Navy Jeeps on carriers

[M37M880]

In watching "The Bridges at Toko Ri", there is a flight deck shot with three wheeled Jeeps running around the deck.

They appear to be servicing the planes. They are not acting as "tugs" which would move planes around.

These Jeeps have one wheel in the rear and appear to be very manoeuvrable, even for Jeeps. They were called APU and I'm pretty sure they were used to start engines.

Anybody know anything about the rear wheeled 3 wheelers Jeeps? Did they serve in WW2?

The movie scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp4AmbYTnRQ

[tipdog]

APU stands for Auxiliary Power Unit. APU's are used to help start jet engines.

Based on photographic evidence, it appears that jeeps were used as plane tugs on carriers during WWII.

[Ronnie Guin]

There were several great WWII pictures posted a while back on the vintage photo section of jeeps on the flight decks of WWII carriers. All looked normal with four wheels. Look through the vintage photos for them.

[Brizio]

Where it is possible find more info about those Jeeps?
Thanks

[Chuck Lutz]

WWII Jeeps on Carriers....

USS Enterprise Jeep.jpg (52.26 KiB) Viewed 2359 times

[Bob at Warsaw]

Nice looking GPW in the last picture Chuck, wish I had it

[griffo220]

They look like real fun to drive although I wouldn't like to drive one close to the edge!!

Dave

[Chuck W.]

Interesting. I just finished reading Father Joseph T. O'Callahan's "I Was Chaplain On The Franklin", the account of the U.S.S. Franklin attack, and the men who saved her. At one point, Father O'Callahan writes, "In the pit of the foward elevator, four jeeps had been parked. All aboard assumed that they had been destroyed along with everything else on the hangar deck, but Red insisted on investigating. In a short time, a most remarkable sight startled everyone. Four jeeps rushed about the deck dragging the heavy wreckage outboard for jettisoning."

I just assumed he was talking about aircraft tugs, which are sometimes called "jeeps", but based on the photos presented here, I am thinking they may have been actual jeeps. Does anybody know for sure?

[Chuck W.]

I looked at every photo of the Franklin that I could find on the internet, and the best one I found was this. Under magnification, it looks like to me it's 4 aircraft tugs lined up on the foward end of the flight deck.

[Bob OB]

Back in 1995 I walked through a junk yard in Brockton,Ma.Brockton is about five miles from South Weymouth N.A.S..Two three wheel jeeps were out in the weeds.They were made from CJ2A's , Navy marked,yet had F head motors in them,and a 24v.aux power unit in the middle of the tub,that I think was run from a PTO.The single castering rear wheel allowed the jeep to maneuver in tight quarters.I gained this operational info from a friend at the time who had been a Navy fighter pilot during the Korean War.