War in the Shallows: U.S. Navy Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam

More than 174,000 sailors served in South Vietnam between 1960 and 1972.1 At the height of the U.S. Navy’s involvement in South Vietnam, the Navy’s coastal and riverine forces included more than 30,000 sailors and over 350 patrol vessels ranging in size from riverboats to destroyers.2 Naval Forces Vietnam, the Navy’s major South Vietnam command, also operated minesweepers, floating barracks and maintenance ships, a fleet of maritime patrol aircraft, and helicopter gunships. Shore facilities included one of the largest and finest ports in the world, Cam Ranh Bay, as well as many smaller bases spread out along the 1,200-mile coastline of South Vietnam and its major rivers.Besides being large and resources-intensive, the Navy’s war in South Vietnam was a stark departure from the oceanic or “blue water” operations that characterized much of the U.S. Navy’s 20th–century history. The capital ships of the “brown water” (riverine) and “green water” (coastal) navy were not battleships, ballistic missile submarines, or aircraft carriers but small boats, many of which were converted World War II–era landing craft or modified commercial craft. Vietnam was a decidedly low-tech, manpower intensive operation—an anathema to a navy focused on fleet operations and cutting edge technology. The story of how the U.S. Navy shifted gears during the Vietnam War, constructed three inshore task forces from scratch, and adapted to a form of warfare not experienced since the Civil War is the subject of this work