Sailing in the Midget Fleet (cont'd)

ONLY TIME will tell, of course, but it may well be that, when the history of the small combat boats in Vietnam is written, the innovation of the PACV may prove as momentous to sea transportation as the advent of the jet has been to air travel.

Another new type of combat boat may join the PACVs in Vietnam by late next year. A water-jet powered hydrofoil gunboat capable of speeds in excess of 40 knots is now under development.

The use of hydrofoils as combat vessels is not a new one. Models have been built in the past. The current version has the advantage of a simple water-jet propulsion which eliminates the transmission lubrication problems inherent in propeller-driven craft.

The new model will use its water jets both when it is hull-borne and foil-borne. Gas-turbine and diesel engines will drive centrifugal pumps which in turn, will give the water, jets their thrust.

The boats will displace about 60 tons and be 71 feet long with a 25-foot beam. They will be armed with a 40mm gun forward and an 81mm mortar aft. Twin .50-caliber machine guns will be mounted on each side of the bridge.

AT EASE - PBRs lie along pier at Naval Support Activity Detachment at Nha Be.

ALTHOUGH Swifts and PBRs, as well as PACVs and other new combat boat ideas, have more or less monopolized the headlines coming from Vietnam, the old reliables are very much on the job, too. Often they are doing a type of work hitherto unfamiliar to them.

For example, many minesweepers of the U. S. Seventh Fleet are patrolling coastal waters off South Vietnam. Their job is essentially the same as other United States boats patrolling similar areas-preventing the Viet Cong from smuggling goods and arms by sea.

Both oceangoing and coastal minesweepers are used. The larger craft must use their motor whaleboats to inspect Vietnamese boats inasmuch as fragile junks could be smashed to kindling if bumped by a Navy MSO. The smaller minesweepers usually are able to go alongside without the possibility of catastrophe.

HUNTING GROUND - Photo of Mekong Delta points up patrolling difficulties.

The U. S. Coast Guard is also on the job with 26 of its 82-foot cutters which are now painted Navy gray (to reduce reflections at night) instead of Coast Guard white.

UNITED STATES Navymen are also found aboard Vietnamese naval vessels such as junks, STCAN, STCAN/FOMs and river assault group boats.

The sizes of these boats run from approximately 35 feet to 50 feet and armament is principally in the form of machine guns, bazookas and individual weapons for the crew.

United States Navymen are on board these boats in the capacity of advisors. In an assignment of this kind an ability to get along and to communicate, despite language difficulties, is a factor which has accounted for the success of the Vietnamese-U.S. Navy teams.

Last year, LT Meyerkord was leading a river sortie into insurgent territory when his boat was ambushed. Although he was wounded in the first fusillade, be returned VC fire at point-blank range until killed.

LT Meyerkord bad been directly involved in more than 30 combat operations. For his last and three earlier actions, he was awarded the Navy Cross - posthumously.

ADVISORS to the Vietnamese River Force eat, sleep and live Vietnamese-style while on patrol. Sometimes this calls for an ability to fold an American-sized frame into cramped spaces-even smaller than those on a pre-World II submarine. U. S. Navymen with a fondness for rice and seafood find plenty of these two commodities in their diet. This can be much more varied than it sounds.

American Navymen in Vietnam, whether serving in their own boats or as advisors aboard the vessels of the Vietnamese Navy, have a challenging assignment in helping this war-torn nation resist the Viet Cong.

Their work is now bearing fruit and the Viet Cong are feeling the pinch. "Charlie," as the unknown Viet Cong infiltrator has come to be called, still has the advantages that go with stealthy attack and rapid retreat. These advantages will, however, be of little use to him if he is denied the essentials he needs, most of which are now arriving in smaller and smaller quantities from the north -thanks in large part to aerial, coastal and river surveillance.

- Bob Neil

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