? That's the Marine way.
* USS Luzerne County (LST 902). Landing Ship Tank. about football field long, meant for "landing" troops or tanks/heavy equipment on the shore, ramming onto the shore (called "beaching" ) , opening the "doors"/lowering the ramp, disgorging. Think, D-Day.
* LSTs named for *counties*. Recent news about voting irregularities in Luzerne County, PA!1
* It's a big hollow tube like a warehouse down there, flat bottom, crew about 250. Because of the flat bottom on the open ocean hitting waves they *bounce* up from the bow (front) and hover/vibrate like a tuning fork then *SLAM* down flat onto the surface until the next wave (sometimes the ocean is calm). But the flat bottom makes for able to enter shallow river water (Mekong Delta).
* Known to break in half because of the hollow tube design. Nickname of LST “Long Slow Target”.
* In my 1967-68 year we basically transported supplies (bulldozers, lots of pallets of big bags of concrete, pallets of commodities/boots/CocaCola) from Saigon down the river to Army bases. Only carried troops twice – 700 South Vietnamese soldiers, other time 200 U.S. Army to Da Nang. Both/separately all crammed in the “tank deck” (the hollow part). The S. Vietnamese got sea sick and threw up. Our Army guys got a bit of rest, cafeteria service, safety from the front lines. Both were being dropped off to be potentially slaughtered.
