 Preserved PBR 829 inKenner, Louisiana. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | PBR (Patrol Boat Riverine) |
| Operators | SeeOperators |
| Cost | $400,000[1] |
| Completed | 718[2] |
| Preserved | 1 operational |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Riverinepatrol boat |
| Displacement | 8.9 ton for Mk II |
| Length |
|
| Beam |
|
| Draft | 2 ft (0.61 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × 180 hp (130 kW)Detroit Diesel 6V53N engines each driving aJacuzzi Brothers 14YJwater pump-jet with thrust buckets forreverse thrust. |
| Speed | 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph). |
| Complement | 4 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | Ceramic armor shields fitted to guns, bridge. Also crew-applied ballistic blankets to protect the coxswain in the control cockpit. |
Patrol Boat, Riverine, orPBR, is theUnited States Navy designation for a small rigid-hulledpatrol boat used in theVietnam War from March 1966 until 1975. They were deployed in a force that grew to 250 boats, the most common craft in theRiver Patrol Force, Task Force 116, and were used to stop and search river traffic in areas such as theMekong Delta, theRung Sat Special Zone, theSaigon River and inI Corps, in the area assigned to Task Force Clearwater, in an attempt to disrupt weapons shipments. In this role, they frequently became involved in firefights with enemy soldiers on boats and on the shore, were used to insert and extractNavy SEAL teams, and were employed by theUnited States Army's 458th Transportation Company, known as the 458th Sea Tigers.
The PBR was replaced by theSpecial Operations Craft – Riverine (SOC-R)[3][4]
The PBR was a versatile boat with afiberglass hull andwater jet drive which enabled it to operate in shallow, weed-choked rivers. It drew only 2 feet (0.61 m) of water fully loaded. The drives could be pivoted to reverse direction, turn the boat in its own length, or come to a stop from full speed in a few boat lengths.
The PBR was manufactured in two versions, the first with 31 feet (9.4 m) length and 10-foot, 7-inch beam. The Mark II version was 32 feet (9.8 m) long, and had a 1-foot (0.30 m) wider beam than the Mark I. It also had improved drives to reduce fouling andaluminumgunwales to resist wear.
The PBR was designed by Willis Slane and Jack Hargrave of Hatteras Yachts, located in High Point, NC at the time, and its hull was based on an existing Hatteras Yacht hull. Just seven days after a meeting with US Navy officials, Slane and Hargrave had a prototype ready.[5][6]
The 11 PBRs delivered in March 1966 and the approximately 300 delivered over the next few years to the U.S. and South Vietnamese military were based on a pleasure boat design constructed by Uniflite, a boatyard in Bellingham, Washington, on the northern end of Puget Sound near the Canadian border.
In October 1965, the Navy awarded a contract to the company for construction of 140 PBRs. The first craft off the assembly line, called the Mark I, was 31 feet long with a hull constructed entirely of fiberglass, a technology developed in the early 1950s.[6]
The PBR was usually manned by a four-man crew. Typically, a First Class Petty Officer served as boat captain, with a gunner's mate, an engineman and a seaman on board. Each crewman was cross-trained in each other's jobs in the event one became unable to carry out his duties. Generally, PBRs operated in pairs under the command of a patrol officer who rode on one of the boats.
The boats were powered by dual 220 horsepower (160 kilowatts)Detroit Diesel 6V53N engines withJacuzzi Brothers 14YJ water-jet drives. The boats reached top speeds of 28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph).[citation needed]
The boats had a comparatively heavy firepower for their size. Typical armament configuration included twinM2HB.50 caliber (12.7 mm)machine guns forward in a rotating, shielded tub, a single rear M2HB, one or twoM60 7.62 mm light machine guns mounted on the port and starboard sides, and aMk 18 grenade launcher. There was also a full complement ofM16 rifles, shotguns,.45 ACP handguns and hand grenades. Some had a "piggyback" arrangement, a .50 cal machine gun on top of an81mm mortar;[7][8] others had a bow-mounted Mk16 Mod 4 Colt 20 mm automatic cannon, derived from the AN/M3 version of theHispano-Suiza HS.404 and also found on the LCMs and PBRs.[9]
The boats are not well protected, aside from someceramic armor shielding for the machine gun pit, and some quarter-inch thick steel armor plate for the coxswain's flat.
They were designed to rely on rapid acceleration, maneuverability, and speed to get out of dangerous situations.
From 1966 to 1972, PBRs were operated by the Navy as the principal component of Task Force 116. PBRs operated with theU.S. Naval Reserve up until 1995 atMare Island, California, prior to the base's closure due toBRAC action that year. During the Vietnam War, Mare Island was home to the U.S. Navy's Repair Facilities, Mothballing Operations, Submarine Operations, and Riverine Training Operations for both Patrol Craft Fast (PCF—more commonly known asSwift Boats), PBRs, and the River Assault Boats of the Mobile Riverine Force.
The training areas for the PBRs and Swift Boats still exist today within theNapa Sonoma Marsh state wildlife area.Sloughs such as Dutchman Slough, China Slough, Napa Slough, Devil's Slough, Suisun marshland and the Napa River all run through the former training area.
Since the Navy was busy patrolling the rivers, the U.S. Army had to secure the waters around its military ports. So, it converted the 458th Transportation Company (LARC) into a PBR company in early 1968 under the 18th Military Police Brigade. With the company headquarters at Cat Lai, the company assigned pairs of PBRs to each of the Army ports. The crews consisted of two army mariners, coxswain and engineman, and two military police as gunners.[10]
In the late 1990s, what remained of the U.S. Navy's PBR force was solely in the Naval Reserve (Swift Boats had been retired from the active duty U.S. Navy immediately following the Vietnam War during the early 1970s), and was moved further inland towardsSacramento, California, the state capital, which is also intertwined with rivers. From Sacramento, PBRs could still transit directly to and throughSan Francisco Bay and into the Pacific Ocean, if need be. The waters of the State Wildlife Area, next to the former U.S. Navy (Riverine) training base at Mare Island, are still available for U.S. Navy PBR usage.
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Philippines - Formerly used by Philippine Navy[11]
United States – Formerly used by US Navy[12]
South Vietnam –Republic of Vietnam Navy
Khmer Republic –Khmer National Navy
Kingdom of Laos –Royal Lao Navy
Thailand –Royal Thai Navy
Panama –SENANJames "Willie" Williams was aUnited States Navy sailor commanding PBR105. During a patrol operation on 31 October 1966, an engagement between the two PBRs (105 and one other) and twoViet Cong (VC) sampans escalated into a three-hour running battle involving more than 50 enemy vessels, numerous VC ground troops, andU.S. Navy attack helicopter support. For his role in this battle, Williams received theMedal of Honor. According to the citation, "the patrol accounted for the destruction or loss of 65 enemy boats and inflicted numerous casualties on the enemy personnel." Williams is considered the most heavily decorated enlisted sailor in U.S. Navy history. The U.S. Navy posthumously named aguided missile destroyer,USSJames E. Williams, after him.
On March 6, 1967, United States Navy SeamanDavid George Ouellet was the forward machine gunner on PBR124. After observing a grenade hurtled in his boats direction, Seaman Ouellet left the protection of his position and ran to the rear of his boat warning his shipmates to take cover. He then pushed the boat's captain down to safety and placed himself between the grenade and his shipmates. His actions saved the other men, but Ouellet was mortally wounded when the grenade detonated. For his actions that day, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Patrick Osborne Ford was a United States Navy sailor serving on a PBR patrol boat who was killed in South Vietnam after he saved the lives of two of his shipmates. The U.S. Navy posthumously awarded him theNavy Cross and later named afrigate,USSFord (FFG-54), after him.
A major part of the action in the 1979 movieApocalypse Now takes place on a fictional United States Navy PBR that used the radio call-signPBR Street Gang.
An unarmed PBR Mk. II replica called "Boat Machine" or "Du Ma" was used in the "Seamen" special of the television showThe Grand Tour byJeremy Clarkson, who claimed that as there were no surviving PBRs the replica had to be built completely from scratch in New Zealand.[13][14] The total cost of building Clarkson's PBR was £100,000.[15]
Gunboat is a PBRsimulationvideo game developed and released byAccolade in 1990 forMS-DOS.
The 11 PBRs delivered in March 1966 and the approximately 300 delivered over the next few years to the U.S. and South Vietnamese military...In 1967 the Mark II version of the PBR appeared, with an aluminum gunwale to protect its sides when junks and sampans came alongside. A transom lengthened the boat by about 6 inches. Most of the 418 Mark II PBRs constructed by Uniflite
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