USS Haverfield (DE-393) - Vietnam Operations

Vietnam Operations

Haverfield returned to Pearl Harbor March 1965 and, after joining Escort Squadron 5, sailed 19 June for duty off South Vietnam. There she participated in Operation Market Time patrols to guard against infiltration of North Vietnamese troops and supplies by sea. She served "Market Time" for 7 months, then returned Pearl Harbor 2 February 1966. Departing for the Far East 23 May, she resumed "Market Time" operations 9 June. Eleven days later she participated in the most significant action of the operation up to that time.

A 100-foot (30 m), steel-hulled North Vietnamese trawler, attempting to infiltrate "Market Time" patrols with a large cargo of arms and ammunition for the Viet Cong, was detected by USCGC Point League (WPB-82304) near the mouth of the Cổ Chiên River in the Mekong Delta. A chase and fire fight followed, during which the Coast Guard cutter forced the enemy trawler aground. The enemy abandoned the burning ship; after wiping out enemy shore resistance, "Market Time" units, including Haverfield, sent volunteers on board to fight fires and salvage the captured cargo. While American and South Vietnamese teams extinguished the fires, other volunteers offloaded almost 80 tons of ammunition and arms, including mortars, recoilless rifles, machine guns, and antitank weapons. This represented the largest seizure of the "Market Time" operation and thwarted a determined attempt by the North Vietnamese to supply Viet Cong.

Haverfield continued "Market Time" patrols during the next 5 months. In addition she provided gunfire support 6 September against an enemy on Phu Quoc Island, South Vietnam. She returned to Pearl Harbor 6 December, remained there until late April 1967, and then resumed patrol duty off South Vietnam.