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    Operation Sealords: A Front In A Frontless War, An Analysis Of The Brown-Water Navy In Vietnam
    Operation Sealords: A Front In A Frontless War, An Analysis Of The Brown-Water Navy In Vietnam
    Operation Sealords: A Front In A Frontless War, An Analysis Of The Brown-Water Navy In Vietnam
    Ebook125 pages1 hour

    Operation Sealords: A Front In A Frontless War, An Analysis Of The Brown-Water Navy In Vietnam

    By LCDR William C. McQuilkin USN

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    This study examines Operation SEALORDS, the capstone campaign conducted by the brown-water Navy in Vietnam. Specifically, this paper addresses the primary question: Was the SEALORDS campaign successful, and if so, what lessons can be learned from SEALORDS and how might the Navy employ brown-water forces in the future?

    This thesis breaks down the SEALORDS campaign into three areas of study. First, the study examines the barrier interdiction portion of the campaign designed to stem the flow of enemy infiltration of men and material from Cambodia into the Mekong Delta. Second, this study analyzes the Denial of Sanctuary Operations and Pacification portion of the SEALORDS operations. Last, the Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese Program (ACTOV) is examined to determine its effectiveness.

    The findings of this study suggest that by concentrating naval forces athwart the major infiltration routes along the Cambodian border, SEALORDS effectively cut enemy lines of communication into South Vietnam and severely restricted enemy attempts at infiltration. Additionally, the findings suggest that SEALORDS contributed significantly to pacification efforts in the southern part of III Corps and all of the IV Corps Tactical Zone. Finally, the ACTOV Program is evaluated as successful and put the Navy out ahead of the other services with respect to Vietnamization of the war effort.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNormanby Press
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786250124
    Operation Sealords: A Front In A Frontless War, An Analysis Of The Brown-Water Navy In Vietnam

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      Book preview

      Operation Sealords - LCDR William C. McQuilkin USN

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1997 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      OPERATION SEALORDS: A FRONT IN A FRONTLESS WAR, AN ANALYSIS OF THE BROWN-WATER NAVY IN VIETNAM

      By

      LCDR William C. McQuilkin, USN.

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      ABSTRACT 5

      LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6

      LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7

      CHAPTER I — INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 8

      Introduction 8

      Primary’ and Subordinate Research Questions 8

      Significance of the Study 9

      Methodology, Limitations, and Delimitations 9

      Background 10

      Market Time 11

      Game Warden 13

      Mobile Riverine Force 15

      CHAPTER II — SEALORDS: OPERATIONAL CONCEPT AND PHASE ONE-BARRIER INTERDICTION 18

      Interdiction Operations 21

      Operation Search Tum 21

      Operation Tran Hung Dao 23

      Operation Giant Slingshot 25

      Operation Barrier Reef 28

      CHAPTER III — SEALORDS PHASE II-DENIAL OF SANCTUARY OPERATIONS AND PACIFICATION 30

      Sea Float 30

      Ready Deck 33

      Rung Sat Operations 34

      Breezy Cove 36

      Pacification 37

      CHAPTER IV — ACCELERATED TURNOVER TO THE VIETNAMESE 40

      CHAPTER V — ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS 49

      Barrier Interdiction 49

      Denial of Sanctuary Operations and Pacification 51

      ACTOV 53

      Conclusions 54

      APPENDIX 55

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 60

      BIBLIOGRAPHY 61

      Books 61

      Government Documents, Papers, and Reports 62

      Periodicals and Articles 63

      Oral Histories 63

      Interviews by Author 64

      ABSTRACT

      This study examines Operation SEALORDS, the capstone campaign conducted by the brown-water Navy in Vietnam. Specifically, this paper addresses the primary question: Was the SEALORDS campaign successful, and if so, what lessons can be learned from SEALORDS and how might the Navy employ brown-water forces in the future?

      This thesis breaks down the SEALORDS campaign into three areas of study. First, the study examines the barrier interdiction portion of the campaign designed to stem the flow of enemy infiltration of men and material from Cambodia into the Mekong Delta. Second, this study analyzes the Denial of Sanctuary Operations and Pacification portion of the SEALORDS operations. Last, the Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese Program (ACTOV) is examined to determine its effectiveness.

      The findings of this study suggest that by concentrating naval forces athwart the major infiltration routes along the Cambodian border, SEALORDS effectively cut enemy lines of communication into South Vietnam and severely restricted enemy attempts at infiltration. Additionally, the findings suggest that SEALORDS contributed significantly to pacification efforts in the southern part of III Corps and all of the IV Corps Tactical Zone. Finally, the ACTOV Program is evaluated as successful and put the Navy out ahead of the other services with respect to Vietnamization of the war effort.

      LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

      ACTOV—Accelerated Turnover to the Vietnamese

      AMMI PONTOON—Multi-purpose barge, 28 feet by 90 feet

      AO—Area of Operations

      APC—Armored Personnel Carrier

      ARVN—Army of the Republic of Vietnam

      ATSB—Advanced Tactical Support Base

      ATC—Armored Troop Carrier

      CIA—Central Intelligence Agency

      CIDG—Civilian Irregular Defense Groups

      CNO—Chief of Naval Operations

      COMNAVFORV—Commander Naval Forces Vietnam

      COMUSMACV—Commander U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam

      CTF—Commander Task Force

      CTG—Commander Task Group

      CTZ—Corps Tactical Zone

      ENIFF—Enemy Initiated Firefight

      FRIFF—Friendly Initiated Firefight

      GVN—Government of Vietnam

      HAL—Helicopter Attack Light Squadron

      HES—Hamlet Evaluation System

      KIA—Killed in Action

      LSD—Landing Ship, Dock

      LST—Landing Ship, Tank

      MRF—Mobile Riverine Force

      NAVFORV—Naval Forces Vietnam

      NVA—North Vietnamese Army

      OPLAN—Operation Plan

      PBR—Patrol Boat, River

      PCF—Patrol Craft, Fast (Swift Boat)

      PF—Popular (Provisional) Force

      RAC—River Assault Craft

      RAG—River Assault Group (VNN)

      RAID—Riverine Assault Interdiction Division (VNN)

      RF—Regional Force

      RIVDIV—Riverine Division (USN)

      RSSZ—Rung Sat Special Zone

      SEAL—USN Special Forces

      SEALORDS—Southeast Asia Lake. Ocean, River, and Delta Strategy

      SEAWOLF—UH-IB Helo, heavily armed, USN operated

      TF—Task Force

      USN—United States Navy

      VC—Vietcong

      VNMC—Vietnamese Marine Corps

      VNN—Vietnamese Navy

      WBGP—Waterborne Guard Post

      ZIPPO—Flame thrower equipped ATC or Monitor

      LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

      1.—The Mekong Delta

      2.—Enemy Infiltration Routes into the Mekong Delta

      3.—SEALORDS Operations

      4.—Sea Float/Breezy Cove

      5.—Ready Deck

      CHAPTER I — INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

      Introduction

      During the Vietnam War the Mekong River Delta was a crucial battleground. Extending south and west from Saigon to the Gulf of Thailand and the Cambodian border, the delta is a rich rice producing area that was home to one-half of South Vietnam’s population. Control of this area was essential if the war against the Vietcong (the name for communists in South Vietnam, acronym VC) and the North Vietnamese was going to succeed.

      Crisscrossed by rivers and canals, the delta was an area where people and goods moved primarily by water. To provide security against communist forces and interdict communist supply shipments, control of these waterways was necessary. It was this situation that led the United States to establish a riverine (brown-water) naval force in South Vietnam. As part of the American military assistance to the South Vietnamese government, the United States Navy (USN) undertook the mission of winning back and holding this strategic region.

      This paper examines Operation SEALORDS, the capstone campaign conducted by the brown-water Navy in Vietnam. Operation SEALORDS (Southeast Asia Lake Ocean River Delta Strategy) began on 5 November 1968 and lasted until 1 July 1970. The broad mission of SEALORDS was to interdict enemy supply lines of communication and to conduct offensive operations with the intent to regain control and pacify designated areas in the southern part of III Corps and all of IV Corps’ Tactical Zone, an area that corresponded roughly to the delta. SEALORDS represented the maturation of riverine warfare in Vietnam. By this time, riverine forces had evolved from a rather ad hoc, hastily put together force in early 1965, into an integrated fighting force.

      This paper is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides an introduction and background. In order to correctly analyze SEALORDS, it is necessary to put the operation into some historical context. Chapter one examines some of the evolutionary changes in riverine warfare and addresses early measures taken to counter communist infiltration into what would become the SEALORDS area of operations (AOR). Chapter two examines the operational concept of SEALORDS as well as the Cambodian border interdiction campaign. This discussion shows what was different and significant about SEALORDS. Chapter three discusses various denial-of-sanctuary operations and pacification campaigns as they pertain to Operation SEALORDS. Chapter four examines the Accelerated Turnover Program to the Vietnamese (ACTOV), the U.S. Navy’s Vietnamization plan. ACTOV was instituted concurrently with SEALORDS. The final chapter provides an analysis and conclusions.

      Primary’ and Subordinate Research Questions

       This study assesses qualitatively the effectiveness of the SEALORDS campaign by analyzing critical components of the operation. Specifically, this paper addresses the primary question: Was the SEALORDS campaign successful, and if so, what lessons can be learned from SEALORDS and how might the Navy employ brown-water forces in the future? In order to provide an answer to this question, three subordinate questions are addressed.

      First, was the border interdiction portion of

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