The Plight of LST-912 as depicted by Blake

Transcription

1 The Plight of LST-912 as depicted by Blake On 2 JAN 67 Harbor Clearance Team ONE personnel arrived on the scene of the USS MAHNOMEN COUNTY (LST-912) salvage operation near Chu Lai, RVN. MAHNOMEN COUNTY was forced aground during a typhoon on 30 DEC 66. She was anchored one quarter-mile offshore with only her bow anchor secured. Winds drove her onto a reef and into a depression between the reef and the shore, broached port side-to and hard inside the surf zone. Two tugs were unable to pull her out, and a 7-inch steel cable parted in the attempt. During the entire operation rough seas were the rule rather than the exception. This condition contributed to the difficulties encountered in laying beach gear, in helicoptering and high-lining equipment to the stranded vessel and in the removal of cargo. The ship was severely holed in the bottom and foam was used to help regain buoyancy, a relatively new technique in salvage operations. As a consequence of the continuing rough seas the MAHNOMEN COUNTY eventually broke up after the bow separated from the main section of the hull --- and salvage operations were terminated 31 JAN 67 without successfully salvaging the ship. HCT ONE departed the scene on 30 January to return to Subic Bay for some much needed rest, since they had been in Vietnam for five continuous months of salvage duty. Blake's drawing captured the plight of LST-912 inside the surf zone quite well. Former Stress? According to an account I found on the Internet, LST-912 was damaged by a suicide plane on Sunday, 7 JAN 45, at 16 d. 20' N., 120 d. 10' E while attached to a battleship, cruiser, and destroyer force commanded by Vice Adm. J. B. Oldendorf and aircraft from an escort carrier group commanded by Rear Adm. C. T. Durgin that performed an open two-day bombardment and bombing of the beach area in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, P. I. During the operation, high-speed minesweeper PALMER (DMS-5) was sunk by a horizontal bomber (torpedo bomber?) at 16 d. 20'N., 120 d. 10'E. The attack transport CALLAWAY (APA-35) was also damaged by a suicide plane at 17 d. 00'N., 120 d. 00'E. The coordinates of Olongapo City, P.I. (adjacent to Subic Bay) are known to be 14 d. 50'N., 120 d. 16'E. Did LST-912 limp back to Subic during WWII?

2 OUR MISSION Our mission, as set forth at our commissioning in February of 1966, was ".to provide salvage repair; diving and rescue services in rivers and restricted waters and to conduct harbor and river clearance operations in the Western Pacific." It is quite broad. Some would argue that the intended mission of the command was to provide rapidly deployable diving and salvage teams in direct support of the Vietnam conflict. Whatever "lingo" was used, the concept was proven so effective that the command was moved to continuous salvage service at its present location of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, near the end of the conflict. "...to provide salvage repair;" - to us this meant the refloating of practically every conceivable type of sailing craft: sampans, small boats, barges, dredges, riverine man-o-wars, tugs, freighters, ad infinitum, and the making of temporary repairs to these craft in preparation for transit to a permanent repair facility. "... diving and rescue services..." - our experienced divers provided the nucleus for all diving operations. Without divers, most "salvage" would be nigh impossible. They provided diving assistance to ships and shore activities and aided in the rescue and recovery of distressed persons, riverine craft, ships, and aircraft anywhere their talents were needed. "...in rivers and restricted waters..." - to the men of HCU-l this meant operating in muddy jungle rivers infested with repugnant life, in crisp, clear mountain streams, in polluted shipping channels and harbors, in beautiful tropical lagoons, and on the high seas. "... and to conduct harbor and river clearance operations in the Western Pacific." - navigable shipping lanes, rivers and harbors are of vital importance to military operations, and to the free flow of civilian food stuffs and commercial goods. HCU-l was actively engaged in the clearing of channels, rivers, and harbors in the Asian countries since its commissioning. Due to the conflict in Vietnam, our teams and craft made regularly scheduled rotational deployments "in-country", where 80% of our jobs existed. Travel is a part of a "Salvors" life. Our mission was vast in scope. "Salvage" to the men of HCU-l encompassed the entire spectrum of tasks one could squeeze into it's meager definition. They have worked from Korea to Guam, in Japan and the Philippines. At various times our detachments aided every branch of the U.S. military

3 services, as well as the South Vietnamese, South Korean, Australian, and New Zealand forces. They covered every corner of Vietnam: from the buzzing harbors of Saigon to the stealthy, steaming rivers of the lower Mekong Delta; from the jagged coastline to the upper highlands near the Cambodian and Laotian borders, from the dangerous DMZ to "Sea Float" in the very southernmost tip of the country. They rescued from the murky waters of the Mekong and its tributaries practically every type of vessel that was utilized in Vietnam. Salvage, to them, has also meant the recovery of, the repair of, and/or the demolition of: aircraft and bridges; trucks, tanks, and tractors; forklifts and ferry landings; sampans and steamers; pretty young Vietnamese girls and tough old fishermen. We have had, to say the least, an interestingly vivid history. Territory: Western Pacific FOR THE RECORD State of Readiness: Completely mobile, continuously ready to augment Seventh Fleet forces anywhere in the Western Pacific. Administrative and Operational Control: Harbor Clearance Unit One was under the operational and administrative control of COMMANDER Service Group THREE; Our Vietnam detachments were under the operational control of Commander, U. S. Naval forces, Vietnam. BRIEF UNIT HISTORY The original harbor clearance units were formed during World War II and were extremely active clearing the badly obstructed harbors of Bizerte, Tunisia; Naples, Italy; Cherbourg, France; and Manila and Subic Bay, Philippines. A direct descendent of these first harbor clearance units, HCU-l was

4 commissioned 1 FEB 66 in ceremonies at the unit's homeport in Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines. Only 24 days after commissioning, the unit tackled its first big assignment: salvage of the merchant vessel SEA RAVEN, aground in Chu Lai, South Vietnam. It was a successful operation, a prelude to the unit's future. Six months and numerous smaller operations later, we salvaged the SS BATON ROUGE VICTORY on the Long Tau River, South Vietnam. This was our first large-scale operation, as the craft's tender, the Subic staff, an all support personnel were called to the job site --- the entire command, except for one Light Lift Craft, participated. BATON ROUGE VICTORY and its $500,000+ cargo was salvaged. Interestingly, for this job the world's largest salvage patch --- costing over $50,000, was designed and applied by the HCU-l personnel. The patch was manufactured by the Ship Repair Facility, Subic Bay Naval Shipyard, Philippines. Our second "entire unit" salvage operation in January and February 1967, was the mined dredge JAMAICA BAY, in Dong Tam, South Vietnam. This job was the first of three dredge jobs, all similar in size and configuration, all sunk in Dong Tam and all not more than a kilometer apart. Our jobs consisted mainly of smaller operations requiring the independent operation of the teams and craft deployed in-country. These jobs were our daily occupation; while the major jobs, less frequent in nature, and requiring the mobilization of many craft, personnel, and materials, seemed more newsworthy. Large or small, newsworthy or not, salvage and clearance operations were our business --- a business that was vital to our country's Vietnam effort. Our unit, since its inception, conducted the following salvage and clearance operations: 1. Eleven large stranded ships refloated 2. Four large sunken ships refloated

5 3. Six large sunken ships obstructing channels demolished or removed 4. Twenty-nine barges refloated 5. Four barges demolished to clear channels 6. Six tug boats refloated 7. Three tug boats demolished to clear channels 8. Wreckage of twenty-two aircraft salvaged 9. Fifty-one Swift, PBR, and Riverine boats salvaged or saved from sinking 10. Twelve demolished bridges cleared from rivers 11. Five sunken dredges salvaged 12. Two sunken dredges, obstructing channels, demolished 13. Two tanks, four amphibious tractors, and eight Army trucks salvaged 14. Eight sunken mooring buoys raised and repaired 15. Five concrete pontoon ferry landings refloated 16. Two mobile support bases utilizing ammi pontoons moored in position 17. Two refuse trucks salved 18. Two forklifts salved 19. Six major fires fought and extinguished We also performed a myriad of smaller tasks, usually involving diving, such as changing propellers, cleaning sea strainers, clearing fouled propellers, recovering lost weapons, ad infinitum. Never a day passed without some sort of operation being conducted.

6 Since the mission of HCU-1 was Western Pacific harbor and river clearance, and since the majority of the impending operations were in Vietnam, Vung Tau harbor --- in the congested maritime provinces --- was a likely choice for a logistical base of operations. So it was that Vung Tau became our western-most salvage base. demolished river bridge. Typical weekly Vietnam duty may have consisted of our teams and a YLLC involved in raising a sunken riverine craft while another team and craft removed the remains of a Having trained numerous Vietnamese divers and turned over many US Navy salvage assets to Vietnam during the Vietnamization Program, HARBOR CLEARANCE UNIT ONE was relocated to Bishop Point moorage, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (on Hickam Air Force Base) on 1 JUL 71. YRST-1 later followed the Headquarters Unit; it was towed by USS CHOWANOC (ATF-100) from Subic Bay on 7 JUL 71, bound for Pearl Harbor. YRST-1 moored at Alpha Docks on 30 JUL 71 and was then moved to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for modification on 6 OCT 71. Modifications included the installation of a Taylor Diving System to support the Navy/Makai Range CY 71 Dive Project. The unit was renamed MOBILE DIVING AND SALVAGE UNIT ONE ( MDSU- 1 ) in January, The manpower level was greatly reduced and the command was transferred as a unit under the control of Service Squadron Five (now Combat Support Squadron Five) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The unit also gained six reserve detachments consisting of over 250 personnel. MDSU-1 dive teams were back in-country twenty-plus years later, farther north than any wartime operations and for a decidedly different purpose. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV) allowed the United States Government to research and recover remains of US service members killed in action at coastal aircraft wreck sites. In October 1995, a scuba survey team deployed to Vietnam to gather evidence. Their efforts resulted in the positive identification of one site and the elimination of several others. MDSU-1

7 conducted recovery operations at several sites off Nang An province in March and April, In 1996 MDSU-1 s mission was further expanded with the consolidation of the SUBASE dive locker into MDSU-1 s Fleet Maintenance Dive Department, making MDSU-1 responsible for providing all ships husbandry diving services for watercraft, surface ships and submarines in Pearl Harbor. MDSU-1 uses a diverse range of specialized diving and recompression chamber systems to accomplish its mission, including a mixed-gas diving system capable of supporting dives to a depth of 300 feet. The unit s equipment is air transportable, giving MDSU-1 the ability to respond to diving and salvage missions anywhere within CINCPACFLT area of responsibility. The professionalism displayed by the HARBOR CLEARANCE UNIT ONE Salvors during the Vietnam era resulted in command awards of the Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation and the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation. Presidential Unit Citation - Authorized by Executive Order 9050 on February 6, 1942, this is awarded by the Secretary of the Navy in the name of the President, to any ship, aircraft, or naval unit, or any Marine Corps aircraft, detachment, or higher unit for outstanding performance in action against an armed enemy of the United States on or after December 7, Although created as a combat award, there have been two non-combat awards authorized. To the USS NAUTILUS (SSN-571) for the first cruise of a nuclear submarine, July 22 to August 5, 1958; and to the USS TRITON (SSN-586) for the submerged circumnavigation of the world, February 16 to May 10, Navy Unit Commendation - Established by the Secretary of the Navy on December 18, 1944 and awarded by the Secretary with the approval of the President, this Unit commendation is conferred on any ship, aircraft, detachment, or other unit of the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps which, subsequent to December 6, 1941, distinguished itself by outstanding heroism in action against the enemy, but not sufficient to warrant award of the Presidential Unit Citation. It is also awarded for extremely meritorious service

8 not involving combat but in support of military operations which were outstanding when compared to other units performing similar service. Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - Authorized by SECNAVNOTE 1650, on July 17, 1967, and awarded by the Secretary to any unit of the US Navy or Marine Corps which distinguished itself by either valorous or meritorious achievement considered outstanding when compared to other units performing similar service, but not sufficient to justify award of the Navy Unit Commendation. Awarded for combat or non-combat services. This page was updated Sunday, 1/13/08