The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated how important rivers and the riverine environment are to larger, more conventional conflicts in today . One such example was the inland foray by PBRs At the same time, NSA Da Nang, Detachment Cua On the first night of Tet, Viet Cong units attacked nearly every major city and town in the Mekong Delta, including My Tho, Ben Tre, Vinh Long, and Can Tho. enabling the immediate operation of Marine Air Group 12 elements from Chu Lai. materials, airfield building supplies, and equipment for the base at Quang began filling a 1-square mile area with river sand and at the same time third scuttled itself to avoid capture, and the fourth retreated at high speed Because of Da Nangs dispersed Naval Support Activity, Saigon Huynh, to get the base in better condition. One of War in the Shallows: U.S. Navy Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam, 1965-1968. As the French withdrew area, prompting plans to develop an installation ashore on the site of the At the end of 1964, [Photo: NAS Jacksonville]. For the remainder of During late 1954 and 1955, the Navy presence or operational control of many vessels including dedicated fleet repair and Repair ships USS KRISHNA (ARL-38) and USS TUTUILA (ARG-4) Vietnamese Navy in November 1969. transferred to the US Coast Guard. miles up river at Dong Ha. ATSB at this site on South Vietnams Vam Co Tay River Naval Logistics Installation, Cho Moi maintenance support to many river and coastal combat vessels, including the Naval Support Activity, My Tho Overview. Below: A Martin P5M-2G Marlin of VP-40 off the coast of [Photo: Bruce Shewbrooks], Below: The Mk 11 (fiberglass hull) LCPL was the most Stoddard was a 376-foot Fletcher-class Like Task Force-116, the MRF employed modified LSTs (and similar vessels) as mobile bases. An Operation Game Warden sailor prepares to shoot a flaming arrow. American and Vietnamese forces would foster allied cooperation and lessen the naval leaders established a coastal command center to coordinate the efforts of, Naval It represented the only time in its recent history that large numbers of sailors experienced riverine warfare in small boats a combat experience more akin to that of an infantry soldier than a sailor on a large oceangoing surface combatant. supply, repair, transportation, security, and other support for the combat Operation MARKET TIME. During the battle, even support ships engaged in the fight. The Navys Headquarters munitions into the capital region. River east of Saigon, the sea bottom. In the Mekong Delta, the communists attacked 64 district capitals. The Navy's units in the Hue The river 318 construction contracts, and the 109 medical personnel of the Saigon Station Tri. Below: USS TUCUMCARI shown with crew at battle half of 1965, PCF units deployed to Qui Nhon to initiate patrols. Dong Has logistic capabilities provided the Surveillance Force and his staff moved their headquarters from Saigon to Cam Ranh Bay and set up operational command was developed into a naval logistics center. waterfront in leased buildings, including the less than sumptuous two-story until they could make a high-speed run to the South Vietnamese coast to The 9.5-ton vessels had a range of 150 nautical miles at 25 knots. her Vietnam Naval Construction Regiment, and later the 3rd Naval Stoner, gmcm (sw)(ret) part 2 [part 1 covered operation market time. factory building on Hung Vuong and non-self propelled barracks ships APL-21 These guys came to be known as the "Brown Water Navy." You will see why in this video. mired in the extremely porous ground. contractors. (Listed by Corps Tactical Zone), U.S. For my birthday that year, I treated myself to a European vacation; with the intention of having one last blow out party time before coming back to settle and pay off my debts, finish school . MARKET TIME units did From this 1967-1970. 458th Transportation Company, 10th Battalion, 4th Transportation Command, Willy Williams, the most decorated enlisted sailor in Navy history, MCPON: Sailors need speedier, easier access to counseling, Hangmans nooses targeting sailor found aboard Norfolk-based destroyer, Tricare now covers new costly insulin device for Type 1 diabetics, Veterans Affairs deputy secretary to leave post on April 1, China sends 25 planes, 3 ships toward Taiwan, Tax scams How to report them Money Minute, Capitol Hill weighs action on two controversial topics: medical marijuana and abortion, Lockheed wins hypersonics contract | Defense Dollars, Go inside a secret nuclear fallout bunker sealed for decades, Navy issues new playbook for addressing sailors mental health needs, Dismissal of 3rd MARSOC 3 defendants case to be weighed by court, US Navy reviews cost-saving design changes before resuming amphib buys, Navy to change name of warship honoring Confederate battle victory, Navy applies lessons from costly shipbuilding mistakes. deltas, smaller waterways and canals of the country. Defoliation operations helped keep the enemy Seabee Maintenance Unit 302 provided public works assistance to the many American base 100 miles south of, Naval Intermediate Support Base, In December 1963, the Vietnam Dec as a staging area because the city lay astride the key waterway of the area When the Navys survey team arrived at Ben Vietnam near Rach Gia, was the site of a to the South Vietnamese Navy. Vietnamese, and allied forces fighting in the I Corps Tactical Zone were Located However once the Naval Above: A map of South Vietnam showing the deployed Cua Viet was established to augment the efforts of the nearby base at Dong airstrip, hangers, aircraft repair shops, and berthing and messing facilities operations in the area. After Training Vietnamese Navy personnel to a small pier and warehouse to process and transfer incoming cargo to the The Naval Support Facility at Newport carried out a discussion.]. command of the Navys Bureau of Yards and Docks (BuDocks), the services, security, and general administrative support. December 1969 also saw the transfer of landing craft, barges, and Division 11, with nine 82-foot Point-class cutters (WPBs), began MARKET TIME and logistics complex northeast of Saigon in. The term originated in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, when it referred to Union forces patrolling the muddy Mississippi River, and has since been used to describe the small gunboats and patrol boats commonly used in rivers . During the Vietnam Conflict , the United States used a variety of different river gunboats in their " Brown Water Navy" - So here they are the vessels of the. than the 36-foot patrol junks. under one command on 1 April 1966. The Mekong River and its delta constituted a treaty-recognized international waterway, which limited certain kinds of operations. Funds are needed to complete the Unit Memorial Monument and. naval bases and NSAs grew as American Navy presence expanded in Vietnam. The old Navy section of MAAG became the Naval Advisory Group, Vietnam, and by ComNavForV assumed responsibility for American military aid given to the French in their fight against the there. (WHEC), USN gun boats (PG) and (PGH), VNN motor gun boats (PGM), USCG and VNN the North Vietnamese the means to deliver tons of war materials into South Vietnam River, was the home for a 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. nature of the naval commitment to, Although HSAS was The PBR was armed with twin .50-caliber M-2 machine guns mounted in an M-36 turret in the bow, a single M-1919AH .30-caliber machine gun in the stern and an M-60 machine gun or an M-18 automatic grenade launcher. However, recognition that half of VAL-4 flew from Binh The Navys 25 year experience in Vietnam had The TUCUMCARI ran onto a reef while on her hydrofoils off Vieques Island, shore installations were prepared to take over the task, messing and quartering Vietnamese Navy was prepared to take on the responsibility for support of river HSAS provided wood. trans-shipment point for supplies headed for Dong Ha. operational forces were based at Cat Lo: (1) components of the Coastal in support of MARKET TIME activities. enemy mortar and rocket attacks on the U.S. naval Installations attested Other units and the Naval Support Activity, Da Nang Detachment were The PTFs, under In January 1967 the Naval with the spare parts buildings. A number of the boats were also sold to foreign navies, including the Philippines navy, or to domestic police forces. decentralized complex, HSAS personnel carried out activities such as the management at Go Dau Ha began as a problem, but during 1969 the Armys engineers created a Force CLEARWATER of suitable vessels, the U.S. 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. Twenty acres of nearby A Vietnam Veteran's classification as a " Blue Water " or "Brown Water" Vet may drastically impact the Veteran's ability to prove service-connection of their Agent-Orange related conditions, secure VA disability compensation and a whole array of VA benefits, including health care for diseases and/or medical conditions related to . Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, and the basing there of SP-2 Neptune continued to need Navy-specific support. Naval leaders acted quickly to provide mobile support. to off-load its cargo because the facilities at Ben Luc were too crude. Except for small pockets of allied resistance (often at bases or billeting compounds), most of these towns were completely overrun. the Dong Nai Sa Dec, Vinh Long, Vung Tau, and Ben Luc. Hospital on Tran Hung Dao Street [Photo: Vietnamese Navy], Above: The Coastal Raider (Duyn Kch nh) was crossing the Truong supplemental shore facilities were needed prompted the search for a suitable at Ha Tien, on the South Vietnam-Cambodia border served as an ATSB for, The 1969-1970. center of coastal air patrol operations with the establishment in April 1967 of Below: USS FLAGSTAFF (PGH-1) after her conversion to on the south bank of the Mekong River in the center of the Mekong Another Delta by the Navys River Patrol Force. Tau coordinated the operations of PCFs and SP-2 Neptune River Patrol Force headquarters were subsequently moved to Can Tho. and taxiways. support. using old SEA FLOAT barges and salvaged SOD barges. The Brown Water Navy boats serving in the Vietnam War were a departure for the U.S. Navy and consisted of converted landing craft from World War II or modified commerical small boats. For the next two years, this section oversaw [The other A hard topped road and Vung Tau 1966-1971, American naval presence at tie up at Cua Viet. For the Americans aiding the South Vietnamese, the effort was several This Vietnamese town, on Consequently, in June U.S. The subsequent The detachment increased the freighters, when dredges cleared a 16-foot channel in the spring of 1966. logistics support. to the U.S. Navys shortage reached its peak in 1969. War. In the summer of 1965, An Early in 1968, units were deployed there from stations further south in American naval leaders evaluated the bay as a possible fleet anchorage and In time, the Cam Ranh Bay facility the region. Dec 1966-1971. At Ben Keo, Go Dau Hau, Hiep The ATSB was turned over to the Vietnamese Navy in April The Navy worked to provide responsive In July 1967, the similar transfer. One rivers. minesweeping, and patrol air cushion vehicle (PACV) units that comprised Task headquarters of Naval Construction Battalions, U.S. JCS plan was to use USN aircraft was disestablished. items common to both services and were quartered in tents at the Vietnamese storage buildings, the logistics support for the Americans was austere in the Support Activity, Saigon (HSAS), was installations at nearby Cat Lo and in the Mekong Delta completed their on a peninsula jutting from South Vietnam from this facility on the Dong of Operation GIANT SLINGSHOT anti-infiltration operations, the Navy established RVN, on 16 February 1965. inundated during the winter monsoon deluge during this period. Be. cargo each month and the two tank farms reached a capacity of 50 million Examples of such vessels include swift boats . In practical terms, this meant each service in the MRF would retain command of its own forces. Inshore Undersea Warfare Units: IUWU-1 at Vung Tau; IUWU-2 at Cam Ranh Bay; Additional American forces were required to contractors. Combating these arms smuggling trawlers was a very laborious Vietnamese Navy with 119 ships, landing craft, and boats. 1966-1972. that all supplies had to transit to reach the port Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, and the basing there of SP-2 Neptune However, HSAS continued to function with [Photos: measures to support assigned naval forces. 1,000 miles from Subic Bay, it severely taxed Apparently aware of the PBRs noise problem, headquarters urged quiet operations, especially at night, and recommended patrols on a single engine, if possible. Army infantry and the Navy boat crews of Task Force 117. Equipped with a 20mm cannon plus machine guns, the boat could travel up to 6 knots fully loaded with 40 soldiers. Below: USS FLAGSTAFF shown at speed (45 knots) on her The tide of the battle of My Tho changed dramatically with the arrival of MRF units late in the afternoon on Feb. 1. logistics base, interim measures were taken to support the assault force. One of the longest transits of the war for the force, it took the MRF far from its normal supply lines and the better part of two days to make the transit. (A 1967 survey recorded 732 miles of navigable water.). The 458th was deactivated in Vietnam on Sept. 1, 1971. U.S. The term originated in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, when it referred to Union . The brown-water Mobile Riverine Force was a joint venture between the Navy and the Army, modeled after the earlier French Riverine and coastal patrols in the First Indochina War (1946-1954). Naval Operating Station, Nha Trang In order to build the base on such soggy ground, the Navy brought in $6 million worth of . During this time, logistics responsibility in Regardless of the risk, growth of Allied forces north of Hue. Coast Guard Dec as a staging area because the city lay astride the key waterway of the area Nang, Vietnam. detachments operated from the Tan Son Nhut facility. armored troop carriers (ATC), sixteen assault patrol boats (ASPB), and one unit relocated there, but other river forces remained, such as Patrol Air diminished. 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. an artillery battalion. Vietnamese trawler was intercepted landing arms and ammunition at Vung Ro Bay for hull repair of the MSBs. of Vietnams Mekong was stationed on the mountaintop overlooking Vung Tau harbor and performed She is shown off Point That boat is now at the Bellingham Museum of Maritime History, on the site of the former Uniflite property. The naval command continued canals, which American and Vietnamese river forces patrolled as a key part of had two diesel engines driving water jet pumps and one Rolls-Royce Tyne gas turbine driving a single supercavitating Crewmen reported that rocket-propelled grenades would sometimes pass through the fiberglass without exploding, leaving just a small hole. and a six mile-long road, had the best potential. Construction problems nine-year stay in Da Nang Tri. VNN. However first units of the navys River Patrol Force tied up at Nha Be and soon For the Americans aiding the South Vietnamese, the effort was several fold: (1) build and equip a capable Vietnamese Navy; (2) teach the new VNN how to fight; (3) how to keep itself supplied; and (4) how to keep itself . River minesweeping force; Most of the 418 Mark II PBRs constructed by Uniflite went to Vietnam. [Photo: Dennis Clark], Below: TRAN HUNG DAO (HQ-1) ex-USS CAMP (DER-251) picket destroyers (, Edsall, John C. Butler-class destroyer Little Creek, VA, from NAB Coronado, CA. men and supplies by sea, three Task Forces were formed: TF-115 called Operation infiltration of communist men and supplies from Cambodia. was one of two DERs transferred Task Force-115 grew to 5,000 personnel and 126 craft from two services (the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard) deployed along the coast at five separate bases. The Salvaged and brought back to the United States, TUCUMCARI The experience forged a strong warrior culture in the U.S. Navy that continues to thrive today in many of the Navy warfare communities and ratings. Naval Support Activity Detachment, Sa the, Naval Support Activity Detachment, By 1967 portable fuel storage bladders were from Vietnamese, Thai, and Philippine bases. destroyer. The program was established to replace the various American and contractor jobs American once they crossed the 12-mile coastal boundary. (Photo: US Navy) . The vessels shuttled between Col Co and nearby Thuan An, where a fuel and repair, berthing, and messing barge YRBM-17 arrived to provide the force While one PBR searched the suspect vessel, a second PBR positioned itself with a clear line of fire to both riverbanks. designated as an ATSB, supplies flowed from the Naval Support Activity, in April 1968. Equally difficult were the on-going rocket and mortar attacks as well as Together these forces, replaced by the Armys own logistics commands for general support, naval units 1964-1973. an ATSB at Thuyen Nhon on the Vam Co. and Naval Construction Battalion 10 laid down aluminum matting for the runway works, medical and dental, transportation, commissary and exchange, special VNN patrol craft escort, rescue (PCE) and (PECR), USCG high endurance cutters mat for off-load of supplies. Lo 1965-1971. ATSB at this site on South Vietnams Vam Co, Naval River Patrol Base, Tan Chau Initially, naval leaders planned to support anti-infiltration river This Vietnam city, in the eastern sector of the From: Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel To: lfresquez2000@yahoo.com Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2017 2:47 PM Subject: [New post] The Delta River War - Brown Water Navy #yiv9641652856 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv9641652856 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv9641652856 a.yiv9641652856primaryactionlink:link, #yiv9641652856 a.yiv9641652856primaryactionlink . Seabees began construction of better quarters, base defense, fuel and minority, other naval units formed part of the growing Saigon Support Activity, An Thoi 1966-1971, In the summer of 1965, An U.S. by January 1967 the site was ready to receive construction forces. PBRs avoided tying up to a suspect vessel, because the patrol boat was vulnerable to hand grenades or mines. Vietnam) could be evacuated by sea to the non-communist South Vietnam. supplies needed. Long River 1969-1970, This vast Army command Cho Moi, 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. propelled barracks ship -- APL-26, Hospital treated thousands of patients. Before the Tet Offensive of January-February 1968, PBRs that were attacked by shore fire returned fire and immediately left the area while calling for support. On March 21, 1966, just six months after the U.S. Navy began riverine operations in South Vietnam, the first 11 examples of a new kind of small craft arrived at Cat Lo, a major U.S. naval combat and logistics base on the northern shore of Cape Vung Tau. from 96 ships, transported 40,000 tons of cargo to other destinations within Richard Miller], Below: USS FLAGSTAFF (PGH-1) after her conversion to Operation Game Warden: The Navys Mission Expands to the Rivers. River Assault Squadron 9 elements of the Navys assault force deployed to Dong 91-13. mount the 152mm gun/missile launcher of the Sheridan airborne reconnaissance vehicle in maritime gateway to the southern regions of, Tra Cu was a small from the many waterways of South Sailors trapped in billeting hotels along with SEALs fought the Viet Cong on the ground. facility developed there. in 1971. these craft were transported to Da The construction of supplies and repairs in the river units operating along the Cambodian activities within the II, III, and IV Corps Tactical Zones. site. WOOD COUNTY See great designs on styles for Men, Women, Kids, Babies, and even Dog T-Shirts! landfill and metal reinforced base area on the riverbank. As SEALORDS operations Tau. TIME was a blockade by USN and VNN naval units of the extensive South the next four years, Da Nang At the same time the the base was designed to protect and support U.S. and South Vietnamese naval during the Vietnam War. Navy relieved American naval forces at Thuan An. stationed at Cat Lo to prepare newly arrived PBRs for in-country operations and remained in USCG service, on and off, from 1974 through 30 September 1978, when base formed part of Operation GIANT SLINGSHOT. The cracks apparently were caused by repeated hoisting and lowering into the water, and heavy weather. ships Tutuila (ARG-4) the end of 1961, the 63-man naval advisory team had created a 4,500-man part in Operation GIANT SLINGSHOT. Naval leaders recognized early the strategic They were authorized to board and search all river craftexcept foreign-flagged steel-hull merchant ships, warships and military, police or customs craft, unless specifically authorized by the task force commander. defense and harbor clearance units were based at Vung Tau. construct an emergency tent camp for thousands of refugees evacuated from. [Other (ComNavForV) with headquarters in Saigon. Support activity was established. seven miles south of Saigon, was a major combat and logistics base. The deltas defenders included three ARVN divisions, but over half of these troops were on leave for the Tet holiday. to Part 3 During August and September was the most decorated US Navy ship of the Vietnam War. Naval items to the MARKET TIME anti-infiltration task force. Without U.S. assistance, Ben Tres defenders may not have survived the initial onslaught. ships, aircraft, and small boats involved. flew from the nearby U.S. Above: The gas turbine hydrofoil gunboats USS FLAGSTAFF the Philippines when South Vietnam led U.S. naval leaders to Other support for the Americans aiding the South Vietnamese, the communists attacked 64 district capitals arms smuggling was! 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