The
Navy's fleet off shore, the Navy pilots, the Helicopter crews,
the SEAL's, the Seabees, the "Gator" Navy that supplied
units all provided an extremely valuable contribution to the war
effort in Vietnam.
South Vietnam and in particular the most southern part of the
country, is a maze of waterways that were both natural and man-made.
This created a logistical nightmare for the ground forces which
the Navy responded to by the creation of the Mobile Riverine Force,
that was made up of Armored Troop Carriers, Monitors, Command
and Communication Boats, Assault Support Patrol Boats, Flamethrower-equipped
boats, and Refuelling boats, all of which were served and supported
by a fleet of Troop Ships, LST's, Repair Ships, Barracks barges,
and other supporting vessels. The Mobile Riverine Force became
the partnership between the Army and Navy in fighting the war
in the rice paddies, canals and treacherous waterways of the south.
While they were principally congregated in the IV Corps area,
they were also called into service in the rivers of I Corps, the
area nearest the DMZ, and at some times in the III corps area.
The Navy also had PCF's (Patrol Craft, Fast, also known as Swift
Boats) which principally patrolled the coastal waters from Vietnam's
border with Cambodia in the South China Sea all the way up South
Vietnam's eastern coast to the Demilitarized Zone which separated
the North and South. In addition to patrolling the coastal waters,
these boats made periodic raids into the inland waterways. However,
the patrolling and interdiction efforts of the inland waterways
were the primary responsibility of Task Force 116, made up of
PBR's (Patrol Boat, River). The PBR sailors, the Swifties, and
the MRF's navy crews were collectively known as the "Black
Berets," although many opted for the camouflage beret as
well.
In support of the river boats was the first of four gunship
detachments that were formed by the Navy in Vietnam known as HC-1,
flying ex-Army UH-1B's to support patrols in the Mekong River
Delta. By 1967, HC-1 had grown so large that the Navy formed four
other squadrons from the original detachments.
The streamlined HC-1 continued deployments to the Vietnam war
zone through 1975. HC-1's UH-2A/B's were steadily replaced by
UH-2C's, in turn succeeded by SH-3A/G Sea Kings.
From the Library of Indochina - The Navy in Vietnam - (PDF
file).
