Navy Boats
It was the French STCAN which, in 1965 inspired the construction of the only US Navy riverine boat which was specifically built for the Vietnam War; the ASPB Assault Support Patrol Boat. Unlike the US Navy 50-foot (15 m) PCF Patrol Craft Fast (aluminum, also known as "swift boats") and 31-foot (9.4 m) PBR Patrol Boat River (fiberglass, nicknamed "plastics" or "Pibber"), the Assault Support Patrol Boat was designed and built specifically for Vietnam. They were already baptised in blood on September 30, 1967, despite having arrived in Vietnam only 10 days earlier, on September 20, 1967.
The ASPB, better known as the "Alpha" boat, was approximately 50 feet (15 m) long, its hull was constructed of 7/32 inch steel, from the gunwale 2" up it was 1/8 inch steel, its superstructure was 1/4 inch aluminum. It was armed with two Mk 48 turrets with either 20 mm or .50 cal machine guns, two single 7.62 mm machine guns, one 81 mm mortar, a dragging chain for mine sweeping the river, and had a complement of five crewmen. The boat itself, was built especially strong to resist the explosion of mines; consequently, the "Alpha" boat is mainly remembered for its riverine mine-sweeping duties.
Read more about this topic: Mobile Riverine Force
Famous quotes containing the words navy and/or boats:
“The Navy is the asylum for the perverse, the home of the unfortunate. Here the sons of adversity meet the children of calamity, and here the children of calamity meet the offspring of sin.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“The frowsy sponge boats keep coming in
with the obliging air of retrievers,”
—Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979)