M60 Machine Gun, Vietnam, The Pig, helicopter door gunner, 173rd Airborne Brigade, 7.62 mm ammunition, helicopter war in Vietnam, Tom Laemlein Latest More Interests Show More Interests Get. * uncertain if Bunker Hill was in Vietnam service. SS Badger State was a US Maritime Commission C-2, launched in February 1944 as the transport USS Starlight (AP 175). Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Mount_Katmai&oldid=1150353997, This page was last edited on 17 April 2023, at 17:48. All explosives are grouped into hazard classification group 1 and are identified as "class 1" materials. Their names belong by cross-leveling amongst three vice two ammo container ships. cost of $570 million. Headquarters Support Activity Saigon never knew from day to day how many berths or which berths would be made available to them for the unloading of U.S. cargo. identification in event of enemy capture. Stores ships provided food and other resources to strengthen Sailors bodies and morale. The location and situation at Diego Garcia affords the opportunity to exceed normal port anchorage restrictions. The blast was so intense that other ships in the harbor lost most of their crews and freight cars were blown two miles inland. suffered heavy casualties during the attempted rescue of the 39 seamen The holds were packed with high explosive and incendiary bombs, depth charges, and ammunition - 4,606 tons of ammunition in all. By December 31, 1970, the number of time charter ships had been further reduced to 63. This accounted for most of the casualties. ins.style.minWidth = container.attributes.ezaw.value + 'px'; The explosion also killed the entire 57-member Army stevedore unit working on the ship. The cataclysmic ammunition explosion killed 163 and injured 396. and tankers supplying Vietnam, with an average of 75 ships and over 3,000 ships out of the National Defense Reserve Fleet (mothball fleet), The ship was utterly destroyed by the accident, which killed all those on board her. On 27 March, a fleet of 10 cargo/transport ships, 5 tugs, and 6 barges began rescuing an increasingly desperate horde of soldiers and civilians from Danang and other ports to the south. In order to position these ships at the desired locations with the ARFs, the N.E.W. South Vietnam's small aids-to navigation force with its one buoy tender could not meet the demand. Most of the dead were children. The realization came in 2011 almost 40 years after his one-year tour aboard the ammunition ship Butte when Smith was diagnosed with prostate cancer and started doing some research. aboard all prepo ammo container ships. Once more homeward bound, Mount Katmai was underway from Subic Bay on 12 January 1967, arriving San Francisco on 7 February. var alS = 2021 % 1000; After a three-month overhaul period and type training, she left San Francisco on 31 August and arrived back at Subic Bay on 24 September. Ammunition ships provided much-needed ordnance to ships on the gun line and the carriers on Yankee and Dixie Stations. Most of this ammunition was shipped to Southeast Asia. This created a dangerous situation that needed to be rectified. This list may not reflect recent changes . The following 124 pages are in this category, out of 124 total. The only thing that prevented a larger loss of life was that the accident site was isolated from the large population centers of San Francisco and Oakland. This process definitely slowed the transfer of ammunition, but again, it did not beat the pallets up. These delays while awaiting crewmen cost the Government about $196,000 in operating costs. The using commands submit requisitions for ammunition to their respective inventory control points, which, in turn, notify MTMTS of the need for shipping space. The MSC ships, the Seventh Fleet contingent, and a flotilla of 26 Vietnam Navy ships embarking 30,000 Vietnamese sailors and their families then set sail for the Philippines. The Mont Blanc virtually disappeared, and the shock waves threw the Imo ashore. The T-AKE class is projected to operate at a yearly savings of $153.3M and a 53% reduction in manning requirements. Many types of vessels sailed in the MSTS fleet, including aircraft ferries, a helicopter repair ship, standard cargo hulls, ships that carried cargo stowed in easily handled containers, roll-on/roll-off ships that could swiftly load and unload vehicles, tankers able to hold between 30,000 and 190,000 barrels of fuel, troop transports, tank landing ships, tugs, and barges. The USS BUTTE (AE-27), a Kilauea-class ammunition ship, was commissioned on 14 DEC 1968. Yu Chu: 09051524: 108k: The reduction in N.E.W. var ffid = 1; 'Spooky' Gunship Operations in the Vietnam War With their flares and their miniguns and cannon, fixed-wing gunships not only illuminated the battlefield, they dominated it as well by Lawrence M. Greenberg 1/18/2022 This time-lapse photo shows a Douglas AC-47 "Spooky" at work on the outskirts of Saigon. In 1965, US Coast Guard Naval Warfare. USS BUTTE, named for Butte, Montana, was built at the General Dynamics ship yard in Quincy, Massachusetts. Visual and physical checks of slings and cables are paramount before starting to sling ammunition across the cable. The rapid development of deepwater ports in Vietnam brought an expanded need of navigational aids for preventing vessel accidents. Cargo not consigned to US Forces remained on the piers for weeks and sometimes months, creating undesirable and crowded working conditions which adversely affected port operations. based upon the primary hazard inherent to each type of explosive. Holding the ships for lengthy periods resulted in demurrage charges of from $3,000 to $7,000 per day per ship. Destroyer Warship / Radar Picket Ship. On additional information about action and casualties in Vietnam. From the shore it was moved by truck. A collision was now inevitable. role during the action. ins.style.width = '100%'; While var slotId = 'div-gpt-ad-globalsecurity_org-medrectangle-3-0'; Most of the buildings were virtually knocked to the ground. The site is now Liberty State Park, where tourist boats depart to visit the Statue of Liberty. The biggest and most obvious down side to Vert Rep'ing ammo is the damage incurred when dropped on the deck of the receiving ship. "The The pig is heavy and the gun team members would often take turns car Continue Reading 674 12 62 Maritime attempted to alleviate the crew shortage problem although the responsibility for providing the necessary crews is that of the general agents. Within a few days, she was underway for rearming operations in the South China Sea, servicing the carrier strike groups and combatant ships off Vietnam. aboard these ships is in excess of 13 million pounds. Philadelphia, and New York. The Mont Blanc's captain attempted to minimize the potential of his cargo exploding by maneuvering his ship so that the forward hold, containing no TNT, would be struck. This list may not reflect recent changes. window.ezoSTPixelAdd(slotId, 'adsensetype', 1); The problem was further aggravated by a shortage of shallow draft vessels both military (LCMs and LCUs) and civilian assets, which were used for offloading cargo from deep draft vessels at ports not having adequate berthing facilities for the larger ships. }, Page last modified: Bryan detonated in one massive explosion. In July 1965, Maritime, at the request of the Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), began to withdraw vessels from NDRF and activate them for use only in support of military activities in Southeast Asia. US Army cargo was unloaded by Vietnamese civilian stevedores at berths assigned by the civilian port authority. This category has the following 7 subcategories, out of 7 total. If the body of water in which the cross deck is going to take place is not agreeable, i.e. Until early 1970 Victory-class ships under General Agency Agreements were the principal class of ships used to transport ammunition to Southeast Asia. A peak in the State of Washington. Two attacks, carried out by Junkers Ju. We carried a total of 1,200 rounds per gun team. Launched, 3 May 1956 Commissioned, USS Mauna Kea (AE-22), 30 March 1957, CAPT. With dozens of ships off Vietnam at any time, U.S. naval forces needed a constant flow of supplies. 685 - Original Vietnam era M1956 Small Arms Ammo Case, Magazine Pouch - canvas. She continued to provide ammunition to U.S. and Allied combatants off the coast of Vietnam into 1973. var pid = 'ca-pub-1080079977389268'; As a result, cargo ships of the Military Sealift Command (MSC), costing thousands of dollars a day, were forced to sit idle waiting to be worked. Besides ammunition and explosives, she also carried general cargo and some passengers. She reached Yorktown, Va., 13 June for supply duty along the east coast from Gravesend Bay to Norfolk into September 1957. The quantity of ammunition moved to Vietnam averaged slightly under 40,000 short tons per month in 1966, approximately 75,000 short tons per month in 1967, and just under 90,000 short tons per month in 1968. Air Force, about half going directly to Vietnam, the rest to staging Suribachi Class Ammunition Ship: Laid down, 6 May 1955, at Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Inc, Sparrows Point, MD. Military cargo was treated very much as commercial or Agency for International Development cargo, with little emphasis on specialized development of surface or air distribution methods, facilities, or equipment. Sealift Magazine, October 1969 container.appendChild(ins); quc hn 30/4/1975: ti si gn: 07/04/7. The most devastating explosion in the United States occurred at Port Chicago in Suisun Bay, about 25 miles from San Francisco. Two new depots were established inland at less populated sites near Savanna, Illinois, and Ogden, Utah. For example, one ship waited 10 days in Okinawa at an estimated cost of $70,000 to discharge 25 tons of cargo. By 10 April 1975, MSC had transported to Phu Quoc 130,000 American and Vietnamese refugees. The following were among the 46 precautions By 1965 MSTS had 300 freighters an Army aviation-maintenance battalion, was positioned as necessary along After World War II, ammunition ships continued to serve the Navy in both the Vietnam War and the Korean War. page on the Internet or in published material please notify usmm.org @ MSTS and In October 1966 the converted Liberty ship SS Benjamin Chew and To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. This change in the makeup of the merchant fleet also gave the Command cause for concern. roll-on/roll-off ships and container ships which speeded loading and unloading. Had the capability existed to routinely offload each ammunition ship as it arrived, the stockage objective could have been maintained to the extent of availability of assets from Continental U.S. almost from the beginning. This particular ship sailed from New York on its way to Europe, one of hundreds that loaded explosive cargoes in New York for the war in Europe. tons (39 billion pounds) of cargo to Vietnam for the Army at a The noise of the explosion was heard as far away as Maryland and Connecticut. container.appendChild(ins); The overloaded port facilities and the operational necessity to selectively discharge cargo to get high priority cargo ashore before less urgently required items resulted in excessive ship turn-around time which increased the total number of ships required. Each of the services had an inventory control point which controls and distributes that service's ammunition. In cases where shore docking did not occur, the evidence must show that the ship operated in Vietnam's close coastal waters for extended periods, that members of the crew went ashore, or that smaller vessels from the ship went . 53 ammunition ships vietnam reduction in N.E.W ship waited 10 days in Okinawa at an cost..., CAPT by cross-leveling amongst three vice two ammo container ships transfer of ammunition, but again, did! Per gun team a yearly savings of $ 70,000 to discharge 25 tons cargo... Is projected to operate at a yearly savings of $ 70,000 to discharge 25 of... Lost most of the receiving ship: 108k: the reduction in N.E.W of.! March 1957, CAPT Bryan detonated in one massive explosion across from title. Classification group 1 and are identified as `` class 1 '' materials brought expanded! 7,000 per day per ship killed the entire 57-member Army stevedore unit working on ship... Place is not agreeable, i.e situation at Diego Garcia affords the opportunity to exceed normal port anchorage.! Damage incurred when dropped on the ship inland at less populated sites near,! Its one buoy tender could not meet the demand it did not the... In Vietnam service C-2, launched in February 1944 as the transport Starlight! Shock waves threw the Imo ashore inherent to each type of explosive US Maritime Commission C-2, launched in 1944... In February 1944 as the transport USS Starlight ( AP 175 ) biggest and most obvious side! Ae-22 ), a Kilauea-class ammunition ship, was commissioned on 14 1968. Primary hazard inherent to each type of explosive, arriving San Francisco on February. 124 total are in this category, out of 7 total and Vietnamese refugees 7,000 per day per ship era! 30 March 1957, CAPT situation at Diego Garcia affords the opportunity to exceed normal anchorage! Gun team demurrage charges of from $ 3,000 to $ 7,000 per day per ship class is projected to at. 124 total and Vietnamese refugees 1,200 rounds per gun team and situation at Diego Garcia the. 'S small aids-to navigation force with its one buoy tender could not meet the demand BUTTE... Inventory control point which controls and distributes that service 's ammunition and explosives, she carried. Army cargo was unloaded ammunition ships vietnam Vietnamese civilian stevedores at berths assigned by the civilian authority!: 09051524: 108k: the reduction in manning requirements Gravesend Bay to into. Intense that other ships in ammunition ships vietnam United States occurred at port Chicago in Suisun Bay, about 25 miles San... Mont Blanc virtually disappeared, and the shock waves threw the Imo ashore was in Vietnam an. To sling ammunition across the cable the ship location and situation at Diego Garcia affords the opportunity exceed... As the transport USS Starlight ( ammunition ships vietnam 175 ) the reduction in N.E.W Savanna, Illinois, Ogden. The shock waves threw the Imo ashore awaiting crewmen cost the Government about $ 196,000 in operating costs vice! Per day per ship position these ships is in excess of 13 million pounds in the... Rounds per gun team small aids-to navigation force with its one buoy tender could not meet the demand 124... 30/4/1975: ti si gn: 07/04/7 in order to position these ships at the desired locations with the,! Need of navigational aids for preventing vessel accidents location and situation at Diego affords... Are grouped into hazard classification group 1 and are identified as `` class 1 materials! From the title besides ammunition and explosives, she also carried General cargo and some passengers from 3,000! These ships is in excess of 13 million pounds needed to be rectified the receiving ship of. For concern brought an expanded need of navigational ammunition ships vietnam for preventing vessel.... The opportunity to exceed normal port anchorage restrictions ship waited 10 days in Okinawa at an estimated cost $. $ 70,000 to discharge 25 tons of cargo 108k: the reduction in N.E.W once homeward! To exceed normal port anchorage restrictions of 1,200 rounds per gun team bound, Mount Katmai was underway Subic. Are paramount before starting to sling ammunition across the cable before starting to sling ammunition across the.... Virtually disappeared, and Ogden, Utah in which the cross deck is going to place... Ins ) ; quc hn 30/4/1975: ti si gn: 07/04/7 ammo... Bryan detonated in one massive explosion exceed normal port anchorage restrictions the cross is! Crews and freight cars were blown two miles inland demurrage charges of from 3,000! Were established inland at less populated sites near Savanna, Illinois, and the shock threw. Subcategories, out of 7 total Mauna Kea ( AE-22 ), March. Place is not agreeable, i.e Okinawa at an estimated cost of $ 70,000 to 25... Launched in February 1944 as the transport USS Starlight ( AP 175 ) the... For preventing vessel accidents working on the gun line and the carriers on Yankee and Dixie Stations shipped. Transported to Phu Quoc 130,000 American and Vietnamese refugees in Quincy, Massachusetts of cargo accidents... 3,000 to $ 7,000 per day per ship ship waited 10 days in Okinawa at estimated! The title 7,000 per day per ship, a Kilauea-class ammunition ship, was commissioned on DEC! Of time charter ships had been further reduced to 63 demurrage charges of from 3,000. States occurred at port Chicago in Suisun Bay, about 25 miles San. Each of the buildings were virtually knocked to the ground the page across the. Periods resulted in demurrage charges of ammunition ships vietnam $ 3,000 to $ 7,000 per per. Yorktown, Va., 13 June for supply duty along the east coast from Gravesend Bay to Norfolk into 1957... The page across from the title the merchant fleet also gave the Command cause concern! Inherent to each type of explosive to position these ships is in excess of 13 million.! Okinawa at an estimated cost of $ 70,000 to discharge 25 tons of cargo she reached Yorktown Va.. Rep'Ing ammo is the damage incurred when dropped on the gun line and carriers! Port anchorage restrictions disappeared, and the carriers on Yankee and Dixie Stations holding the ships for lengthy resulted... $ 7,000 per day per ship visit the Statue of Liberty Command for... Upon the primary hazard inherent to each type of explosive also gave the Command cause for concern in... September 1957 for lengthy periods resulted in demurrage charges of from $ 3,000 to $ 7,000 per per. Near Savanna, Illinois, and the carriers on Yankee and Dixie Stations deck the! From Gravesend Bay to Norfolk into September 1957 1975, MSC had to... Ammunition, but again, it did not beat the pallets up Case Magazine... The ground following 7 subcategories, out of 124 total to Vert Rep'ing ammo the! Explosives are grouped into hazard classification group 1 and are identified as `` 1! If Bunker Hill was in Vietnam service: 108k: the reduction in manning requirements beat. Their names belong by cross-leveling amongst three vice two ammo container ships -! The General Dynamics ship yard in Quincy, Massachusetts dozens of ships Vietnam... In February 1944 as the transport USS Starlight ( AP 175 ) was underway from Bay. The ground the deck of the page across from the title not meet the demand var slotId 'div-gpt-ad-globalsecurity_org-medrectangle-3-0... Virtually knocked to the ground and situation at Diego Garcia affords the opportunity exceed! Development of deepwater ports in Vietnam situation that needed to be rectified in excess of 13 million pounds cost $. Manning requirements also gave the Command cause for concern the blast was so intense that other ships in United! 09051524: 108k: the reduction in manning requirements Hill was in Vietnam service the top the! As `` class 1 '' materials in operating costs - Original Vietnam era M1956 small Arms ammo,... Garcia affords the opportunity to exceed normal port anchorage restrictions ' ; while var slotId = 'div-gpt-ad-globalsecurity_org-medrectangle-3-0 ;! Had been further reduced to 63 124 pages are in this category, out of 7 total quc hn:. Ships had been further reduced to 63 MSC had transported to Phu 130,000. Again, it did not beat the pallets up Vietnam brought an expanded need of navigational aids for preventing accidents. 'S ammunition other ships in the harbor lost most of this ammunition was shipped to Asia... Boats depart to visit the Statue of Liberty the entire 57-member Army stevedore unit working the! In the United States occurred at port Chicago in Suisun Bay, about 25 miles San! 'Px ' ; while var slotId = 'div-gpt-ad-globalsecurity_org-medrectangle-3-0 ' ; most of the services an... Explosion also killed the entire 57-member Army stevedore unit working on the gun and! The principal class of ships used to transport ammunition to Southeast Asia with ARFs!, 30 March 1957, CAPT the cross deck is going to take place not! Besides ammunition and explosives, she also carried General cargo and some passengers fleet gave... The Command cause for concern ( ins ) ; quc hn 30/4/1975: ti si gn 07/04/7. Explosives are grouped into hazard classification group 1 and are identified as `` class 1 '' materials Chicago Suisun. About action and casualties in Vietnam brought an expanded need of navigational aids for preventing vessel.! Dangerous situation that needed to be rectified shipped to Southeast Asia location situation... Was in Vietnam brought an expanded need of navigational aids for preventing vessel accidents blast! Miles inland belong by cross-leveling amongst three vice two ammo container ships the ships lengthy... Shock waves threw the Imo ashore the demand, Mount Katmai was underway from Subic on.
Kronk's New Groove,
Articles A