Tag Archives: PBR

Kindle Liberty 83 Time Machine

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How about a great 18-minute full color clip from the AP Archives, recently published, from Operation Kindle Liberty 83 in the Panama Canal Zone from February 1983?

The clip opens aboard the circa 1956 Ingalls-built Thomaston-class dock landing ship USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32), a hard-working gator of old that continued in U.S. service until 1989 and was later turned into a reef in the Florida Keys. It includes a close-up of her twin 3″/50 Mark 22 and an LCU in her well deck (some things never change). Her bluejackets are clad in the old denim working uniform, complete with bellbottoms. There is also a short clip of a pair of 1950s Bluebird class 144-foot coastal minesweepers (MSC) tied up.

Then you get a visit to the old Howard AFB (note the naming convention used as standard for American bases, while overseas bases were Air Stations).

Aboard Howard, which was carved out of the jungle by the USAAF back in 1942, are visiting F-16As of the Hill AFB-based “Black Widows” of the 421st Fighter Squadron, which operated increasingly advanced Viper models until switching to the F-35A in 2017. You also see the old C-141 Starlifter in its full-color MATS livery and visiting woodland camouflaged Air National Guard A-7s. Turned back over to Panama in 1999, today, Howard is the Panamá Pacífico International Airport.

A short C-47 ride puts you in the jungle with U.S. Army and OD-clad PDF forces, including both the M-151 MUTT and the Jeep CJ at play in the same convoy.

At 11:27, you get a neat cameo by the RN’s West Indies guardship at the time, the Leander class frigate HMS Diomede (F 16), a veteran of two Cod Wars with the Icelanders and the recent scuffle over the Falklands. Still young and beautiful in the news footage, with just 12 years on her hull, she would be sold to Pakistan in 1988 and serve as PNS Shamsheer until 2003.

By 11:48, you get the treat of the Canal Zone’s mighty green protectors, the Harbor Patrol Unit’s 32-foot Mark II PBR (Patrol Boat, River) boats, a force that later became SBU-26 in 1987. A holdover from the old Vietnam PBR days, complete with twin .50s up front, they proved really useful in 1989’s Operation Just Cause before the unit was disestablished in 1999. All you are missing are “Clean,” Lance, Chief Philips, and Chef Hicks.

You also get a few close-ups of the Swift-built aluminum-hulled PDF patrol boats Comandante Torrijos and Ponte Porras (both of which I believe were sunk in Just Cause), as well as a 50-foot PCF Swift boat of the HPU out of Rodman NS, another Vietnam leftover. The PCF even sports a piggyback 81mm mortar/.50 cal M2 on the stern.

Drink it in!

Rock and Roll

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A U.S. Navy Patrol Boat, Riverine (PBR) crewman mans his twin M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun mount as the craft patrols the Vung Tau River in Vietnam on 14 April 1966, “in anticipation of trouble with the Vietcong.” Note the alternating mix of M20 red-over-silver-tipped armor-piercing incendiary tracer (API-T), silver-tipped M8 AP-I, and M1 incendiary (light-blue tipped) ammo in his belts.

Journalist First Class Ernest Filtz Photographer, NARA – K-31263

While the war of a million sorties from Yankee Station gets the most attention from Navy historians, the “Brown Water Navy” of the River Patrol Force and Mobile Riverine Force on Operation Market Time and Operation Game Warden involved the efforts of more than 30,000 Bluejackets and deserves to be remembered.

Brown Water C-rat Can Assist

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Official caption: “Mekong Delta, Republic of Vietnam. US Navy Gunner’s Mate Third Class Barry Johnson returns enemy fire with the M-60 machine gun on board his US Navy River Patrol Boat (PBR). The enemy opened fire on the PBR as it moved along a canal near Tan Dinh Island during Operation Bold Dragon III, 26 March 1968.”

U.S. Navy Photo 428GX-K46404

Note the C-ration can used to keep the ammo belt in line without an assistant gunner, a common hack in Vietnam.

There is also another from the same angle.

U.S. Navy Photo 428GX-K46403

Note the locally-made River Div 532 (Navy River Division Five Three Two) patch, a PBR group of 10 boats that typically worked from moored gator mother ship USS Harnett County (LST-821) in the Mekong Delta.

Marolda and Dunnavent mention 532 at least twice in their work on the Brown Water Navy, most notably in this section, covering operations in Feb. 1969’s Operation Giant Slingshot on the Vam Co Dong River:

River Division 532 commanded by Lieutenant George Stefencavage was one of the most successful units in Giant Slingshot. Between 8 February and 4 April, the PBR unit killed more than 100 of the enemy while suffering the loss of two PBRs and four Sailors. Stefencavage and over half of the men in his command were wounded during the period. On 28 February, in a typical action, the PBRs surprised and dispersed a Viet Cong ambush force but then took heavy fire from another position nearby. Without hesitation, Stefancavage, even though he was already wounded in several places, led his command against the threat and silenced the remaining guerrillas. The Navy awarded him a Silver Star for his bravery.

CDR Stefencavage (Moorhead ROTC ’52) retired from the Navy in 1984, with his last command being the XO at Philadelphia Naval Base. He passed in 1990.

Goodbye RIVRONs, hello MESF

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The Navy announced recently they have “officially changed the name and mission of the Coastal Riverine squadrons to reflect their role amid a new era of great power competition; they are now known as the Maritime Expeditionary Security Force.”

The prerequisite moto video, tying the new units to the old Brown Water PBR gang of Southeast Asia (although the SWCC guys of SBT22 will most likely dispute ownership of this lineage, as they carried the dim candle of the small boat shop at Rodman for decades):

“As we maintain a connection to our legacy we must honor those warriors that come before us and learn from their heroism,” said RADM Joseph DiGuardo, commander NECC, “we must continuously evolve to meet the needs of the Navy and the Nation for Great Power Competition, crisis, and conflict. The change to Maritime Expeditionary Security Force clearly articulates the mission of our sailors to reinforce lethality in the blue water and dominate in the littorals.”

The MESF now consists of two groups; one in San Diego and one in Virginia Beach. The force includes two expeditionary security detachments in Guam and Bahrain, seven Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadrons, and 31 Maritime Expeditionary Security Companies.

The original three Coastal Riverine squadrons of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command (RIVRON 1, 2, and 3) were all formed in 2006-07, modeled after the Marines Small Craft Company (SCCO) of 2D MAR Div– then the only specialized small boat company in the Marines– which had been disbanded the year prior although that forgotten unit of Devil Dogs in tiny boats had been bloodied and proved their mandate in the marshes and reservoirs around Haditha, fighting the kind of war that was familiar to Vietnam. Their Riverine Assault Craft, zodiacs, and Raider boats were handed over to the Navy, although Big Blue soon bought lots of new go-fasts.

Marines from Small Craft Company tether their Riverine Assult Crafts together during a break in training. Marines from Small Craft Company, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, demonstrated their capabilities to Paraguayan Marines in the Joint Training Exercise Unitas. The exercise was conducted in Asuncion, Paraguay. USMC Photo by LCPL Tyler J. Mielke. 29/09/1999

“People think it’s money or manpower problems, but no one knows for sure why they’re getting rid of us,” said Marine Gunnery Sgt. Brian Vinciguerra, who had spent 14 years with the SCCO, on the occasion of the unit’s disbandment in Feb. 2005. “The capabilities we provided to the Marine Corps, Special Forces, and Navy SEALS in Iraq are too big to be gone for long. We’re leaving an avenue of approach open for the enemy now,” he said. “I think Small Craft Company will be back in a few years when people realize what we brought to the fight.”

Now, after a similar 14-year run, the Navy’s trio of RIVRONs have a name change, and, notably, are moving to more 80+ foot platforms such as the MKVI. Not a lot of “river” about that.

Oh well, at least SBT22 and NAVSCIATTS are still around, keeping that lamp tended for the next time.

Sometimes you can hear a photo, aka Charlie Don’t Surf

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November 1967: A Navy Seawolf (armed Huey) gunship of HAL-3 coming in at tree-top level to deliver a 2.75-inch rocket attack on a spotted Viet Cong position along the bank of the Ham Luong River in Vietnam in response to the Brown Water Navy PBR burning on the right.

USN Photo XFV-2053-B-11-67

All you are missing is Ride of the Valkyries or perhaps Fortunate One. 

Street Gang, 53 years on

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A throwback to 13 April 1966: An early MkI type U.S. Navy Patrol Boat, River (PBR) near Cat Lo, Vietnam.

(K31134, CU).

First fielded in 1966 (the above craft was brand new) some 250 PBRs served in Operation Market Time (TF 116) and with the RVN in  Vietnam during the conflict. In all, 718 were completed in two types (the MkIs were 31 feet while the MkII’s were 32) and they continued to serve in Reserve SBUs as late as the 1990s.

Take a break to celebrate the Brown Water Navy today

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Nothing says “get some” like a twin M2

Remember, today is National Vietnam War Veterans Day:

 

 

With that being said, dig this far out training film covering the “Small Boat Navy” as it was called in the 1960s, which consisted that wide range of Vietnam-era shallow watercraft such as the PBR, RPC, PGM, PTF, et. al

 

For your reference: (Drawn from Boats of the United States Navy, NAVSHIPS 250-452, 1967)

  

Remnants of the Brown Water Navy

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pbr-patrol-boat-river-mark-ii-mk-2-patrol-boat-a-pcf-patrol-craft-fast-swift-boat-and-an-armored-gunboat

click to big up

On display at the US Navy (USN) Vietnam Unit Memorial Monument are (left to right) a PBR (Patrol Boat River) Mark II (Mk-2) Patrol Boat, a PCF (Patrol Craft Fast) Swift Boat, and an armored gunboat representing some of vessels the USN and US Coast Guard (USCG) used to patrol the rivers and waterways in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1975.

This memorial honors the 2,564 USN and USCG river boat Sailors and Guardsmen who died during the Vietnam War and is located onboard Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Coronado, California (CA)

Camera Operator: PH1 (Aw/Sw/Nac) Daniel Woods. Base: Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, 11/11/2004.
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6671078