9. 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. Monitoring the RMK-BRJ contract was a major part of the OICCs responsibilities. Many of the crews were a mixture of all three nationalities, the aim being ultimately to train the Vietnamese to take over from the more skilled Koreans and Seabees. He has held design, construction, public works, research, and educational postsincluding a tour as Commanding Officer and Director of the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory. Another contract of importance, valued at $10 million, was negotiated by the Army in June 1966 with the Vinnell Corporation for the construction of power plants and utility lines at various sites. 50th Infantry Hurdles of a political and administrative nature in Washington, too complicated to relate here, were enormous. with a tonnage of 30,000 DWT and 50,000 DWT. More Photos from Shannon Nichols (Click on thumbnail to enlarge. Did you proudly serve in DANANG VIET NAM, DEEP WATER PIERS? The French overpowered the Vietnamese stationed in Nng, swiftly occupying the city and Tin Sa Peninsula (now called Sn Tr Peninsula). This was contrary to the general policy among the armed forces in Vietnam wherein individuals and not units were rotated. It must be emphasized that offloading at DaNang for the first year was all by lighterage as there were no deep draft piers. 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. Besides the ability to receive container ships with a tonnage of 50,000 DWT, Chan May port is also selected by the Asian Yacht Association to build a stop for yachts in Southeast Asia with the ability to welcome cruise ships. The base appears to remain in use by the PAVN. A few months later when it came time for the chief staff officer, Colonel W. R. Gould, to be relieved, he was replaced by a CEC officer. The port area has 21 wharves with a total length of 3,567m with a design depth from -7.5m to -9.4m. who became our Harbormaster. [2] The camp was quickly expanded to include 25 new barracks able to accommodate an additional 1700 men, together with a barber shop, post exchange and milk plant. the bay from Deep Water Pier. In August of 1967 public works support of the I Corps MACV Advisors (mostly U. S. Army with all other services represented, including Australian Army) was started This not only called for roving teams of automotive and generator mechanics, but also brought permanently assigned Seabees from Public Works to all of the major advisor compounds in I CorpsQuang Tri, Hue, Hoi An, Tam Ky, and Quang Ngai. Underwater divers were brought in the next day to begin They, and the Army and the Air Force units soon to follow, would need ports and roads and airfields to get a foothold in this undeveloped land. To get young men into the Seabees simply to build up to the required numbers was not particularly difficult. This international mixed military and civilian force, organized along Public Works Center lines, had grown with roughly equal proportions of Seabees, Vietnamese, and Koreans. 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 Well as you may It might be noted that the OICC office had some capability for doing its own design in house with a small number of U. S. civil servants and third country nationals, but the bulk of its design work was carried out by architectural and engineering firms located in Southeast Asia. At the same time, Vung Tau port is one of two international gateways in Vietnam. We frequently found in Vietnam that items were not in stock and long delays ensued in getting them. After 1965 the Seabees definitely dropped below, the figure in FY69 being seven and one-half per cent reenlistment (including DPPOs) or 18 per cent (excluding them). Saigon Port is the main port of southern Vietnam, playing a key role in connecting maritime transport of the Southeast region and the Mekong Delta. This is not to say that the omission was not of concern in some quarters. U.S. Navy ship Comet docked at a deep water pier. The movement of retrograde equipment and unit stand down equipment was a U. S. combat troops, not "Advisors, were now committed to the land war in Asia which so many had hoped to avoid. While they were primarily builders, these Seabees were in some instances directly involved in battle. If we wanted to know why, we were to go By early 1969 nearly half of all the military construction in Vietnam had been undertaken by some force other than RMK-BRJ. Though conceived primarily as a base maintenance and operations organization (including trucking operations incident to moving cargo from the Da Nang piers to supply depots), Public Works also found itself in the business of constructing cantonments, dams, utility lines, and, above all, reconstructing battle damage to every type of facility. from Portugal. Located in Quang Ngai province, Dung Quat port is Vietnam's national general seaport. The primary mission of NSF was to train the Vietnamese Navy to take over after U.S. Included in the bulky items were some 250 pieces of tactical automotive and construction equipment such as bulldozers, tractors, and mobile cranes. This is actually the first time I have discussed this information since During this time it was possible for them to serve two eight-month deployments with a battalion, or a split tour with some time in a battalion or shore- based outfit and the rest with a public works or CBMU assignment of a year in Vietnam. [12] In the first two months of 2010, 12 cruise ships were reported to have docked at Nng Port, carrying 6,477 tourists, mainly from Europe, the U.S., Canada and Australia. the seam an sunk it. Thus, for a variety of reasons, public works was also, in part, a construction force. Members of the U. S. Military Assistance Group (MAAG), predominantly Army, came into the country along with civilian organizations and soon found themselves in need of more extensive logistic support than they could provide for themselves. I was listed as the Cargo Operations Officer, These two groups were officers who had come up through the enlisted ranks and were top managers in their trades. As the conflict escalated and command relationships evolved, the battalions themselves also underwent transition. Thank you so much again for helping me . He was the first Seabee to win the Nations highest award and the first Navy man to be so decorated for action in Vietnam. 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. Its first project was to administer an architectural and engineering contract for the layout of a runway at Bien Hoa. Seabees returned again in 1956 when a group of five officers and six men from NMCB-10, led by Commander W. M. Brown, surveyed some 105 tortuous miles of jungle, the toughest link in a master survey involving 1,800 miles of existing and proposed roads in South Vietnam. Just then a Navy Lt. from Naval Sealift Command came running into my Small arms fire and concussion grenades were utilized by pier sentries and VNN Harbor Defense personnel, and the sentries reported two swimmers killed. Furthermore, battalion strengths differed. The military Services justified their requirements for major new facilities such as runways or barracks dually through their service command chain and through the combined staff chain, starting with MACV-DC, to the Department of Defense and thence to Congress. Phone 84 511 821 114. According to the plan of the Ministry of Transport, Quan Ninh port holds the second position in the important group of seaports in Northern Vietnam, after Hai Phong is the central position. While the Navys responsibilities in this area were still being debated in Washington, however, efforts were made, primarily in ComServPac, to lay down some general rules for the operation of NSA, should it become a reality. days, but I remember That as we loaded the tanks they were already turning We should, therefore, maintain the Seabees at sufficient peacetime strength to meet the construction requirements of approved contingency plans. For all practical purposes, it was now Public Works I Corps. The international calendar is 362m long and has a total capacity of 225,282 GRT. Fortunately, enemy harassment was minimal in this early period, but temperatures reaching 120F. In general it may be stated that the contractor took the larger, more complicated jobs in relatively secure areas while the troops concentrated on lighter jobs in the more forward areas. Parenthetically, as a matter of comparison, it might be noted that the Army Engineers, who at their peak had 27 battalions in country, had two kinds of battalions combat and construction. At any given time, normally two of the seventeen CEC officers assigned to a construction battalion would be limited duty or warrant officers. Further escalation of combat operations was, of course, generated in January 1968 when the Tet offensive was touched off by the Communists. Use our real-time freight calculator to compare rates, See your cargo location on the map in real-time, Find sailing schedules by route or vessel with multiple shipping lines, A tool for carriers to provide accurate tracking, Visual module with map, showing sea and land routings, Port Authority Vietnam National Shipping Lines, Coordinates 16 7' 34'' N, 108 14' 19'' E, Oil Terminal 21 - 25 feet 6.4 - 7.6 meters. He said we were like brothers and then all of a sudden, we lost all contact. Like the Army, the Marines had two types of engineering units in the fieldthe Division Engineer Battalions (1st and 3rd) and Force Engineer Battalions (7th, 9th, and 11th), all of whom operated, of course, in I Corps. Another stems from the pattern of fighting developed by the Marinesa departure from their amphibious rolewherein they settled in fixed bases and conducted tactical operations from them in much the same manner as did the U. S. Army and ARVN. WebShanshui Beach is China Beach, located 30 kilometers north of Haiyun Ridge. Stocked at the Construction Battalion Centers at Port Hueneme and Davisville were repair parts for 1,800 construction hours (two 10-hour shifts for 90 days) for each piece of equipment. There was also a large Its head, also a CEC Captain, now carried the title of Deputy, though the Saigon office became increasingly independent of the main office in Bangkok. They were all assigned to I Corps distributed in mid-1968 as follows: Five battalions in Da Nang, two in Chu Lai, two in Phu Bai, one in Camp Evans north of Hue, one in Quang Tri, and one in Dong Ha. I'm the first to ever contact him. 4 is 90m (300ft) long, and berth No. orange. As more units moved into Vietnam, it became impractical for the OICC to preside over every bit of construction, even that accomplished by contract. Create stunning websites with this awesome clean and modern template, ts and innovative designs concepts. Also on Okinawa, but deeply engaged in major construction primarily for the Marines, was a third battalion. A particular bridge near the Hai Van Pass was destroyed six times. The teams were designed to be small, mobile, and cross-skilled. Navy and Marine forces were deployed in country for months before adequate planning elements were developed. Fortunately he had also become a member and responded to my email. office and asked me to please let the LST have the berth. In time, procedures were developed which brought the deadline figure under five percent for all battalions then in country. With facilities including advanced network system, modern equipment technology, 200 CCTV and information and personnel management system, Hai Phong port is always a convenient location, ensuring safety and suitable for transport purposes international commercial transactions. 3 For further discussion on this point, please turn to Commander F. O. McClendon's essay "Doctors and Dentists, Nurses and Corpsmen in Vietnam" in this edition and Captain K. P. Huff, USNR, "Building the Advance Base at Da Nang" in Naval Review 1968, pp. the second floor which showed the Delong Pier located directly in front of the 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. going to assign a tug boat to pull him off of the berth. The old NAD PTF base at DaNang. These teams have earned praise from high officials of every country involved, even though the program as a whole is still relatively young. The idea of one-service support in an area was pushed by top command and began to make some headway. Their placing of two eight-section causeway piers from the open sea was described by Major General Collins, Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Division, as ". The war that seemed to many to have just happened, turned out to be several wars in one; it was, among other things, a guerrilla war, an air war, a political war, and an engineering war. When it comes to specific action contributions, the Seabees are second to none.. HD Stock Video Footage - Flatbed trailers are unloaded Hotline: (+62) 21- 30053614 & (+62) 815 9212190 The old base at Gulfport, Mississippi, was raised from a totally industrial facility to become the third home port for the Seabees, along with Port Hueneme and Davisville. with which to work and it caused many problems for us during the stand down of Located close to international routes with the shortest distance across the Pacific compared to Hong Kong and Singapore, Van Phong port has the potential to become an international transshipment port in Vietnam. The Deep C industrial zone near the port has already attracted 80 companies. "Expanded" meant, at first, giving design, real estate, some transportation, minor construction and alteration, and maintenance and utility support to Marine facilities in the "secure" areas in Da Nang, Chu Lai, and Hue-Phu Bai. Terminal Yes Vietnam National Shipping Lines (Vinalines) is the port's authority. Port Size Medium. We were stationed in Germany in 1975 through 1978. Apparently roles and missions of the various forces had not been clarified to cover this contingency. waves of the tug boat caused the barge to rock and one tanks block broke loose Da Nang port has three berth areas: Tien Sa - Son Tra, Lien Chieu and Tho Quang, of which, Tien Sa - Son Tra port is the main berth with a total yard area of 178.603m2 and 14.285m2 for the total area. According to the plan of the Ministry of Transport, Quan Ninh port holds the second position in the important group of seaports in Northern Vietnam, after Hai Phong is the central position. In pre-Vietnam days some of the Seabees considered this something of an extra drill which interfered with their prime interest in construction work. In a meeting with 18 presidents of the AFL-CIO Building Trades, Navy officials made known their needs, and this word went out immediately to all the locals in the United States. While a number of the old stand-bys of World War II, the metal quonset huts in stock, were used, particularly during the early phase of the buildup, the majority of the structures erected were of wood. Sign up to receive our newsletter regarding Veterans, Reunions, Military, Veteran Benefits, Military Pictures, Jokes, Military History, Prosecution of the war itself seemed to be marked by more political considerations than we had experienced in the past. Flatbed trailers are unloaded from U.S. Navy ship Comet at a deep water pier in Da Nang, Vietnam during the Vietnam War. 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. Da Nang Vietnam 1972 stock footage and images Coincidentally, in January 1962 the Saigon ROICC office was expanded to eight officers and 72 civilians and upgraded under a more senior officer. The War - The Boy in the Apple Orchard In these areas the Army had this responsibility for the U. S. Armed Forces, relying heavily on its contractor, P.A. With the rapid buildup, there were not enough experienced petty officers on active duty to go around and the voluntary recall of reservists yielded little more. The above are just some of the highlights; there have been, obviously, many other lessons to be learned from our involvement in Vietnam. NMCB-6, the last peacetime battalion to deploy to the war zone, arrived in May 1966. Maintenance of the air strips at Dong Ha, Khe Sanh, and An Hoa was stated as the proximate cause for bringing in the first Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit, CBMU 301, some 300 strong (later more than 500), to Vietnam in May and June 1967. The first year total cost of a battalion was estimated to be $13,476,000 (including $3,184,000 for operating costs). 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. 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. The port controlled 900,000 square feet of supply depot space, 2.7 million square feet of open-air storage space, and 500,000 cubic feet of refrigerated storage space. The sites involved were Pleiku, Bien Hoa, Tan Son Nhut (Saigon), and Da Nang. wash down the tanks and a ship was brought in especially to take them back to down there to become the operations officer, but at the last minute, actually By far the greatest construction effort outside of the RMK-BRJ joint venture came from the U. S. construction troops. This process only took a very few protection. (either M48 or M60) tanks during their shift (Korean stevedores were paid by the Note new pier and old building. The degree to which we can improve on the men is another matter. Getting supplies over the beacheswith the Marines taking over from therewas to be the primary mission of NSA. The port handled 320,000 tons of cargo All U.S. personnel began carrying weapons, especially at night. United States combat troops were now committed to the mainland of Asia. The Support Activity's Public Works Department, during Captain S. C. Gill's tenure as PWO, ultimately numbered well over 2,000 people, of whom nearly 200 were Seabees. Operating for the most part in the central and southern areas of the Republic of Vietnam (II, III, and IV Corps areas), the Army engineer battalions carried the largest load of the services. 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. Building airfields, ports, roads, cities, and almost every kind of facility imaginable, they had by early 1969 placed nearly $1.5 billion worth of new construction. while I was waiting with all my baggage at the helipad Col. Merbott's driver pop. In late May 1963, NMCB-3 deployed from Guam and the next month NMCB-9 left Port Hueneme; both reported to Da Nang. This was a reactivation of the last Seabee Regiment to be decommissioned when the large Seabee construction effort at Cubi Point, Philippines, came to a close some ten years before.