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Brown Water Navy - The PBR
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Posted on 11/14/2002 5:38:15 AM PST by SAMWolf

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE PBR



The kind of warfare that was waged in the inland waters of South Vietnam was last practiced by the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. As a result much of the tactics were developed by trial and error. Sailors learned their lessons well and became a formidable fighting force that wrested control of the water ways from the Viet Cong (VC) and the North Vietnamese Army (NVA).

No boat came to symbolize the Brown Water Navy like the small fragile River Patrol Boats (PBR) of Task Force 116 (T.F. 116), Code named Game Warden. The sailors who manned the PBRs often fought pitched battles with the VC and NVA at ranges of mere feet.

When the Navy decided to commit river patrol forces to the inland waters of Vietnam, it found itself in need of a small fast patrol craft. The result was the PBR MK I. The boat was 31 ft long and capable of speeds approaching 25 knots. It was powered by two GM 220 Horsepower diesel engines connected by direct drive to a pair of Jacuzzi water jet propulsion pumps. the boat's armament consisted of a twin 50 Caliber machine gun mount in the forward gun tub, a single 50 Caliber machine gun on a stern mount, an M60 machine gun and a Honeywell MK 18 40mm grenade launcher mounted amid ship. In addition each boat was equipped with various small arms; M-79 grenade launcher, Shotgun, mortar, grenades and side arms. The PBR was outfitted with a Raytheon 1900 radar unit and two AN/VRC 46 radios. The PBR drew only two feet of water while at rest and about nine inches of water at full speed. After the initial run of MK I PBRs, the MK II was introduced. Slightly larger and faster and with a lower profile, the only significant difference was the beefed up aluminum gunwales to aid in protecting the boat from being damaged when coming alongside sampans and junks. Eventually there would be 250 PBRs in Vietnam.

The PBR was manned by a four man crew - normally a first class petty officer as boat captain, a gunner's mate, an engineman and a seaman. Each crewman was cross trained in each other's job encase one became unable to carry out his duties. Generally PBRs operated in two boat patrols under the command of a patrol officer who rode one of the boats in addition to the normal crew.

The sailors who took on the VC in his own territory and on his short range terms, and beat him, became a force without precedence in the history of the U. S. Navy. Enormous responsibility and demands were placed on the PBR sailors, especially the Boat Captain.

PBRs logged up to 70,000 patrol hours in an average month with the PBRs being in approximately 80 firefights per month. At one time the causality rate ran at about 6% per month. At that rate and over a years tour, nearly three out of four PBR sailors could be expected to be killed or wounded. Individual River Divisions sustained casuality rates far higher for short periods of time. As an example, River Division 531 suffered B-40 Rocket hits to 7 of the 10 assigned boats in a period of only 40 days. During the overall period of the PBR in Vietnam, 1 out of 3 PBR sailors were killed or wounded.

The PBR Sailors became the most highly decorated naval command of the war with two recipients of the Medal of Honor, fourteen recipients of the Navy Cross and recipients of untold numbers of Silver Stars, Bronze stars and Purple Hearts.

Today, many old sailors wear the Vietnam service medal. Of these, only a small portion served in the River Patrol Force. And in a sense these men are a group unto themselves. Their uniforms were not white nor even blue denim, but jungle fatigues. And rather than the traditional White hat, they wore the distinctive head gear that only those who served with the River Patrol Force were permitted to wear. These sailors proudly wore the Black Beret.

DID YOU KNOW

Five US Navy ships were named after five PBR Forces sailors who were killed in Vietnam. One US Navy ship named after the passing of Medal of Honor recipient BM1 James Elliott Williams. Logistic Support Vessel (LSV - 06) of the US Army was named (in 1995) after SP4 James A Loux, who served with 458th Transportation Company and was killed in Vietnam.

In Memory of GMG2 P.O. Ford, KIA 06/21/68
In Memory of SN D.G. Ouellet, KIA 03/06/67
In Memory of LCDR A.J. Elliot, KIA 12/26/68
In Memory of LCDR C.J. Peterson, KIA 02/04/69
In Memory of BMC Q.H. Truett, KIA 01/20/69
In Memory of BM1 James Elliott Williams, (13 Nov. 1930-13 Oct. 1999) DDG 95 Named 26 May 2001

Two PBR Forces Sailors were recipients of the Medal of Honor:

* BM1 J.E. Williams
* SN D.G. Ouellet (posthumously)

Fourteen PBR Forces Sailors were recipients of the Navy Cross:

* RM2 T. J. Freund (posthumously)
* BMC Q. H. Truett (posthumously)
* GMG2 P. O. Ford (posthumously)
* SM1 C. B. Smith
* GMG3 D. R. Larsen
* SN G. O. Hampton
* MN1 C. H. Martin
* SN T. D. Alspaugh
* BM1 W. Westphal
* BMC G. Ajdukovich
* GMGC R. O. Porter
* BM1 J. E. Williams
* FN W. E. Hayenga, Jr
* EN3 M. L. Gates

RIVER SECTION/DIVISION CASUALTIES

TF-116 MIA's.....................................................8

TF-116 KIA's

Riv Ron/Pat Flot-5 Staff......................................6
River Sections/Divisions PBR..........................137
LST's TF-116.......................................................6
VAL-4 (Black Ponies)..........................................6
HAL-3 (Seawolves)...........................................45
Mine Ron 11A..................................................13
MinDiv 113........................................................4
SEAL Team 1.....................................................34
SEAL Team 2.......................................................9
UDT-12..............................................................1
UDT-13..............................................................3
MST-2................................................................4
StabRon-20........................................................4
Total TF-116 MIA and KIA..............................272



TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: brownwater; navy; pbr; vietnam
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To: SAMWolf

Sam thank you for being you.


21 posted on 11/14/2002 9:22:58 AM PST by Soaring Feather
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To: SAMWolf
BTTT.
22 posted on 11/14/2002 9:34:41 AM PST by SevenDaysInMay
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To: SAMWolf
I spent a few weeks working with Special Boat UNit 11 back in the 80s. They had the last remaining Vietnam-era PBR still in service, and several "big zippos".

I think SBU-11 has since been decommissioned.
23 posted on 11/14/2002 9:51:34 AM PST by Britton J Wingfield
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To: SAMWolf
A salute GM/G Mike Monroe, river rat, first rate gunsmith, and a great friend.
24 posted on 11/14/2002 9:57:58 AM PST by TEXASPROUD
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To: SAMWolf
Thanks for the ping, SAM. I think there's a Freeper who goes by the name of PBR Streetgang.
25 posted on 11/14/2002 1:12:02 PM PST by Alberta's Child
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To: TEXASPROUD; harpseal; river rat
Brown Water Bump.
26 posted on 11/14/2002 1:15:16 PM PST by Travis McGee
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To: SAMWolf
Great thread Sam! My hubby built a scale model of the PBR that BM1 J.E. Williams was on when he earned the Medal of Honor. He met Williams in Indianapolis a few years ago and showed him the model. He has pictures around here, but I will have to ask him to find them. I'll post it if you're interested.
27 posted on 11/14/2002 10:56:27 PM PST by Jen
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To: AntiJen
Sure if you have them available. Post it, I was into modeling for a long time.
28 posted on 11/15/2002 5:50:29 AM PST by SAMWolf
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To: Travis McGee
BTT for those crewmen who gave me rides. It should also be mentioned a PBR provided a great water skiing tow boat. One hand for the tow rope one hand for the stoner and it became fire mission.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

29 posted on 11/15/2002 8:31:57 AM PST by harpseal
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To: harpseal
Is that a sea story or a fairy tale? I do remember riding in PBRs in the FL panhandle that had come over from Nawlins I believe. Those suckers could run flat out in an inch of water as long as you kept changing the sand filters, and they could turn a circle that was amazing with one jet in reverse.
30 posted on 11/15/2002 9:39:45 AM PST by Travis McGee
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To: Travis McGee
That was real. It happened many times in the Game Warden area. People do experiment and this was one. The fact that we occaisionally got fir from some of the islands we passed and the fact that people went water skiing just sort of happened to come together a couple of times.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

31 posted on 11/15/2002 10:01:50 AM PST by harpseal
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To: harpseal
That's one of the things about such crazy truth, nobody believes you. I have some pictures of us in our Seafox off of Beirut with water skis and C-4... but I better not be too detailed.
32 posted on 11/15/2002 10:05:32 AM PST by Travis McGee
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To: SAMWolf

Navy Bump!

33 posted on 11/15/2002 2:55:51 PM PST by aomagrat
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