US Navy Deck Tractors etc

[John Tapsell]

I'm looking for more information on the different types of deck tractor used on USN ships. Over the years I've collected a variety of 1/48 ground support equipment (USN, USAF and others) and whilst I can find plenty of photos, I'm struggling to understand the timelines for their colour schemes and service use. My intention has always been to build them as stand-alone projects with additional detailing, rather than pairing them with aircraft.

 

For example, when did the deck tractors start to change from yellow to white overall, when was the STT introduced and is the MD-3 still in use?

Are there any good descriptions/dimensions/walk-rounds, both of the tractors themselves and the starter and fire 'pods' that are often fitted to the rear of the tractors?

 

How much (if any) commonality is there between the USN and USAF in terms of vehicles and support equipment? Do they for example use common land-based tractors, generators and bomb loaders, or is there no overlap at all?

 

On a related note, were MJ-1 'jammers' used on carrier decks or does/did the USN adopt a different solution?

 

Many thanks for any information or pointers on where to look (online or books).

 

Regards,

John

[Rob de Bie]

I've got an extensive page discussing all MD-3 'Mule' kits in 1/72 scale, with a lot of reference photos, mostly screen grabs, hence not the best quality. But it's the best I can find:

 

https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/mule.htm

 

The color changed from yellow to white around 1990 I believe.

 

I finished two Mules a couple of months ago:

 

https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/mule-2.htm

 

 

Rob

 

 

 

[F-16]

Some good photo's of all white mules...

 

Flight Deck Mules...
 

 

Scott

CNJC-IPMS

[Finn]

For bomb loading on carriers it was mainly done by hand, for larger and other stores that couldn't be loaded by hand, hoists were used:

 

 

above is the powered HLU-196B/E,  earlier manual hoists were used. During the Vietnam War era, this was used:

 

 

 

from the looks of it, the store on it's cart was loaded on to the larger cart and whole thing was jacked up to the bomb rack.

 

Jari

[John Tapsell]

13 hours ago, Finn said:

For bomb loading on carriers it was mainly done by hand, for larger and other stores that couldn't be loaded by hand, hoists were used:

 

 

above is the powered HLU-196B/E,  earlier manual hoists were used. During the Vietnam War era, this was used:

 

Jari

Thanks Jari - good info.

Is the same type of machinery (or modernised versions) still used today?
All the deck tractors I have are 1990s-2020s rather than Vietnam era.

 

On 5/6/2024 at 4:46 PM, F-16 said:

Some good photo's of all white mules...

 

Flight Deck Mules...
 

 

Scott

CNJC-IPMS

Thanks Scott - great photos

 

On 5/6/2024 at 12:32 PM, Rob de Bie said:

I've got an extensive page discussing all MD-3 'Mule' kits in 1/72 scale, with a lot of reference photos, mostly screen grabs, hence not the best quality. But it's the best I can find:

 

Rob

Thanks Rob - That's a good reference selection - thanks for the link

 

Edited May 7 by John Tapsell

[GW8345]

19 hours ago, Finn said:

 

 

 

from the looks of it, the store on it's cart was loaded on to the larger cart and whole thing was jacked up to the bomb rack.

 

Jari

The  top picture is of a AERO-12C Bomb Skid on an AERO 33 Bomb Truck, the bottom picture is a AERO 21 Weapon Skid on an AERO 33 Bomb Truck.

 

You would push the skid onto the bomb truck and using manually pump hydraulics "jack up" the weapon (skid and all) to the rack. The AERO 33 wasn't the easiest thing to use let alone move around on the deck and was deemed obsolete by the late 80's.

[Rob Mignard]

You might try navysite.de. They have a very good selection of cruise books from WWII to present. You’ll have to do some searching (Air Department owns the deck tugs). ‘The Cruise and ports of call” is another good place to look, along with the individual squadron pages. It’s a crap shoot; some of the cruise books are great; others have nothing. Although time consuming, all of the photos are of operational equipment in their natural environment.

 

Mig

[John Tapsell]

14 hours ago, Rob Mignard said:

You might try navysite.de. They have a very good selection of cruise books from WWII to present. You’ll have to do some searching (Air Department owns the deck tugs). ‘The Cruise and ports of call” is another good place to look, along with the individual squadron pages. It’s a crap shoot; some of the cruise books are great; others have nothing. Although time consuming, all of the photos are of operational equipment in their natural environment.

 

Mig

Good call - I'd already found that site and immediately went down a rabbit hole. I scrolled through the 1970s WestPac cruise books for Coral Sea and Enterprise. I remember seeing them off Fremantle (Western Australia) during various courtesy visits when I was a kid, but couldn't remember the years.