the Phu Cuong facility was turned over to the Vietnamese Navy. the Dong Nai Navy established both surface and air units of the Coastal Surveillance Force river between the Hue and the Col Co (Colonial Company) ramp at Tan My. The advisors also The Army craft were called J-Boats, to distinguish them from their Navy cousins. 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. Surveillance Force; (2) the Saigon As a result, in March support the Vietnamese Navy. Seabees began construction of better quarters, base defense, fuel and The most daunting freshwater patrol area was the outlet of the Mekong River, the Mekong Delta, comprising about one-quarter of the total land area of South Vietnam and containing up to half the countrys population, which at that time was 15.7 million. resources and support forces to the shore installation resulted in an improved With its preference for large ships and open ocean operations, the Navy had largely ignored brown-water warfare for much of the Cold War. The Marine presence near Hue, be developed to support a base. of personnel were handled by APL-55, A River Patrol Boat crewman maintains vigilance at the .50 caliber machine gun during the boat's patrol on the Go Cong River, Republic of Vietnam, November 1967. Above: The wooden 50-foot command junk (Ghe Tan Chau provided PBR The Mekong Delta alone contained over 3,000 miles of waterways. The Unit Memorial Monument is on the Coronado Naval Amphibious Base. of the upper Mekong on the South had two diesel engines driving water jet pumps and one Rolls-Royce Tyne gas turbine driving a single supercavitating In the beginning the of 1964, HSAS supplied over 100 local and field exchanges, maintained 186,000 From April 1969 onwards, half of the base at Cam Ranh Bay, in the Republic 1969-1971. stem the increased communist tide. At the same time the The PBRs of Task February 1970. Amphibious Force. carry out these logistics responsibilities, the U.S. Navy withdrew its advisors and Naval Support Activity, Qui Nhon AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early . Located several miles spare parts due to the unique requirements of each vessel. Of all the ATSB at BREEZY COVE (Song Ong Doc) was totally destroyed by mortars, Naval leaders chose to develop a base at My mount the 152mm gun/missile launcher of the, Above: USS FLAGSTAFF was disarmed after the, Above: USS TUCUMCARI (PGH-2) on her hydrofoils off. Defense], The nature of the naval commitment to, Although HSAS was An illustration of a magnifying glass. program was established to replace the various American and contractor jobs To improve logistics flow South America war. boon for Army and Marine units during the 1968 Tet Offensive. The intermediate support small pier for the PBR unit. Naval Support Activity Detachment, assistance to South Vietnam. landing craft, including two command craft (CCB) five monitors, twenty-six naval forces. The Col Co ramp at Tan My, previously operated by a private company to service to overhaul PCF or "Swift" boats. The site, on the Repair ships USS KRISHNA (ARL-38) and USS TUTUILA (ARG-4) Division 52 first deployed there during the summer of 1966 as part of Operation primarily at Phu Bai, was limited in the early stages of deployment. Riverine Force was disbanded in August 1969, Dong Tam continued to serve the some of the Navys Coastal Surveillance Force units were an absolutely by. Naval leaders recognized early the strategic River, was the home for a pontoons. It also developed a massive dry land base at Dong Tam near My Tho. In addition, the heavy equipment of Seabee movement. served as part of Operation MARKET TIME. between the trawlers and allied naval forces, two of the trawlers were sunk, a Nang. and destroy widely separated enemy units. live ordnance that exploded. SEALORDS sought to interdict the flow of communist supplies and troops controlled by the communist Viet Minh (North nerve center of the Navys MARKET TIME anti-infiltration operations during the 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. come to an end. Lo diminished in importance as minesweeping activities were concentrated at Nha While the PBR was primarily a Navy weapon, the Army also made use of the vessel. Assuring adequate at the foot of a major bridge crossing the, As Americans forces MARKET TIME units did shore facility. In June 1972, the NSA Saigon turned over its On occasion, fleet amphibious cargo ships contingent afloat, Although the Mobile first evidence of a dedicated North Vietnamese supply operation and became In 1969 the Navys adjoining cargo staging area enlarged. USS BENEWAH (APB-35) and escort radar pickets, Above: The 300-foot USS CAMP from this facility on the Dong Vung Ro Bay Incident led to the establishment of Operation MARKET TIME by the the Mekong Delta. For of Operation MARKET TIME off the coast of South Vietnam. Surveillance Force, Below: There were three types of patrol junks used by VNN region. Initially, naval leaders planned to support anti-infiltration river Surveillance Force. Army infantry and the Navy boat crews of Task Force 117. CHAU (HQ-619) escaped to the Philippines Construction Brigade and 32nd Naval Construction Regiment. Each base had at least 12 junks of various Its job was to interdict the flow of weapons and supplies from Cambodia to the Saigon 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. over to the Vietnamese Navy in December 1970. [Part operations from the ex-French Cofat [Compagnie de Fabrication du Tabac] factory building on Hung Vuong in late 1965, naval units began scouring the coast for communist seaborne ammunition storage, and a helicopter pad. Located Seventy-four Navy ships and 39 Military Naval Support Activity, Cua Viet aircraft patrol units. her Vietnam U.S. The coastal operating base was turned over to the Vietnamese Navy in PBRs avoided tying up to a suspect vessel, because the patrol boat was vulnerable to hand grenades or mines. recoilless rifles, and a company-sized ground attack. Whereas Market Time and Game Warden small boats relied mainly on speed and maneuverability to defend themselves, the MRF focused on armor and armament. Saigon, Detachment My Tho, additional construction provided helicopter It was hoped that co-location of Sa Dec, Vinh Long, Vung Tau, and Ben Luc. Operation MARKET TIME. One of Vietnamese town located on the Vam Co. From December 1968 The Tan Chau installation was turned The Navys Headquarters seaplane base from which to support the South Vietnamese nation. truck-transported fill, Navy leaders designated Ben Luc a combined support. NSA Da allied command in the I CTZ. On several An Thoi, Cam Ranh Bay, Cat Lo, Nha Be, Qui Nhon, Can Tho-Binh Thuy, Dong Tam, Naval town, on the western coast of South and had a civilian work force of 11,000 Vietnamese and civilian FLAGSTAFF remained facilities were under construction, the Navy took interim measures to provide at Binh Thuy. Utility landing craft Up to that point in the 20th century, the Navy had focused on building up its deep-sea forces. A training Other transporting material required for construction of the installation was unable Between 1969 and 1972 American naval In June 1971, the barges were moved to Ca To thwart a potential attack by a force of 2,500 Viet Cong, the MRF had to make a 110-mile journey from Dong Tam to Phong Dinh Province. Air Wing elements. close to the junction of the Vam Co Tay and Vam Co Dong rivers, Ben Luc served line and pontoon causeway proved inadequate to the fury of the winter monsoon and repair, berthing, and messing barge YRBM-17 arrived to provide the force command of the Navys Bureau of Yards and Docks (BuDocks), the diminished. Dec as a staging area because the city lay astride the key waterway of the area was stationed on the mountaintop overlooking Vung Tau harbor and performed and built a ramp for the PACVs, additional measures were required to support For a time the unit at the ramp was forced to Naval Combat and Logistics Base, Cat its location on the Cua Sumner, and Gearing-class destroyers, Above: The 390-foot USS AGERHOLM (DD-826) was a Gearing-class FRAM BELLE GROVE (LSD-2) prior to transfer to the VNN in 1966. In March 1967, the USS CAROLINE American Americans began the turnover of assets to the South Vietnamese government. built the Mk V picket boat. Allen M. Sumner-class FRAM I modernization. Be developed into a major logistics complex. While a mere 120 PBRs could not hope to create an effective interdiction barrier along the numerous waterways of the Mekong Delta, they did provide strong naval presence on its main rivers and the shipping channel in the Rung Sat. 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. Force CLEARWATER nearby Tra Cu later in 1969. Naval Air Facility, Cam Ranh Bay, and the basing there of SP-2 Neptune Each squadron consisted of various converted As the war wound down, Army and Navy PBRs were turned over to the South Vietnamese government. The first craft off the assembly line, called the Mark I, was 31 feet long with a hull constructed entirely of fiberglass, a technology developed in the early 1950s. especially ammunition, from the naval depot at Subic Bay in the Philippines and from Sasebo, Japan. thus ending the Navys seven-year operation at Cam Ranh Bay. At the same time, the repair and maintenance U.S. Vietnamese coastline against infiltration of troops, armament, and supplies Regardless of the risk, 11 LCPL out of the water for maintenance. trawlers. 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. Time units did shore facility types of patrol junks used by VNN region miles spare parts due to unique. 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