# Was there a U.S. military vehicle called a 'Crab'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 23, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829 "2021-11-23T19:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/1 "2021-11-23T19:57:50Z")
In the 1981 vampire novel They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon, some characters use a military vehicle called a ‘Crab’ to get through drifting sand/dunes/whatever. As I recall, it was a very capable vehicle. At the time, the Air Force (at least – the novel took place in the L.A. area, and I’d just gotten a job at Edwards AFB) still used M151 jeeps. The HMMWV ‘Humvee’ was still two years away at the time of the novel’s publication. The Panhard CRAB didn’t come out until 2012. In 1981, was there a prototype or planned vehicle called a ‘Crab’ in the U.S. military? Or was the jeep-replacement purely out of the author’s imagination? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/2 "2021-11-23T20:09:24Z")
Sherman Crab mine clearing tank. WWII era. > **[Mine flail | Sherman Crab](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mine_flail#Sherman_Crab)** > > A number of experimental flail tanks were produced, including the Valentine Scorpion, based on the Valentine tank and several designs based on the M4 Sherman – the Sherman Mark IV and Mark V Scorpions and the "Sherman Lobster". Eventually one of these, the Sherman Crab, went into full production at the request of Major General Hobart and saw active service. Du Toit himself had become a strong advocate of a concept called the perambulator mine flail - a self-contained device with its own engine, t... Almost certainly not what you’re talking about (which sounds wholly fictional to me). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/3 "2021-11-23T20:11:10Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Almost certainly not what you’re talking about Correct. The vehicle in the novel was a newly-introduced piece of equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/4 "2021-11-23T20:13:24Z")
You might be thinking of CRAWDADs (which were stored in the town of Crickwater until needed.) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yehcftD1S6E) (At the 11 minute mark.) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/5 "2021-11-23T20:26:55Z")
FWIW, here’s a Wikipedia list of military vehicles introduced in the 1970s. > **[Category:Military vehicles introduced in the 1970s](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Military_vehicles_introduced_in_the_1970s)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > This category is for articles about military vehicles introduced during the 1970s. > This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total. > The following 117 pages are in this category, out of 117 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. (A book published in 1981 would have been written in the late 1970s at the latest, so that’s the appropriate list.) “Crab” does not appear as the nickname of any in that list, and the US vehicles I saw seemed to all be M113 variants. I will double down on “fictional”. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/6 "2021-11-23T20:40:05Z")
In the early '80s, the U.S. Army began developing armed dune buggies/sandrails, which would eventually become [Fast Attack Vehicle and later the Desert Patrol Vehicle.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Patrol_Vehicle) After a bit of cursory research, I couldn’t find any firm info, but the Wiki article indicates the first prototypes were delivered in 1982. At a guess, the author may have read proposals for such a vehicle or maybe some early references to its development, and added a fictional version of it to give his novel a technothriller vibe with cutting edge special operations tech. It’s not uncommon for technothrillers to try to anticipate cutting edge tech and then that tech winds up significantly different or never gets fully developed or deployed (the [proposed RAH-66 Commanche attack helicopter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing%E2%80%93Sikorsky_RAH-66_Comanche) may be the poster child for that - quite a few movies/video games/books/etc. featured it as a fully deployed vehicle while it was under development, but it never actually got deployed in the real world.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/7 "2021-11-23T20:42:54Z")
There was a vehicle in Vietnam called the [Mule](https://www.militarytrader.com/mv-101/buyers-guide-m274-mule-half-ton-truck), officially the M274. It had all wheel drive and all wheel steer (at least the earlier ones did) and was basically a 1/2 ton vehicle which served as a weapons platform for the recoilless rifle and other weapons. It could literally go almost anywhere and on any terrain. Perhaps it was the inspiration for the author’s “crab”. There was also the [Gama Goat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gama_Goat), or M561, which was an articulated six-wheel semi-amphibious hauler. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/8 "2021-11-23T20:47:11Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > I will double down on “fictional”. > [@gdave](#): > > At a guess, the author may have read proposals for such a vehicle or maybe some early references to its development I don’t recall it being described anything like a sand rail. The description, such as it was, was closer to the forthcoming HMMWV. The proposal for, or the actual designing of the Hummer (which means ‘lobster’ in German, BTW), was in the time frame of when the book was written; so it may indeed have been a case of the author ‘hearing something’ and then anticipating in the book. My Factual Question has been answered. There was no late-'70s/early-'80s military vehicle called a ‘Crab’. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/9 "2021-11-23T21:15:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > 80s military vehicle called a ‘Crab’. There is now: > **[Panhard CRAB](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panhard_CRAB)** > > Panhard CRAB (Combat Reconnaissance Armored Buggy) is a proposed new generation of 4x4 armoured combat vehicle designed and manufactured by Panhard, unveiled Eurosatory in 2012. It was designed as a vehicle candidate for the French Army. > > This French military article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This military vehicle article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/10 "2021-11-23T21:31:28Z")
See the OP. 😜 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/11 "2021-11-23T22:31:49Z")
I’m not aware of a vehicle, but the [Explosive Ordnance Disposal Badge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_Ordnance_Disposal_Badge) is also known as one’s “Crabs.” Tripler These are Crabs you can be proud of. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/12 "2021-11-23T22:53:16Z")
I’m guessing that it was, or was based on, a real vehicle, but that the author assumed that it would be known by a nickname rather than its actual official name, and just guessed wrong on what the nickname would be. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/13 "2021-11-23T23:06:14Z")
Even further from a HMMWV, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (despite the name most of its personnel are actually civilians) has a vehicle known as the Coastal Research Amphibious Buggy, aka the CRAB: [https://scontent.fcre1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/13095971\_269061736766917\_8138053675765714497\_n.jpg?\_nc\_cat=105&ccb=1-5&\_nc\_sid=9267fe&\_nc\_ohc=xt2bvrc7lN0AX\_9S54J&\_nc\_ht=scontent.fcre1-1.fna&oh=19f8a63c66f4a2400af4c8788fe5eb59&oe=61C152BA](https://scontent.fcre1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.18169-9/13095971_269061736766917_8138053675765714497_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=9267fe&_nc_ohc=xt2bvrc7lN0AX_9S54J&_nc_ht=scontent.fcre1-1.fna&oh=19f8a63c66f4a2400af4c8788fe5eb59&oe=61C152BA) Unfortunately, there’s not much information readily available on it on the Web (the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer pages discussing it all seemed to be non-functional when I tried to access them). I found what appeared to be a couple of references to it from 1984 as a recent development, but nothing concrete. Seems pretty doubtful this is the vehicle in question, but it is at least a quasi-military vehicle called “Crab” that may have been operating when the book was written. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-a-u-s-military-vehicle-called-a-crab/954829/14 "2021-11-24T01:02:30Z")
Any vehicle nicknamed “crab” should be able to move sideways. I can imagine the delight at a Pentagon cocktail party as a general boasts about how many of his troops have crabs.