By DAVID F. WINKLER
During Operation Iraqi Freedom, the U.S. Coast Guard has been an important contributor to coalition operations. Once the fighting commenced, the Coast Guard quickly secured Iraqi waterways, seizing mine-laying vessels and stashes of arms. And by deploying Port Security Units, conducting hydrographic surveys and repairing navigational aids, the Coast Guard ensured materials needed to sustain offensive operations arrived safely.
That the Coast Guard could perform so effectively half a world away should be no surprise given the reputation the service earned for itself during the war in Vietnam. Early in 1965, as American forces began arriving in significant numbers, U.S. commanders realized that many Viet Cong units were being supplied with arms shipped from the north on junks and sampans. Thus Navy commanders planned for operations to cover the 1,200 miles of coastline and continually survey and inspect the more than 60,000 native small craft that traversed those waters.
Given the scope of task and the need for shallow-draft vessels, the Navy sought help from the Coast Guard, which initially agreed to make available a total of 17 82- and 40-foot patrol boats.
On May 27, 1965, Coast Guard Squadron One was commissioned. The squadron was split into two divisions, 11 and 12, which deployed, respectively, to Da Nang along the northern coast of South Vietnam and the Gulf of Thailand over in the southern end of the country.
Once in-country, the patrol boats began their search duties, teaming with a Navy destroyer or minesweeper further offshore that provided longer-range radar coverage of the patrol area. One quick lesson learned was that the Coast Guard’s white paint scheme made the cutters easy to spot at night. On Sept. 21, orders arrived from Commander Task Force 115 to paint the white hulls gray.
During their first month plying Vietnamese coastal waters, men from Division 11 cutters boarded more than 1,100 junks and sampans. Often they encountered armed resistance. On May 10, 1966, Point Grey chased a suspicious trawler, which ran aground. When Point Grey personnel attempted to board the craft, automatic weapons fire from ashore wounded three and calls for backup brought Point Cypress and U.S. Navy units into the fray. During the battle, the trawler exploded, offering evidence it was smuggling arms.
By this time, a Division 13 had been formed with nine additional 82-footers that were sent from the United States to patrol the southeast Vietnam coastline. The Coast Guard provided shipping advisors to the Navy’s Military Sea Transportation Service (forerunner of Military Sealift Command) and Explosive Loading Detachments took steps to enforce safety procedures with the handling of tons of ammunition that was shipped in.
The Coast Guard also deployed buoy tenders to repair and set aids to navigation, worked closely with the Vietnamese lighthouse service, and set up and operated a LORAN C electronic navigation system that assisted Air Force warplanes to find their targets.
As the American buildup in Vietnam continued, so did the Coast Guard presence. In 1967, the Navy requested the Coast Guard to provide five high-endurance cutters. Together, these vessels comprised Coast Guard Squadron Three.
With their relatively shallow drafts, the vessels were well suited for the Gulf of Thailand. Armed with 5-inch .38-caliber guns and an array of smaller-caliber weapons, the cutters could conduct Naval Gunfire Support or assist in amphibious operations. In one case, the Owasco illuminated an Army base, enabling the battleship New Jersey to effectively fire rounds to repel an enemy attack.
After 1969, President Richard Nixon sought to turn over the fighting to the South Vietnamese. During the next two years, most of the afloat assets the Coast Guard had sent to Vietnam, including several World War II vintage high-endurance cutters, were transferred to the Vietnamese Navy.
Overhead, many Coast Guard pilots flew “Jolly Green Giant” helicopters with the Air Force’s 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. One of the seven Coast Guardsmen who lost his life during the war was Lt. Jack Rittichier, whose helicopter was shot down over enemy territory while he attempted to recover a downed aviator.
Some 8,000 Coast Guardsmen served in Vietnam. Today, another generation is upholding and building on a reputation established some four decades ago.
Source: Retired Coast Guard Cmdr. Eugene N. Tulich, “The United States Coast Guard in South East Asia During the Vietnam Conflict.” See www.uscg.mil/history/h_tulichvietnam.html
Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian with the Naval Historical Foundation.
