Replies

I cannot imagine running those rivers of the Ca Mau Peninsula in PCF’s. The Swifts were very large targets for the VC/NVA gunners and they weren't heavily armored (like the converted landing craft of the Mobile Riverine Force (TF-117) that was disbanded in late 1969). These modified landing craft were heavily armed and armored so they could slug it out with VC/NVA units because they, unlike the faster Swifts, could make only 8-10 knots.

I operated as boat support for three SEAL platoons and one UDT detachment based at Nam Can on the Cau Lon River as part of operation SEA FLOAT (afloat) and later SOLID ANCHOR after we moved ashore. Nam Can was on the north bank of the Cau Lon River. I've been on the Bay Hap River, Cau Lon River, Bo De River, and Dam Doi River about a year after Kerry was there. These were spooky places, even in daylight. Fortunately, our group operations were done on solid tactical intelligence gathered by the SEALs (and their Vietnamese LDNN counterparts).

By the time our detachment arrived, the tactics had shifted away from the PCF incursions with troops embarked. The “heavies” — former MRF boats — were better suited for inserting or extracting infantry. There were a lot of airborne operations staged from both SEA FLOAT and SOLID ANCHOR. [We moved ashore (SA) from the Ammi pontoons moored in the middle of the Cau Lon River (SF)on 5 September 1970.]

Nevertheless, SF/SA was probably one of the “hottest” operational areas in all of the Delta. There were several firefights between the American Patrol Gunboats (PG) that guarded the approaches to SF. USS CANON (PG-90) was ambushed on the Cau Lon while returning to SF after conducting harassment and interdiction (H&I) fire off the mouth of the Bo De River and half her crew of 24 were wounded and three were medevaced, including the captain.

USS KRISHNA (ARL-38) was mined when she came upriver to service the boats at SF/SA. One PCF sailor was killed and KRISHNA had to steam to Saigon for repairs in dry dock.

The VNN landing ship support, large (LSSL) HQ-225 was mined and sunk in a nighttime sapper attack at SF. Back broken, HQ-225 rolled over and sank in less than five minutes with the loss of 28 lives; the hulk remains there to this day.

A sapper attack with water mines on our ex-MRF boats sank two and heavily damaged two others at SOLID ANCHOR. All of this and more happened during our temporary duty tour from May to November 1970. SEA FLOAT/SOLID ANCHOR was like Ft. Apache because it was smack in the midst of Indian country with a 50 kilometer diameter, 360 degree Free Fire Zone.