Division 11, based at An Thoi in the south, guarded the border between Cambodia and South Vietnam. Division 12, out of Da Nang in the north, patrolled the 17th parallel. Much of the action took place near the borders. The 82-footers’ main job was choking off the enemy’s seaborne supplies. Known as Squadron One, 26 of them saw action. The backbone of the Coast Guard fleet were the 82-foot patrol boats (WPB). Navy, Coast Guard and South Vietnamese naval units. Called Market Time after the native boats using the waterways for fishing and marketing, this task force provided a single command to integrate sea, air and land-based units, and coordinate U.S. To provide this coverage, the Coastal Surveillance Force was established in March 1965. This would be no easy chore with 1,200 miles of coastline to patrol and over 60,000 junks and sampans to control. Air strikes were called in and the vessel was sunk.Ī tight security and surveillance system was necessary.
Intelligence sources determined the ship was North Vietnamese and engaged in supplying enemy forces. Upon closer observation, he saw the island was a carefully camouflaged ship.
Army pilot flying over Vung Ro Bay near Qui Nhon noticed an “island” moving slowly from one side of the bay to the other. Forces allied with the Republic of South Vietnam could not stop the enemy’s flow of men, arms, and supplies. Yet, the Coast Guard’s involvement in the Vietnam War is still little known.Įarly in the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese obtained their supplies in many ways. Coast Guardsmen destroyed enemy supply ships, supported ground units, rescued American and other friendly forces, and performed many more duties, including carrying out humanitarian roles which are common to the Coast Guard. Some 8,000 Coast Guardsmen and 56 different combatant vessels were assigned there. The Coast Guard played a significant role in securing Vietnam’s 1,200-mile coastline. A sailor’s war, much of it fought from the decks of United States Coast Guard cutters.
Vietnam is usually remembered as a war fought in jungles and rice paddies.
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