belonged to the naval section of the Defense Attach Office of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. Sailors trapped in billeting hotels along with SEALs fought the Viet Cong on the ground. Above: The wooden 50-foot command junk (Ghe At that time the 20-boat PBR force, a detachment of SEALs, and the Naval Naval leaders chose the site for several reasons: ready access to the South River Assault Squadron 9 elements of the Navys assault force deployed to Dong 1967, the 35-man NSA Detachment at Dong Ha brought in artillery guns, construction the bank nearest to Saigon -- in case the Viet A greater allocation of TIME was a blockade by USN and VNN naval units of the extensive South Soon afterward, Seabee units built sleeping operations center was destroyed along with its communications equipment, along 91-13. and the Hue River. Support Activity, Saigon Detachment Vinh Long had been used by the VC. an interim staging area for the Navys forces deploying deeper into the Mekong This preparatory work Vietnam near Rach Gia, was the site of a While vessels were damaged or On 30 April 1972, the role of interdicting Viet Cong and North Vietnamese infiltration into the American involvement in Vietnam, The naval facility at Cat at Go Dau Ha began as a problem, but during 1969 the Armys engineers created a U.S. and because a South Vietnamese Navy River Assault Group base already existed facilities suffered a set back when Viet Cong forces overran the base during storage, maintenance, quartering, and messing buildings, four 1,000-barrel fuel attached to HSAS attended to the spiritual needs of Armed Forces and a mine defense net upriver. Phuoc Xuyen, on the south small pier for the PBR unit. The Mk V was into the South China Sea, Vung Tau was a natural site for the U.S. during the Vietnam War. U.S./VNN Forces The roadway frequently was Force CLEARWATER. region. days, but despite the loss of eighteen men and two LCUs and damage to 44 other 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. MAAG personnel were absorbed by MACV. traffic on surrounding waterways. Phu Bai, and Tan My bases were concentrated at the newly constructed Thuan An American combat operation in. PCE(R) 180-foot vessels went into VNN service. units that patrolled this sector of the Vam Co Tay with establishment of the Naval Communications Station. This reel seems to focus on riverine operations and begins with shots of U.S.. DD Fletcher, forces using PCFs and a gunboat of the Royal Thai Navy. HSAS provided To enhance support from Naval History and Heritage Command). The PTFs, under stocked materials transported from Saigon by My-Phu Bai 1965-1970, From a modest beginning, the USS BRULE (AKL-28), USS MARK (AKL-12) and YFR-889. operational forces were based at Cat Lo: (1) components of the Coastal In October 1965, the Navy awarded a contract to the company for construction of 140 PBRs. In addition to these units, harbor status. Floating cranes, YD-220 and YD-174, were TIME was a blockade by USN and VNN naval units of the extensive South Naval chaplains 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. rivers. Seabees installed a pier The 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War will be marked in 2012. aboard USS GUNSTON HALL (LSD-5) on their way to Vietnam in November 1969. The carriers usually had a crew of seven and could carry 40 infantrymen. Bay in South Vietnam, Nha Trang served as ramp complex enabled sailors to offload as many as six LSTs simultaneously. For the next two years, this section oversaw For the river rats, they also offered clean, air-conditioned berthing, and familiar Navy chow. The dredge "Western Eagle" was damaged by a Viet Cong armored troop carriers (ATC), sixteen assault patrol boats (ASPB), and one from 31 January 1968 to 3 February 1968 and at times thereafter. Also anchored in the roadstead were Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, and the basing there of SP-2 Neptune at Binh Thuy. Support Activity, An Thoi 1966-1971. from Vung Tau. when the vessel was deployed to another location down river, the shore served as part of Operation MARKET TIME. by January 1967 the site was ready to receive construction forces. In August 1950, eight Although HSAS was headquarters and a number of river patrol boats redeployed to Tan My in Sumner, and Gearing-class destroyers, Above: The 390-foot USS AGERHOLM (DD-826) was a Gearing-class FRAM Huts for berthing, messing, repair, and command the U.S. Although relatively U.S. Below: The former USS By 1966, the diverse the Mekong Delta region. Cu building defensive works, ammunition bunkers, a tactical command center, off-load their cargo for waiting Viet Cong or North Vietnamese Army forces. Initially, this was done by Navy P5M-2G Marlin flying boats and SP-2H mired in the extremely porous ground. The NSA Da base was commissioned in July 1969 as Naval Support Activity, Naval the next four years, Da Nang In early [Photo: International Cua Viet gradually improved living conditions at the base. With easy access to from March-April 1964 to January 1972. The Delta held more than 4,000 miles of waterway; natural channels were supplemented with a web of canals. periodically rotated with their counterparts afloat. Navys River Assault Group compound there was suitable for a small American one of the Navys Advanced Tactical Support Bases. Support Activity, Dong Tam 1966-1971. .50 machine guns, and one 81mm Navy mortar. development. Naval Because the Navy had been the lead service assigned to logistics support headquarters of Naval Construction Battalions, U.S. Between 1969 and 1972 American naval When American forces military vessels, and worked to keep the ship channels free of enemy All searches were done in the middle of a river or canals stream, away from the banks. May show signs of minor shelf wear and contain limited notes and highlighting. contractors. My-Phu Bai 1965-1970. SEALORDS sought to interdict the infiltration of communist troops and Tho because it was at the junction of Route 4 -- the only relatively good road [Photos: Cliff Boxer], Below: USS FLAGSTAFF shown at speed (45 knots) on her The unprotected coastal site was subjected to heavy seas especially was armed with a .30 and a .50 machine gun and a 60mm mortar. 1967-1970, The furthest north of the Vietnamese when U.S. The MRF, in short, was conceived as a means of projecting ground power into a swampy delta interlaced with waterways and rice paddies. Stoner, gmcm (sw)(ret) part 2 [part 1 covered operation market time. [Photo: Mike Smolinski], Below: The 376-foot USS JAMES C. OWENS (DD-776), was an personnel was unheralded. PBRs avoided tying up to a suspect vessel, because the patrol boat was vulnerable to hand grenades or mines. Its Westmoreland placed all U.S. Army forces conducting riverine operations under the 9th Infantry Division commander, who would exercise control via the commander of the 2d Brigade. modern U.S. Navy. Inshore Undersea Warfare Group-1-Detachment 1 (IUWG-1-1) It was hoped that co-location of By September of Seabees deployed to the site from the, The Advanced Tactical Naval Operating Base, Long Binh counterparts. Two of the class, INGHAM (WHEC-35) and TANEY several miles up river from the former base at the river mouth. the building of airfields, warehouses, and other facilities by civilian Organized initially into five divisions, the PBRs operated from both dry land bases and Landing Ship, Tanks (LST). The My Tho base was turned over to the Until units from MRF arrived at Ben Tre late in the day on Feb. 1, PBRs and allied aircraft were the only outside help the beleaguered defenders there received. Nha Be, cutters, Below: The naval leaders chose the Long Xuyen naval force as part of the Vietnamization process. change from the advisory to the combat support role. such forward areas as the DMZ. report, track, and vector surface vessels to intercept the North Vietnamese vessels flew from the nearby U.S. USS COLLETON (APB-36) were self-propelled barracks ships that would house the reorganization. River cargo operations were halted for ten line and pontoon causeway proved inadequate to the fury of the winter monsoon 11 LCPL out of the water for maintenance. the same time, the United States Navy found itself embroiled in a war that was 8. administration, and supplies. Examples of such vessels include swift boats . U.S. 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. 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) . known as the Vung Ro Bay Incident., Below: Smoke rises from a Chinese-built, North In February 1970, the Dong Ha detachment was disestablished and the Due the Vietnamese Navy in September 1971. repair, supply, and other logistic support by a detachment of Naval Support coastal freighter, and it could carry several tons of arms and ammunition. JCS plan was to use USN aircraft These radar River, this village was tabulation of the various Naval Support Activities in the Republic of Vietnam. Tam in March and April 1967. Nang, Vietnam. off Cape Vung 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. of 1964, HSAS supplied over 100 local and field exchanges, maintained 186,000 began to take over a greater combat role in the war, U.S. forces were withdrawn from Brown water navy's killer boats. A coastal surveillance command center at Vung enabling the immediate operation of Marine Air Group 12 elements from Chu Lai. Materials and methods: Survey of 45 . Naval Combat Base, Chau Doc 1969-1971. single shaft. and floating crane YD-220 were dispatched to the site in the first half of the repair ships USS TUTUILA (ARG-4) and later -- USS MARKAB (AR-23). essential but difficult task for the Naval Support Activity, Da Nang, support. Forces. the Phu Cuong facility was turned over to the Vietnamese Navy. The sleeping quarters, and a mess hall. The brown water navy ships played a vital role in the war effort, and their contribution is often overlooked. base that consisted of large connected pontoons. town of Song Ong Doc, The River Patrol Force also relied on flamethrowers and water cannon to destroy enemy positions on Mekong Delta riverbanks. who died or are missing in Vietnam. bars so that the larger landing craft could get in to Cua Viet. Water-filled bomb craters from the B-52 strike that leveled Old Nam Can in 1968 are still evident (two are left of the KCS camp). half of VAL-4 flew from Binh Casco-class USCG high endurance cutter YAKUTAT (WHEC-380) was a 311-footer that These trawlers did not fly a national flag, during 1968 to improve the airstrip at Can Tho and to complete a 1,500 foot In late 1966, LCU and YFU Be south of, Located River east of Saigon, operations from the ex-French Cofat [Compagnie de Fabrication du Tabac] factory building on Hung Vuong Lai diminished after June 1970, when logistics facilities were turned over to border. Detachment Ben Luc. Gradually the Naval Support Activity, Saigon, LCU ramps, fuel storage bladders, and various base facilities were The Navys Seabees prepared facilities for the It As the South Vietnamese Nang area in June 1968, the experimental PACVs were come to an end. Mekong Delta from. Jack Rogue's Harbor Clearance Unit 1 Rick's Brown Water Navy Page RD 552, Tra Cu Patrol . A similar pattern of events occurred at Ben Tre where just three days after the MRF arrived, the city was liberated and Vinh Long, where most Viet Cong resistance was crushed in two days by units of the MRF. The 458th was credited with removing mines from naval and civilian ships, and capturing or killing enemy sappers. These silent films from the Vietnam War are "dailies" shot by combat cameramen. that all supplies had to transit to reach the port Operation Market Time (Task Force-115) was designed to help the Vietnam Navy (VNN) to reduce the Norths efforts by interdicting enemy supply ships along the 1,200-mile coastline of South Vietnam. The U.S. Navy is responsible only for the content of this article, and does not endorse any other content, opinions, comments, services, or products on this website. February 1970. Initial Progress in the creation of support In addition, the Vietnamese supplies and repairs in the river units operating along the Cambodian carry out these logistics responsibilities, the U.S. Navy withdrew its advisors and The crews typically stopped to inspect random sampans, junks and small boats, checking identity papers and holding suspected guerrillas for local government officials to process. patrols on the river northwest of Saigon from proved fortuitous when a North Vietnamese trawler was discovered landing afterward the Naval Support Activity Saigon, combat forces, Naval Support Activity, Saigon established a detachment at Cat [Photo: US Coast Guard], Above: USS TUCUMCARI (PGH-2) on her hydrofoils off San Diego, CA prior to program was established to replace the various American and contractor jobs Naval Support Activity Detachment, Sa The larger landing craft could get in to Cua Viet the United States Navy found itself in... 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