Tag Archives: Junk Force

Junk Force at 60

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It happened some 60 years ago this month.

Official caption: “Ensign Le Quy Dang, VNN, and Lieutenant Tylor Field, USN, look for suspicious fishing boats while Lieutenant (J.G.) Phu, Commanding Officer of Junk Division 33, communicates with other units of his division during a patrol. Ensign Dang holds in his hands a powerful little equalizer, an M-79 grenade launcher. April 1965.”

At the beginning of 1965, the VNN Coastal Force consisted of 526 junks assigned to 28 Coastal Force divisions spread out along the entire coast of the Republic of Vietnam. The force included 81 command, 90 motor-sail, 121 motor-only, and 234 sail-only junks.

The command junks were the most capable vessels. Armed with one .50-caliber and two .30-caliber machine guns, these 54-foot junks could reach a maximum speed of 12 knots. At least one American adviser sailed with the Vietnamese crew.

At the end of the day, the operational effectiveness of the junks depended on the motivation and actions of the Vietnam Navy personnel, and this was a weakness the advisers were only too aware of.

April 26, 1965 Chief Gunner’s Mate Edmund B. Canby, underway in one of the command junks of Junk Division 33. He carries an M2 carbine

330-PSA-5-65 (USN 711489) Junk Force personnel load infantry troops aboard the small craft for a seaborne assault against the Viet Cong 1964. Note the M1 carbines and garands

Lookout watch crew member of a unit of Vietnamese junk force maintains vigilance over Viet Cong shipments in search of contraband, May 1962 USN 1105176

Vietnamese Junk Force stand lookout for craft which might be suspected of carrying weapons and other gear to Viet Cong collaborators, May 1962. USN 1105071

Junk force. His tattoo “Sat Cong” means “kill Viet Cong.” Photographed by SFC Bill Curry, before February 1965 USN 1109225

South Vietnamese Coastal Junk Force personnel inspect a boat they stopped in South Vietnamese waters M1 carbines duck hat and sneakers 66-3818

Junk of the South Vietnamese junk force on patrol at Vung Tau, Vietnam, March 1966 USN 1114950

Junk force man alert with Thompson as his junk prepares to move alongside suspicious fishing junk in search of Viet Cong contraband, May 1962 USN 1105074

Engineman First Class Carl L. Scott, advisor to the Vietnamese Coastal Junk Force 1964. Note the mix of pajamas, M1 Garands, and M1 Thompsons

Vietnamese Junk Force Crewmen searching a Viet Cong fishing boat in search of contraband and arms, May 1962. Note the Tommy gun. USN 1105078

Vietnamese Junk Force sailors. Note the sheilded M2 50 caliber machine gun and “evil eyes” on the trawler. Co Van My 15 Mar 1966 K-36321

Junk Force Station, Phu Quoc 1966

Lt. Taylor Field and Edmund B. Canby LIFE junk force April 1965

Hai-Thuyên Force Junk Force Vietnam, putting a WWII-era M1919 to use

Hai-Thuyên Force Junk Force Vietnam. Note the M1919s

For more information on the Junk Force and the Brown Water Navy of the Vietnam War, read War in the Shallows:  U.S. Navy Coastal and Riverine Warfare. 

Monkeying around

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Every year on December 14th National Monkey Day “celebrates the unique characteristics of simians.”

With that:

Besides such nautical terms as the monkey yards and brass monkeys, obstacles such as the Monkey Cage, involvement with Space Monkeys, and tours spent at places such as Monkey Mountain in DaNang, the Navy and Marines have long had a track record of mascots of the simian variety.

USS DOLPHIN (PG-24) some of the ship’s officers, with a monkey mascot, circa 1889. NH 54538

U.S. Navy protected cruiser, USS Raleigh (C 8), Monkey Mascot. Detroit Publishing Company, 1890-1912. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

USS Connecticut (Battleship # 18) crew members with some of their mascots, during the World cruise of the Great White Fleet, circa 1908. Among the animals, present are birds, a pig, a bear cub, a monkey, goats, dogs and cats. NH 106201

USS Kittery (AK-2) Lieutenant Roger A. Nolan, USN (M.C.), on the left, and Ensign Charlie R. Steen, USN (MSC) onboard USS Kittery in the Virgin Islands, circa 1920. Note the monkey on Lieutenant Nolan’s shoulder. Ensign Steen was the father of this photograph’s donor. NH 77039

U.S. Marine and his monkey, – Corporal Thomas F. Burton is shown with Archie, a seven-month-old native of Peleliu. Burton soon to be discharged at Camp Pendleton, California, recently returned from the South Pacific with his pal, “Archie.” The veteran Marine will return to Bakersfield, California, with the pint-sized monkey, circa late 1945. 127-GC-49790

EN3 William M. Roberto, USN, of the Junk Force Station, Phu Quoc Station, Vietnam, is shown with the camp’s monkey on his head. Photographed by W. M. Powers, 18 March 1966. 428-GX-K31239

Tommy guns and Junks

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Via U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War: In a scene that looks more like Burma in 1945 than Indochina in 1965, EN1 Carl L. Scott, an advisor to the Vietnamese Coastal Junk Force, stands in front of members of his team in this photo.

Photo from Naval History & Heritage Command Archives

Note that EN1 Scott is wearing the authorized Junk Force beret and insignia along with common black “pajamas” worn by many of the Vietnamese, and carries a late WWII-era M1A1 Thompson submachine gun. Also, note the South Vietnamese with an M1 Garand and 10-pouch belt.

While the U.S. Army and Marines rarely used the Chicago Typewriter in Southeast Asia, typically only scoring occasional examples while working with ARVN units who had received them along with M1 Carbines and Garands as military aid, the Navy and Coast Guard utilized Tommy guns extensively in their brown water war, especially in the 1960s.

Gun locker in the cramped galley of the 82-foot Coast Guard Cutter Point White (WPB-82308) in Vietnam. A lot of tasty vittles there!

Tommy guns, aviators and khakis! Ensign Caldwell of Houlton, Maine, stands guard in a motor whaleboat with a .45 caliber submachine gun M1A1 off the coast of South Vietnam. The Vietnamese men wait as their junk is searched by USS FORSTER (DER-334) crewmembers, 15 April 1966. Catalog #: K-31208. Copyright Owner: National Archives Original Creator: Photographer, Chief Journalist Robert D. Moeser

Vietnamese Junk Force Crewmen searching a Viet Cong fishing boat in search of contraband and arms, May 1962. Note his Tommy gun USN 1105078

From NHHC on the Junk force:

Recognizing that the sea was a likely avenue of approach for Communists infiltrating from North Vietnam or moving along the South Vietnamese littoral, in April 1960 the navy established the paramilitary Coastal Force. In line with its emphasis on counterinsurgency warfare, the Kennedy administration wholeheartedly endorsed the development of this junk fleet, providing the force with American naval advisors, boat design and construction funds, and stocks of small arms. By the end of 1964, the 3,800-man, 600-junk force patrolled the offshore waters from 28 bases along the coast. To coordinate the operations of these 28 separate divisions, U.S. advisors helped set up coastal surveillance centers in Danang, Cam Ranh, Vung Tau, and An Thoi, the respective headquarters of the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Coastal Districts.

….

Personnel problems proved equally vexing. Although authorized almost 4,000 men, the Coastal Force often fell short by 700 to 800 men. Lacking the prestige of the other combat branches and with its men underpaid and isolated in austere bases, the junk force had great difficulty recruiting personnel, especially those with technical knowledge. Further, only a few of the coastal group bases created formal training programs to increase the skills of those men enlisted. Encouraged by U.S. naval advisors, the Vietnamese Navy took limited steps in late 1967 and 1968 to improve the training effort and to better the living conditions of the junkmen, but much remained to be done.