As the conflict escalated and command relationships evolved, the battalions themselves also underwent transition. With the projected assignment of a second CEC Flag Officer to Vietnam, the OICC shed his brigade responsibilities and the Regimental Commander in Da Nang, Captain A. R. Marschall, took command of the brigade as well, briefly during the summer of 1967. The Deep C industrial zone near the port has already attracted 80 companies. Another incident I remember was a morning that I also was again working the Danang, but it didn't look the same. Approximately 30 per cent of initial financial support was provided by the U. S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) for teams supporting the Special Forces. and as it tipped the barge while falling into the water, the remaining five As construction agent for the Department of Defense in Vietnam, the OICC was concerned with a large design effort, both in house and by contract, and he let numerous lump sum contracts to smaller construction contractors (largely Vietnamese or Korean) for the U. S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and State Department. utovarni otvor (okrugli prozor na boku broda, (kua, lidmanas) kreis puse, kreisais borts, Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary, the webmaster's page for free fun content, Projects are turning the tide on industrial decline; Towns and cities with a proud shipping and dockland heritage seize chance to be transformed, Deeply Embedded ARM Application Macrocells. The latter, with 46 officers and 1,049 men per battalion, provided more general engineering support of a deliberate nature for the landing force (division and wing). WebThe Delong pier was no longer located at Deep Water Pier in Danang upon my arrival in country and assignment to the 5th Transportation Command. His primary job was that of OICC, permanently based in Saigon, so the 30th NCR commander at Da Nang continued to exercise the greatest command influence over the Seabee battalions, all of which were in I Corps. Once again, generalizations as to differences are difficult to make. https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Deepwater+pier, [Middle English, from Old English, from Latin, The left-hand side of a ship or aircraft facing forward. All rights reserved. Port Size Medium. At the same time, after being under the investment management of Vietnam Maritime Corporation, Quy Nhon port is determined to become an international port in the South Central region, promoting opportunities for the development of Vietnam's maritime transport industry. Port Type Seaport. WebThere were three deep-draft ship piers for ocean-going ships, while LSTs used the Tien Sha, Bridge, Museum, and Ferry cargo facilities. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. fireball almost directly over the port. Da Nang was the keystone, the major, deep water port and the major air base. his first star after leaving RVN and was assigned to Germany. Port Type Seaport. Let us now take a look at the Navy's contributionmade up of disparate elements but brought together under the aegis of the Civil Engineer Corps. Ship's crewmen hook cable onto a flatbed. The entire video is 60 minutes long. [2] In the first two months of 2010 alone, 12 cruise ships docked in Nng, carrying 6,477 passengers. Each battalion had about 10,000 measurement tons of tools, equipment, and supplies valued at $4.4 million. the path of the F4 which was attempting to land at the airfield located across The Americans and free-world employees signed on for 18 months. Witness the failure to even plan for the Public Works Department at Da Nang which became the largest in the Navy within two years. Just as with many other facets of this complicated war, there was no sharp dividing line between work assigned to the contractor and that assigned to troops. When it became evident that a U. S. troop build-up was in the offing, BuDocks hastened to enlarge the contractors construction capability to include support of U. S. forces. The average annual cost to the sponsor was $88,000 per team for materials, transportation, and so on, plus $200,000 to the Navy for initial outfitting, training, and personnel costs. warehouse. Just then a Navy Lt. from Naval Sealift Command came running into my units outlined by President Nixon in 1972. I Corps, comprising all five northernmost provinces of Mouth Vietnam, from the DMZ southward over 200 miles, became the Marines' responsibility. I was told it was moved, but for the life of me I do not remember to where. The Navy, on the other hand, used Philco-Ford primarily to furnish Korean artisans who were integrated into a combined Seabee-civilian Public Works Department at Da Nang run by CEC officers. Chan May Port is a general port of our country located between the two urban centers of Hue - Da Nang. The decision to place large numbers of Marines ashore in Vietnam in 1965 signaled a change, not only in the number, size, and deployment of Seabee battalions, but in the Group VIII family, the Civil Engineer Corps, and their parent headquarters, the Bureau of Yards and Docks (now the Naval Facilities Engineering Command) in Washington. [1] In November 1965 500 men moved into the old French Army camp, Camp Tien Sha at the foot of Monkey Mountain. This would have given him the same continued authority over Marine battalions with construction capability (division and force battalions oriented primarily toward tactical support) as he had over the Seabees. In addition to setting construction standards which were binding on all Services, another major function of MACV-DC was to receive the requirements which the various services had heretofore placed on the OICC, sort out relative priorities among the services, and then assign construction responsibility to the OICC or troops. Suffice it to say that Pentagon rivalries, lack of understanding in some quarters as to the requirements and importance of the engineer effort, and reluctance to relinquish decision-making which was better made in the field (an attitude which also prevailed at Pearl Harbor initially) only served to complicate this overwhelming task. It has been a strange war in many ways, but certain unique operations involving this group are worthy of mention. Public Works Da Nang had not reached its required strength to support the Marines when it was directed by MACV to give repair and utilities support to all Army units in areas now served by public works, this service to commence 1 January 1968. Also significant were a few large U. S. contractors who did not belong to the RMK-BRJ combine. The crew viewed it as a bad omen and wanted nothing more to Even though there were few contingency plans upon which to build, the Naval Facilities Engineering Command was able to muster practically overnight a tremendous and unprecedented design and construction capability which was so essential to place and maintain combat troops ashore in Vietnam. Their effectiveness was due in part, of course, to the officers who led them. Experience ultimately showed that the life cycle of a piece of equipment committed to Vietnam averaged 45 months from the time it was received from the factory in a U. S. depot until it passed out of the system. So, NSA Da Nang came into being in mid-1965 as an activity desperately needed by the Marines, which they were not organized to provide for themselves and which no other service seemed ready to provide. Website www.danangportvn.com. First of these was the 30th Naval Construction Regiment, formed in Da Nang under Captain H. F. Liberty in early May 1965 to provide operational control over all Seabee battalions in Vietnam. How did the U. S. Navy get landlocked in such a place anyway? It must be emphasized that offloading at DaNang for the first year was all by lighterage as there were no deep draft piers. Danangs Museum of Cham Sculpture houses the worlds most extensive collection of ancient Cham relics. One of a series of 35mm colour transparencies relating to the service of R64620 Able Seaman Clearance Diver (ABCD) Anthony Leonard Ey, RAN, taken by him during his service in Vietnam with Clearance Diving Team 3 (8th Contingent). There were many highly placed recommendations to stop the interchange of battalions, but experience with the huge Seabee construction effort at Cubi Point a decade before indicated that productivity and morale were enhanced by keeping the battalions intact. In theory the CBMUs were a little better trained to defend themselves as units, but there the difference ended. returning home. I was supposed to fly In the spring of 1966 three new regiments were formed, one at each Construction Battalion Center. Programming construction requirements in Vietnam through a similar line item system proved cumbersome, time-consuming, and out of step with the tempo of events. A small amount of material found its way into Vietnam from other countries, but "gold flow" prohibitions by the U. S. precluded this source from becoming more than a trickle. As troop strength increased, another small port at the mouth of the Cua Viet, some four and one-half miles from the DMZ, was established in 1967 to provision the Marine combat base at Dong Ha and its satellites. Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) is the port's authority. Short EM3 Camp Tien Sha Fire Department Fax 84 511 822 565. Following the initial landings in 1965, the Seabee battalions spent about 18 months developing the enclaves at Da Nang and Chu Lai and later in Phu Bai. tanks also fell in. The 30th Naval Construction Regiment continued in Da Nang, and the new 32nd Naval Construction Regiment established headquarters to the north in Phu Bai-Gia Le. These components were invaluable in getting the Seabee construction effort underway even though some obsolescent equipment was in the system. This military training was to stand many of them in good stead, for every different type of organization to which they were assigned was exposed to enemy action sometime in Vietnam (by mid-1968 the Seabees wounded in action totaled more than those in World War II and the killed in action rate per total men deployed was four times that of World War II). to the Vietnamese on June 6,1972. small chest drawer. already be aware, Sealand vessels had top priority for berth space, so I was in Hurdles of a political and administrative nature in Washington, too complicated to relate here, were enormous. After Dien Bien Phu came an uneasy period of truce between North and South Vietnam punctuated by reports of terrorism and assassination and an unstable government in Saigon. Like the majority of regulars, they did not all have degrees in civil engineering; they entered the Corps with a wide variety of scientific, architectural, and engineering degrees as well. However, the Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Amphibious Force, Lieutenant General L. W. Walt, as the commander in I Corps, in consonance with ComNavForV, made the decision not to place the FEG under the Seabee commander, and the combined use of all engineer elements never did take place. Thanks for making it possible, Thanks so much VetFriends.com for your help and genuine concern for locating this long lost buddy of mine, Please Enter a Valid email address with no spaces, VetFriends Members: Unfortunately, from the Navys standpoint, few of them chose to stay in the Navy, electing to return to civilian life after 30 months or less in the service. The port handled 320,000 tons of cargo Along with NSA Da Nang, Public Works experienced phenomenal growth, and in less than two years became the largest public works organization the Navy had anywhere in the world. R. L. Ferriter and Lieu tenant C. V. M. Popowich arrived at Dam Pau in the central part of the country and Tri Ton in the southwest for the construction of civic action and tactical support projects. He said we were like brothers and then all of a sudden, we lost all contact. Throughput capacity is over 1 million tons per year. In late 1967 and early 1968, in I Corps particularly, there were a number of instances where RMK-BRJ men worked next to Seabees on similar jobs. WebWhite Elephant Da Nang . The former stated that the Marines did not have this support capability and suggested that naval assets outside of Pacific Fleet be tapped. Using excellent film footage shot in-country by navy cameramen, this video documents naval activities at and around the port of Da Nang during the Vietnam War. An offshoot of that office, the Resident Officer in Charge of Construction (ROICC) for Vietnam was established in Saigon in the spring of 1961. We were stationed in Germany in 1975 through 1978. RMK-BRJ took care of itself but did not appear to have the capability to overhaul Seabee equipment on top of its own work load, so pieces were sent for overhaul primarily to the U. S. but also to Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines, or Guam. Getting supplies over the beacheswith the Marines taking over from therewas to be the primary mission of NSA. Despite a long standing Pentagon policy which confined major military construction administration to the Army and Navy engineersand another policy which made the Navy the DOD construction agent in Vietnamthe Air Force managed to build under their own direction an Air Base at Tuy Hoa. prior to the mine sweeper making a pass thru the channel in order to off load Operations expanded in the latter half of 1967 when a considerable build-up of Marine and Army troops took place in I Corps to meet the threat around the DMZ. The former, consisting of 34 officers, 735 men (and a few naval medical personnel) per battalion, provided close combat support to the division. Included in the bulky items were some 250 pieces of tactical automotive and construction equipment such as bulldozers, tractors, and mobile cranes. The Navy cannot think only in terms of deep draft ships, the carriers and submarines, but also must deal with concepts such as support ashore for the Marines and riverine warfare. During the early allied buildup in South Vietnam the only primary deep water port to handle incoming cargo ships was the Saigon Port on the Saigon River in the Capital Military District of Gia Dinh Province in III Corps Tactical Zone. This process only took a very few Its first project was to administer an architectural and engineering contract for the layout of a runway at Bien Hoa. In late May 1963, NMCB-3 deployed from Guam and the next month NMCB-9 left Port Hueneme; both reported to Da Nang. Vietnam brought an additional 500 officers to active duty, making the total 2,200. gang plank came down the entire crew came charging off the ship with all of UN/LOCODE VNDAD. Such was the case immediately after the initial landings at Chu Lai where MCB-10 experienced extremely high deadline percentages (up to 45 per cent of the equipment inoperable). Seabee inspectors ranged from Phu Quoc Island in the south to Dong Ha and Lang Vei in the north, overseeing Vietnamese civilian construction contracts for MACV HSA Saigon was phased out in May 1966 and replaced by the Army's First Logistics Command. A 1941 graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, he served aboard the USS Nevada (BB-36) and USS Alabama (BB-60) during World War II. During peacetime deployments in the Pacific areas the battalions had feported directly to Commander Naval Construction Battalions, U. S. Pacific Fleet, (ComCBPac) in Hawaii, and he in turn, reported to Commander Service Force, U. S. Pacific Fleet (ComServPac), also located in Hawaii. The Public Works and CBMU Seabees reported to the Naval Support Activity Commanders at Da Nang and Saigon, and the Amphibious Construction Battalion Seabees were part of the Amphibious Force.) Starting in May 1963, and negotiated on a yearly basis, these contracts grew steadily, exceeding an annual cost of $100 million in less than five years. UN/LOCODE VNDAD. [3]:33, In mid-October 1968 the Deep Water Pier complex (160712N 1081250E / 16.12N 108.214E / 16.12; 108.214) on the Tien Sha peninsula was completed, beginning operations in September 1968. WebDa Nang, Vietnam Characteristics Design Suspension bridge Material Concrete Total length 1,850 metres (6,070 ft) Width 18 metres (59 ft) Height 80 metres (260 ft) Longest span 405 metres (1,329 ft) Piers in water 2 History Construction start 2003 Opened 19 The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. Thank you so much again for helping me Navy and Marine forces were deployed in country for months before adequate planning elements were developed. While P.A. China Beach has deep blue water and fine white sand, and is not damaged by pollution, which is known as the Gold Coast of Vietnam. Furthermore, battalion strengths differed. In August 1858, again ostensibly on grounds of alleged persecution of Catholic missionariesthis time by Emperor T cFrench troops led by Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly seized Nng Port as part of the punitive Cochinchina Campaign. Obsolescence of this kind was more of a nuisance than a major problem, however, and upgrading of equipment was a continuous process the longer a facility remained in existence. Even though the Army brought their own engineers with them to I Corps, during the build-up period about 25 per cent of the Seabee effort was devoted to support of the Army. These gradually moved away from the coastal plain to the highlands and evolved into sweep operations of battalion size. Yet another element of the Civil Engineer Corps was in Vietnam long before the 1965 buildup. Email:mike@lecvietnam.com To get young men into the Seabees simply to build up to the required numbers was not particularly difficult. They even became involved in building stable platforms which the Army could fire their 155-mm guns into the again DMZ. Both incidents resulted in thorough searches being conducted of the piers and nearby ships. While the DPPOs should be considered in a special category, there is some small evidence that the relatively high exposure rate to Vietnam duty experienced by the Seabees affected all reenlistment rates adversely. Like the war itself, Navy involvement was piecemeal and gradual, planned almost on the spur of the moment. The next significant change, the placing of all Seabee battalions under a Civil Engineer Corps Flag Officer in Vietnam, came with the formation of the 3rd Naval Construction Brigade under Rear Admiral R. R. Wooding, CEC, United States Navy, on June 1, 1966, at Saigon. Early in 1968, responsibility for all rural development and allied civic action type programs was vested in a newly created MACV/U.S. Almost half of them were assigned to such diverse activities as the State Department Naval Support Unit, the Antarctic Support Activity, Nuclear Power program, two Amphibious Construction Battalions (ACBs), and Public Works Departments scattered all over the world. ammunition ship being off loaded while at anchor. Thus, after two years of experimentation and growth, the Seabee Command in Vietnam had developed into a 9,000 man, 12 battalion force of two regiments under one brigade. Email: richardseth@lecvietnam.com WebNSA DaNang Deep Water Piers NSA DaNang Naval Operations Headquarters (known as the White Elephant) NSA DaNang Public Affairs NSA/NSF DaNang Public Works Department NSA DaNang Special Services (military recreation) NSA DaNang Hospital or NSA Station Hospital DaNang The policy was not hard and fast, for a man could volunteer for more Vietnam duty and many did. U.S. This has been a general comment, not only concerning Seabee duty, but also about all duty connected with the Vietnam efforts, and most career CEC officers have served in Vietnam. It is the third largest port system in Vietnam (after Saigon Port in H Ch Minh City and the port of Hi Phng). It might be noted that about four per cent of the Corps was composed of limited duty officers and another three per cent of warrant officers. The encounter between North Vietnamese and U. S. warships in August 1964, soon to be known as the Tonkin Gulf Incident, touched off a series of actions which culminated in the landing of U. S. Marines in Da Nang in March 1965. In an address to the Naval War College in February 1968, Rear Admiral A. C. Husband, CEC, U. S. Navy, Chief of Civil Engineers and Commander of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command from 1965 to 1969, touched on the following points which continue to be valid and which are paraphrased below: (1) Assuming we need ports, airfields, etc., in some future Vietnam, we cannot expect to produce them instantly. The Captain was last off and he told the NSC officer that he We frequently found in Vietnam that items were not in stock and long delays ensued in getting them. Later he earned bachelors and masters degrees in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and, as a Rhodes Scholar, a doctorate from Oxford University. [citation needed], Following the edict of Emperor Minh Mng in 1835 prohibiting European vessels from making landfall or pursuing trade except at Nng, its port quickly superseded Hi An as the largest commercial port in the central region. Release of the TSFCs could be authorized by Commander 3rd Naval Construction Brigade when the senior operational commander could certify that his need qualified under ten criteria, which boiled down to urgent, unforeseen, and needed for direct tactical support against the enemy. Vietnam 0 (+84) 989 383 767 Culture & Arts Ho Chi Minh City Hanoi Attractions Hoi An Halong Bay Sapa Hue Da Nang Nha Trang Phu Quoc Island Mekong Delta More Home Cruises Special Tours Honeymoon Tours Helicopter Tours Shore Excursions Veteran A place on a waterway with facilities for loading and unloading ships. Champion shooting at kids stealing supplies from convoy - NSAD Sa Huynh . On the other hand, CBMU-301 at times provided a number of supervisors and skilled hands for some of the main public works shops in Da Nang. Museum of Cham Sculpture. This peak number was short-lived, however, for it looked as though military construction troops would take over and finish the job. [4], Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, French and Spanish traders and missionaries regularly made landfall at Hi An, just south of Nng. received a call from the Navy Pacific Command, to enter our harbor at daybreak PO3 Berglund w/ beetle found in hooch - NSAD Sa Huynh . De Faria was one of the first Westerners to write about the area, and through his influence Portuguese ships began to call regularly at Hi An, which was then a far more important port than Nng. American advisors penetrated the jungles, American warships cruised the Tonkin Gulf, and then it was March 1965 and American Marines landed at Da Nang. Similarly, though the battalions were led and predominantly staffed by Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers (17 of the 24), also included were officers of the Line and Supply (two each), and one each from the Medical, Dental, and Chaplain CorpsSeabees all. close to the deep draft facilities. Despite the size of RMK-BRJ and the Naval Mobile Construction Battalions, there was need for more construction capability than they could provide. While a vigorous recruiting plan was instituted, the initial buildup of the battalions was accomplished by transferring Seabees out of shore stations all over the worldsome to the battalions and some directly to Vietnam. A flatbed trailer being unloaded from the ship. Press BACK to return to this page). Further escalation of combat operations was, of course, generated in January 1968 when the Tet offensive was touched off by the Communists. WebDescription Elevated view of the deep water piers of Danang as seen from the Monkey Mountains. [7] As such, Westmoreland recommended the U.S. prioritise developing Cam Ranh Bay instead. and Sao Mai-Ben Dinh serving the petrochemical industry and passenger transport. Of course, Vietnam was not entirely new to Navy men. were removed and fresh water tank trucks came to the port every two hours to I remained incountry through another typhoon, which let many ammo barges Da Nang Port: more tourists, more worries, "Seabourn Odyssey Cruise Ship brings 352 visitors to Nng", The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, "Da Nang Port facilities: Yards and Warehouses", "In Vietnam cruise ships dock at cargo ports", "Da Nang Port facilities: Navigation Channel", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Da_Nang_Port&oldid=1131352128, Articles containing Vietnamese-language text, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2013, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 3 January 2023, at 19:40. There was also a large Fax 84 511 822 565. Veteran C. Young, After 30 years and learning the computer and finding VetFriends, I went to my first reunion of the USS Navasota AO-106. At the same time, Vung Tau port is one of two international gateways in Vietnam. He therefore urged the inclusion of a Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit (none in commission at the time) and early action to determine the scope of public works functions at NSA. The first two teams the country in 1963 were in this category. Thank you so much again for helping me The terminal has five berths, located along the shore; berth No. It was responsible for administering contract construction, including design, in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. At the same time, the largest vessel can receive 40,000 DWT at Lan Ha transshipment area and the lowest with 700 DWT at Bach Dang buoy. But this was not the OICCs sole job. Though the two modes of construction were difficult to compare, the best evidence seemed to indicate that from the governments standpoint the ultimate costs were about the same. This brought an exchange of personal notes in late May and early June between the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. The sites involved were Pleiku, Bien Hoa, Tan Son Nhut (Saigon), and Da Nang. Some became skilled, even by our standards, as a result of working with RMK, Public Works or Seabee Teams. Thanks to world-class customer service and a growing community of cargo agents, SeaRates.com is the easiest way for people to ship their goods overseas, or to offer free space in the container, truck or vessel to millions of consignors. reluctantly told me that the Korean stevedores were in a hurry to remove six The June 1968 report showed that two-thirds of the battalions man-day effort now went into tactical support, just double that of the previous year; and by January 1969 the proportion had grown to three-fourths. Here it should be noted that the Seabee battalions rotated as complete units. Now that the Marines were ashoreapparently for a protracted periodthey would need support of engineers. Among the career Seabeessecond reenlistments and beyondthere was also a gradual dropping off, the reenlistment rates from FY66 through FY69 being 91 per cent, 86 per cent, 80 per cent, and 76 per cent. A steady shift to tactical support construction was also in evidence. For example, roving one and two man Seabee automotive and generator repair teams rendered service to Special Forces, MACV Advisors, and U. S. Government civilian agencies located in remote provinces. U.S. the radio to inform me that an LST which had been at anchor, was attempting to Provided by Shannon Nichols. [8] After SeaLand began operating container ship services to Vietnam in October 1966, three of its vessels covered routes between the West Coast of the United States and Da Nang. Monitoring the RMK-BRJ contract was a major part of the OICCs responsibilities. While the Seabees also encompassed a wide spectrum of skills and competence within those skills, they had few, if any, who were capable only of common labor.