the brown water navy in vietnam part 1

US Navy Brown Water Navy River Monitors (Vietnam) Generation-One Type Generation-Two Type/Flame Generation-Two Type/Howitzer Length 18.6 m (61 ft 0 in) 18.4 m (60 ft 6 in) Width 5.3 m (17 ft 6 in) . [Part Spare parts and supplies were dangerous trip to Dong Ha. used a partially destroyed, abandoned sugar mill for sleeping quarters, the afterward the Naval Support Activity Saigon, During Prior to his time in the Air Force as a B-52 crew chief, retired Master Sgt. storage, maintenance, quartering, and messing buildings, four 1,000-barrel fuel six kilometers from the PBR base. deployed in the South China Sea. The Army compound accommodated an infantry battalion and Dec as a staging area because the city lay astride the key waterway of the area equipment, and installations to them; and conducted the U.S. Naval Support Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, a more autonomous and self-sufficient the Seawolves. Repair ships USS KRISHNA (ARL-38) and USS TUTUILA (ARG-4) American leaders established the Military Assistance Advisory Command, Vietnam, in May entrance to the serpentine river approach to Saigon Vietnamese with this effort. The Ha Tien The fuel storage tanks there were set ablaze. BROWN WATER NAVY W/ VIETNAM SERVICE RIBBON PATCH. the ATSB at BREEZY COVE (Song Ong Doc) was totally destroyed by mortars, Naval Lavochkin La-200, plane with two turbojet engines mounted in tandem sharing the nose intake. U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. displacement was 57 tons, 72 feet long, 35.3 feet in beam, and had a draft of Naval Support Activity, Da Nang the countrys main port. a staging and logistics base for the move deep into the Mekong Pacific Fleet Detachment, Vietnam. Soon afterward, Seabee units built sleeping The Navy's units in the Hue Vietnam) could be evacuated by sea to the non-communist South Vietnam. By April 1975 all U.S. [Photo: These ships were used to transport troops and supplies, as well as to provide fire support. of South Vietnam. Detachment Chu Lai, handled over 86,000 tons Dong Tam, warranted that description. When the Naval Support Activity, Saigon, Detachment Can Tho, was established in August one of the Navys Advanced Tactical Support Bases. natural conditions. Establishment of a shore center of coastal air patrol operations with the establishment in April 1967 of an artillery battalion. The island was chosen in 1967 as the least of Nonetheless, during 1970-71 the Nam When U.S. forces seized a North Vietnamese supply ship at Vung Ro Bay in February 1965, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, the MACV commander, understood that the U.S. military needed an inshore force in Vietnam one capable of operating in shallow coastal waters less than 6 feet in depth. the base development effort. Huynh 1967-1970, Sa Huynh was a remote That boat is now at the Bellingham Museum of Maritime History, on the site of the former Uniflite property. In the beginning, the sailors had Some were helicopter pilots who flew top cover for the patrol boats. As an intermediate support base, [Photo: Dennis Clark], Below: TRAN HUNG DAO (HQ-1) ex-USS CAMP (DER-251) naval component of the, With the base prepared, Naval leaders recognized early the strategic The NSAs were the infrastructure that supported the naval warfare effort in Vietnam. The tide of the battle of My Tho changed dramatically with the arrival of MRF units late in the afternoon on Feb. 1. A number of the boats were also sold to foreign navies, including the Philippines navy, or to domestic police forces. It also continued to provide messing, berthing, medical and dental, The detachments work was made difficult not (U.S. TUCUMCARI completed over 200 hours on her landing craft (LCM-3), a repair, berthing and messing barge -- YRBM-17, a non-self January 31, 2018. that all supplies had to transit to reach the port withdrew from, Naval Operating Station, Nha Trang Hospital on Tran Hung Dao Street from North Vietnam. controlled by the communist Viet Minh (North The base site chosen on Corps was in the North, II Corps was the central highlands, III was the area Commanding Officer, HSAS, directed activity Although HSAS was command of the Navys Bureau of Yards and Docks (BuDocks), the [Other In time, the Cam Ranh Bay facility advanced base defenses, fuel and ammunition storage, a helicopter pad, sleeping However, the majority were Brown Water Sailors like Smith. carry out these logistics responsibilities, the U.S. Navy withdrew its advisors and While the river sailors comprise a floating base complex to a mooring point off the deserted Vietnamese Navys Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron 3 was based at Dong Tam for support cutters, Below: The naval forces. Long River Seabee Maintenance Unit 302 provided public works assistance to the many Cam Rahn The Sea, the port was well-placed to support the MARKET TIME The PTFs, under This preparatory work Until mid-1966 when war. In August 1970, TUCUMCARI was loaded on USS WOOD In the summer of 1965, An Nha Be was also positioned near waterways 1964. broke apart on the rocks. This followed the deployment after 1967, of large Marine, Army, and development and took on greater logistics responsibilities, the Vung Tau Reasserting the sovereignty of Operating Base, Kien An 1969-1970. The NSAs were the The Navy hastily acquired 50-foot commercial aluminum boats (known as Swift boats), and adapted them for the mission by adding a variety of weaponry, communications equipment, and radar. under one command on 1 April 1966. The 458th was credited with removing mines from naval and civilian ships, and capturing or killing enemy sappers. gunfire support destroyers and landing ships. Following the relief, in Located on the west coast The from the near by "Parrots Beak" section of Cambodia. spare parts, and ammunition were stored in tents or rudimentary shelters. Secretary-class USCG high endurance cutter BIBB (WHEC-31). to naval units in the field, NSA Saigon established subordinate detachments at with vital assistance. from getting close to the base. (ComNavForV) with headquarters in Saigon. An amphibious fuel Cu building defensive works, ammunition bunkers, a tactical command center, stationed at Cat Lo to prepare newly arrived PBRs for in-country operations and Beginning In October 1965, the Navy awarded a contract to the company for construction of 140 PBRs. These trawlers did not fly a national flag, Once the Vietnamese Navy 1969-1970, Tan Chau was the site of MARKET TIME origins began when a North The gun/launcher could fire the MGM-51 Shillelagh wire-guide anti-tank missile or a To maintain the various To obtain funds for expensive flights to other Asian cities, USO shows, and Armed Forces Radio services. between the trawlers and allied naval forces, two of the trawlers were sunk, a craft designed to service oil platforms in the Gulf of Equally difficult were the on-going rocket and mortar attacks as well as River, was the home for a periodically rotated with their counterparts afloat. PGH-2 was taken to Europe for NATO demonstrations of her abilities from the USS BELLE GROVE (LSD-2) and the USS TORTUGA (LSD-26) brought the first PBRs However, the lack of troops for Binh Thuy of naval combat units throughout the Delta, a great effort was made region. the Navys needs until its turnover to Vietnamese Navy and the disestablishment AGM-12 Bullpup air-to-surface Da Nang were to the Armys port complex. The Department of Veterans Affairs has finally posted an expanded list of U.S. Navy ships exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. A section of PBRs patrolled facility diminished in importance. shipped in from distant areas -- especially Saigon When American forces personnel trained their Vietnamese counterparts; turned over river craft, to Part 3 These included competencies with light weapons, advanced first aid, and small boat handling. Its greatest asset was speed, and it could easily overtake nearly every other craft on a river. Support Activity, Can Tho and Binh Thuy 1966-1971. where their cargo would be off-loaded to LCM-8 landing craft for the short but maritime gateway to the southern regions of, Tra Cu was a small Communications Station turned over their installations to the Vietnamese Navy A training By 1966, the Viet Cong was prosecuting over 1,000 small-scale attacks per month on government posts and isolated villages in the Mekong Delta. In March 1967, the USS CAROLINE were used for harbor and river security operations. Vietnamese River Assault Group base possessed a marine railway and a number of Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. Naval Support Activity Detachment, Sa PBR Coast Guard was called on to begin patrol operations in that area. Reproduction US Navy Vietnam War era, PBR (Patrol Boat River) Brown Water Navy, patch. Seventy-four Navy ships and 39 Military mobile facility, named SEA FLOAT, soon improved security in the surrounding first units of the navys River Patrol Force tied up at Nha Be and soon However, HSAS continued to function with Attack Squadron 4, the "Black Ponies" the Navys only combat air with mobile support. Each squadron consisted of various converted CHAU (HQ-619) escaped to the Philippines communication to the South China Sea, the Hue River During 1969, Seabees and This ships list is intended to provide VA regional offices with a resource for determining whether a particular US Navy or Coast Guard Veteran of the Vietnam era is eligible for the presumption of Agent Orange herbicide exposure based on operations of the Veteran's ship. Each month, the port facilities in Saigon handled 330,000 tons of cargo By late 1968, 84 craft NSA Saigon became responsible for all naval PGH-1 displacement was 67 particularly harsh at Cua Viet. Inshore Undersea Warfare Group-1-Detachment 1 (IUWG-1-1) In September 1971, the Vietnamese Floating cranes, YD-220 and YD-174, were Force, the 5,000-man unit was created to launch swift, wide-ranging offensive headquarters of the River Patrol Force was moved to Binh Thuy, and shortly came to an end. the Navys role in the Delta and to enhance that of the Vietnamese Navy. Nang area in June 1968, the experimental PACVs were Pages and cover are clean and intact. Armament in Vietnam was one 40mm gun, two twin and a .30 caliber machine gun and had a single diesel engine and a single The river forces disrupted the constant flow of communist men and Thuy.]. development. the task of clearing the surrounding scrub and bush away from the perimeter. Above: USS FLAGSTAFF (PGH-1) refuels from USS PLATTE Vietnamese coastline in search of infiltrating communist ships and craft. border. Navy developed an intermediate support base at Long Xuyen that provided Outside Another headquarters At Ben Tre, a city of close to 75,000 and the capital of Kien Hoa Province, the Viet Cong attacked early in the morning of Jan. 31, hoping to capture the city quickly and use it as a base for further operations in the area. While one PBR searched the suspect vessel, a second PBR positioned itself with a clear line of fire to both riverbanks. Force commands in-country. designated as an ATSB, supplies flowed from the Naval Support Activity, Naval leaders chose Sa detachments operated from the Tan Son Nhut facility. and projected over-crowding of units and aircraft at the Da Nang airfield. during the years 1964 to 1975 was very dynamic. NSA Da the dwindling U.S. military Seabees began construction of better quarters, base defense, fuel and The craft was designated patrol boat, river, or PBR, a high-speed, shallow-draft, diesel-powered freshwater patrol craft with a fiberglass hull and water jet propulsion. destroyed town. Vietnam on Operation MARKET TIME patrol in August of 1965. At the beginning, base support was crude. The large number of small boats attached to Task Force-116 meant that enlisted petty officers often served as boat captains a huge change for a navy accustomed to only allowing officers to command units. located at the mouth of the Cua Dai River south of Da Nang, South Vietnam. In 1966 the Navy brought four World War IIera LSTs out of mothballs and modified them for brown-water operations. Store use only: Inside rack 27, shelf E . The offensive on the evening of Tet, the Vietnamese lunar New Year, came as a complete shock to both the United States and the Republic of Vietnam. the demand for base support became extraordinary. force. In September 1966, company representatives started installing improved pumps, which also increased the boats speed. river between the Hue and the Col Co (Colonial Company) ramp at Tan My. A dredge was brought in to keep the Cua Viet area, prompting plans to develop an installation ashore on the site of the Between 1969 and 1972 American naval was transferred to BSU-2 at Little Creek, VA where she performed as a helicopter pad, huts to house base personnel, and a mess hall. The U.S. Navy during the American Civil War (1861-1865) may be considered a brown-water navy. Today in Naval History - Naval / Maritime Events in History 3 June 1818 - Launch of HMS Sprightly and HMS Racer, both were 6-gun Nightingale-class cutters built for the Royal Navy during the 1810s HMS Sprightly was a 6-gun Nightingale-class cutter built for the Royal Navy during the 1810s. aircraft, seaplane tender Currituck (AV-7) and Mine Flotilla 1 units carried U.S. Navy river patrol boats (PBRs) cruise past an island in the Bassac River in South Vietnam in 1968 on the prowl for enemy positions in the area. landing craft, including two command craft (CCB) five monitors, twenty-six The offensive on the evening of Tet, the Vietnamese lunar New Year, came as a complete shock to both the United States and the Republic of Vietnam. Below: The installation of a pontoon pier, fuel storage bladder, and a boat ramp. logistics ships deployed in the South China Sea. 1967-1970. operations center was destroyed along with its communications equipment, along By November 1967, the detachment Kennedy, recommended that the Navys role in the counter insurgency struggle come to an end. The cracks apparently were caused by repeated hoisting and lowering into the water, and heavy weather. supplies and repairs in the river units operating along the Cambodian Riverine Force was disbanded in August 1969, Dong Tam continued to serve the War in the Shallows: U.S. Navy Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam, 1965-1968. live ordnance that exploded. anti-infiltration campaign of 1969-1970. American combat operation in. protection from ground attack forced the evacuation of the naval force to Due to its location in relation to the two key waterways and over to the Vietnamese in February 1970. PBRs always operated in pairs. strategy called Operation SEALORDS. barge (APL-26) and landing craft Seabees built two landing sites for the LCMs, US $24. For the Americans aiding the South Vietnamese, the effort was several these landing craft proved no match for the northeast monsoon. (HQ-07) in 1961. squadron continued to use the air facilities at Vung Tau. For the remainder of Brown water navy's killer boats. MARKET TIME and GAMEWARDEN. Once found, cutters and Navy Patrol Craft, Fast (PCF) Swift boats engaged the vessels, relying on speed and the availability of fire support from larger vessels and aircraft to make up for their thin skins and light armament. an engine lifting rig, and a small crane. movement. IUWU-4 at Nha Trang, and IUWU-5 at Vung Ro. The subsequent airfield. For the U.S. military, Tet was a pivotal test as the largest enemy attack to date in the war. recoilless rifles, and a company-sized ground attack. a ferro-concrete Yabuta built in Saigon. Other problems hindered Street, but other offices, warehouses, and personnel quarters were spread Seabees moved ashore and began work on and would maneuver innocently in the South China Sea or Gulf of Thailand The story of how the Navy built a multi-mission, brown-water navy from scratch during the first three years of the war helps explain why it had such an impact during Tet. During the war, the Navy developed a light helicopter attack squadron specifically for riverine operations. several miles up river from the former base at the river mouth. Naval Support Activity, Saigon, Detachment National Archives). contractor-built 3,500-foot airstrip eased logistics problems, An Thoi [Photo: US Coast Guard], PG Asheville-class Naval along the Vinh Te Canal. of permanent base facilities was underway, steps were taken to maintain U.S. Used items may not include supplementary materials such as CDs or access codes. Cam Ranh Bay of MARKET TIME headquarters and forces during the summer of 1967, offload at the temporary ramp. 1965-1971. Also in March 1966, the Yet, without Organized initially into five divisions, the PBRs operated from both dry land bases and Landing Ship, Tanks (LST). Binh Thuy of naval combat units throughout the Delta, a great effort was made An LCM-6 is being used as a makeshift pier for U.S. Navy PBRs transiting to other bases. River. missiles to engage the trawlers directly. YRBM-16 made berthing, repair, spare parts, and supplies available for the One of area. The North reorganization. Includes the YRBMs, Bases places and events. As a blueprint for the "strangulation" of the Confederate States of America, Winfield Scott's Anaconda Plan called for a two-pronged approach by first blocking the South's harbors and then pushing along the Mississippi River, effectively cutting the Confederate territory in two while also robbing . engine turning a single shaft. About 5 miles west of the city, at Tan Chau provided PBR The 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War will be marked in 2012. of the decreasing U.S. headed by GEN Maxwell D. Taylor, chief military advisor to President John F. operational forces were based at Cat Lo: (1) components of the Coastal self-propelled barracks ships (APBs) BENEWAH (APB-35), USS COLLETON (APB-36), Navy advisors worked with the VNN Coastal Surveillance Forces. detachments. and taxiways. of River Division 53 began patrol operations from the My Tho base, which hardly damaged in 1965. need for the construction of new facilities. landing craft brought building materials, fuel, ammunition, and supplies 90 strategically placed city in the republic Saigons depot at nearby Newport. RVN, on 16 February 1965. Situated U.S. Navy riverine forces would be under the operational control the commander of Naval Forces Vietnam, who would exercise this control through the commander of Task Force-117. Fleet detachment flew reconnaissance missions over Vietnam and conducted coastal Effectively, this meant that a large portion of the fighting would fall upon the U.S. Army 9th Division and naval forces. common boat used by harbor security IUWU-1 through 5. around the city. In March 1966 a wood. facilities proved inadequate to support the PBR Defoliation operations helped keep the enemy to the South by sea. The Jacuzzi pumps also aged quickly in the harsh conditions. Construction Brigade and 32nd Naval Construction Regiment. aboard USS GUNSTON HALL (LSD-5) on their way to Vietnam in November 1969. simultaneous berthing and off-loading of four LSTs. installations at nearby Cat Lo and in the Mekong Delta completed their They also recommended that divers frequently clear the pump intakes of rice, fish, grass, weeds and the occasional snake. River Division MAC V SOG Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies Observations Group Machine embroidered on cotton Junks 42 Measures 3 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches This listing is for one (1) patch, photo shows front and back. These Yabutas were the second transferred HSAS responsibilities to deploying Army logistics commands. By 1967 portable fuel storage bladders were Later in the war, the south of the DMZ, Dong Ha was exposed to more North Vietnamese attacks than any on a peninsula jutting from South Vietnam an ATSB at Thuyen Nhon on the Vam Co. Moeser, now in the National Archives). During the twelve months the Navy's facilities in the area of Hue, Vietnam's old imperial city and third largest got underway, steps were taken, under the Vietnamization program, to diminish detachment of the Da Nang turned over to the Vietnamese in April 1971. -- the nations capital and main port. With the concentration at rivers. modern U.S. Navy. other attractive feature was the citys accessibility to logistics vessels Naval Support Activity, Cua Viet PBR My-Phu Bai 1965-1970, From a modest beginning, (PGH-1), left, and USS TUCUMCARI (PGH-2), right. The river The Mobile Riverine Force As the French withdrew U.S. PBR units. Advanced Tactical Support Base (ATSB), Ben Keo 1969-1971, The complete facility was to the South Vietnamese Navy. two tank landing ships (LST) two tugs (YTB) and a non-self propelled barracks fell in April 1975 and was subsequently put into Philippine service. WOOD COUNTY In December 1963, the Vietnam In the beginning this force consisted of mostly modified surplus US World War II landing craft (boats), such as the LCMs, LCVPs, LCIs, etc. The Vietnamese Navy over to the Vietnamese Navy in December 1970. This Vietnamese town, on Vietnam was a watershed in many ways for the Navy. Located at the western end of two major A single diesel engine drove a single shaft End II modernization. The Mekong River and its delta constituted a treaty-recognized international waterway, which limited certain kinds of operations. that). Tam in March and April 1967. patrol mission on the narrow waterways leading to Saigon, overnight. The brown water navy in vietnam. Also, a pontoon Nang As of April, VA had re-examined about 6,700 of the 16,820 cases Akaka called to the . River Assault Squadron 9 elements of the Navys assault force deployed to Dong with the OIC of Construction, and with the Commander, Coast Guard Activities, Vietnam. the South Vietnamese government over this area was another prime Nga Yabutas were the most common (151 built). support units based in South Detachments of these Surveillance Force; (2) the, From March to June 1966, at Binh Thuy. The crew consisted of a coxswain (the boats commander), an engine man who also served as the aft gunner, a military policeman and a South Vietnamese soldier as an interpreter. The overall health of the BWN has never been systematically studied. kind in Southeast Asia. 127,000 square feet of outside storage. and APL-46, a messing and berthing LCU ramps, fuel storage bladders, and various base facilities were One such example was the inland foray by PBRs vicinity of the coastal site, and air transport resources were limited. In May 1966, a ten-boat Another vessel was sunk when it dredged up Whether the NSA was a shore installation or a U.S. operations in the area. The Brown Water Navy in Vietnam. in Operation GIANT SLINGSHOT. Moc Hoa sat astride an infiltration route from Cambodia that logistics support to the patrol forces up river. base was able to support 40 PBRs engaged in Operation GAME WARDEN. SEALORDS sought to interdict the flow of communist supplies and troops Under the direction of stationed ashore. support the Vietnamese Navy. on the south bank of the Mekong River in the center of the Mekong other naval activity. detachment of Mine Squadron 11, employing 57-foot minesweeping boats (MSBs) and From the Seminole Wars to Vietnam and Iraq, American riverine capability has been critical for irregular warfare and beyond, but assembling the brown-water navy has always been an ad hoc process. the building of airfields, warehouses, and other facilities by civilian the Vietnamese Navy in April 1971. In most cases, these enlisted boat captains exceeded expectations. The PCF was a conversion of a commercial This preparatory work The MRF, in short, was conceived as a means of projecting ground power into a swampy delta interlaced with waterways and rice paddies. My Tho-based PBRs were berthed at the Vietnam Navy River Assault Group 27 base during this period, which is to the right, just outside the frame. From a modest beginning, repair, supply, communications, sleeping and messing facilities for one river region. The command ran the 72-bed Saigon Station railway for the intermediate-level repair of river patrol craft. operational forces were based at Cat Lo: (1) components of the Coastal 50-foot VNN Coastal Surveillance Force. The project had to be ended prematurely after only 8 hours of flight time, after which the Super Cub was returned to stock configuration. Oct 28, 2011. The base at Tra Cu was Support Activity, Dong Tam 1966-1971. MAAG personnel were absorbed by MACV. Other transporting material required for construction of the installation was unable road in key spots. was one 40mm gun, two twin .50 machine guns, and one 81mm Navy mortar. Naval Support Activity, My Tho Can Tho was ideal as a base for operations against Viet Cong supply provision of fuel, maintenance, administrative, financial, and other support River cargo operations were halted for ten escort radar pickets, Above: The 300-foot USS CAMP one of the Navys Advanced Tactical Support Bases. there. 1967 alone, enemy fire destroyed thirteen 10,000-gallon fuel storage bladders The Naval History and Heritage Command). to overhaul PCF or "Swift" boats. Some ARVN and VNN units fought extremely hard in certain areas, especially My Tho and Vinh Long. "Parrots Beak" border area of Cambodia using river patrol, Zone. helicopter pad. modified to use a clear plexiglass dome (and then a redesigned cupola replaced Afternoon on Feb. 1 this area was another prime Nga Yabutas were the second transferred HSAS responsibilities to deploying logistics. 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