USCGC Point Gammon (WPB-82328)

USCGC Point Gammon gets a camouflage coat of dark grey paint at Da Nang, October 1965
History
United States
Name:	USCGC Point Gammon (WPB-82328)
Namesake:	Point Gammon, West Yarmouth, Massachusetts
Owner:	United States Coast Guard
Builder:	Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland
Commissioned:	31 January 1962
Decommissioned:	11 November 1969
Honors and awards:	Navy Unit Commendation[1] Vietnam Service Medal with 2 silver and 1 bronze service stars
Fate:	Transferred to Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS Nguyễn Đao (HQ-703), 11 November 1969[2]
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol Boat (WPB)
Displacement:	60 tons
Length:	82 ft 10 in (25.25 m)
Beam:	17 ft 7 in (5.36 m) max
Draft:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Propulsion:	2 × 600 hp (447 kW) Cummins diesel engines
Speed:	16.8 knots (31.1 km/h; 19.3 mph)
Range:	577 nmi (1,069 km) at 14.5 kn (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph) 1,271 nmi (2,354 km) at 10.7 kn (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph)
Complement:	Domestic service : 8 men Vietnam service : 2 officers, 8 men
Armament:	1962 1 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon Vietnam service 5 × M2 Browning machine guns 1 × 81 mm M29 mortar[3]

USCGC Point Gammon (WPB-82328) was an 82-foot (25 m) Point class cutter constructed at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland in 1962 for use as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat. Since the Coast Guard policy in 1962 was not to name cutters under 100 feet (30 m) in length, it was designated as WPB-82328 when commissioned and acquired the name Point Gammon in January 1964 when the Coast Guard started naming all cutters longer than 65 feet (20 m).^[4][5]

Construction and design details

Point Gammon was built to accommodate an 8-man crew.^[6] She was powered by two 600 hp (447 kW) VT600 Cummins diesel main drive engines and had two five-bladed 42 in (1.1 m) propellers. The main drive engines were later replaced by 800 hp (597 kW) VT800 Cummins engines. Water tank capacity was 1,550 U.S. gallons (5,900 L) and fuel tank capacity was 1,840 U.S. gallons (7,000 L) at 95% full.^[4][6] Engine exhaust was ported through the transom rather than through a conventional stack and this permitted a 360 degree view from the bridge; a feature that was very useful in search and rescue work as well as a combat environment.^[7]

The design specifications for Point Gammon included a steel hull for durability and an aluminum superstructure and longitudinally framed construction was used to save weight. Ease of operation with a small crew size was possible because of the non-manned main drive engine spaces. Controls and alarms located on the bridge allowed one man operation of the cutter thus eliminating a live engineer watch in the engine room.^[7] Because of design, four men could operate the cutter; however, the need for resting watchstanders brought the crew size to eight men for normal domestic service.^[7] The screws were designed for ease of replacement and could be changed without removing the cutter from the water. A clutch-in idle speed of three knots helped to conserve fuel on lengthy patrols and an eighteen knot maximum speed could get the cutter on scene quickly.^[8] Air-conditioned interior spaces were a part of the original design for the Point class cutter. Interior access to the deckhouse was through a watertight door on the starboard side aft of the deckhouse. The deckhouse contained the cabin for the officer-in-charge and the executive petty officer.^[8] The deckhouse also included a small arms locker, scuttlebutt, a small desk and head. Access to the lower deck and engine room was down a ladder. At the bottom of the ladder was the galley, mess and recreation deck. A watertight door at the front of the mess bulkhead led to the main crew quarters which was ten feet long and included six bunks that could be stowed, three bunks on each side. Forward of the bunks was the crew's head complete with a compact sink, shower and commode.^[8] Accommodations for a 13-man crew were installed for Vietnam service.^{[4][5][9][10]}

History

After delivery in 1962, Point Gammon was assigned a homeport of Fort Bragg, California, where she served as a law enforcement and search and rescue patrol boat. From 1963 to 1965, she was stationed at Alameda, California. On 20 April 1965, she dewatered and towed the disabled pleasure craft Amigo del Mar into Port Richmond, California.^[4]

At the request of the United States Navy, in April 1965, she was alerted for service in Vietnam and assigned to Coast Guard Squadron One in support of Operation Market Time along with 16 other Point class cutters.^[11][12] While the crew completed overseas training and weapons qualifications at Coast Guard Island and Camp Parks, California, Point Gammon was loaded onto a merchant ship, and transported to Subic Bay, Philippines in May 1965 where she was refit for combat service.^[4] Shipyard modifications included installation of new single-sideband radio equipment, additional floodlights, small arms lockers, bunks, additional sound-powered phone circuits, and the addition of 4 M-2 machine guns. The original bow mounted machine gun was replaced with a combination over-under 50 caliber machine gun/81mm trigger fired mortar that had been developed by the Coast Guard for service in Vietnam.^{[3][4][13][14]} For service in Vietnam, two officers were added to the crew complement to add seniority to the crew in the mission of interdicting vessels at sea.^[15]

Point Gammon was assigned to Division 12 of Squadron One to be based at Danang, along with Point Arden, Point Caution, Point Dume, Point Ellis, Point Lomas, Point Orient, and Point Welcome. After sea trials, the Division left Subic Bay for Danang on 16 July 1965 in the company of USS Snohomish County, their temporary support ship. After almost two weeks at sea, they arrived at their new duty station on 20 July and began patrolling the coastal waters near Danang.^[16] Duty consisted of boarding Vietnamese junks to search for contraband weapons and ammunition and check the identification papers of persons on board. Permanent engineering and logistic support of Division 12 was provided by a U.S. Navy non-self-propelled floating workshop, YR-71. During this time, the WPB's were directed to paint the hulls and superstructures formula 20 deck gray to cover the stateside white paint. This increased the effectiveness of night patrols.^[17]

On 1 January 1967, Point Gammon was on Market Time patrol off An Xuyên Province with U.S. Navy swift boats PCF-68 and PCF-71 intercepted a North Vietnamese steel-hulled trawler.^{[18][Note 1]} After a firefight involving both Market Time boats, PCF-68 hit the trawler with a mortar round that set the trawler on fire while Point Gammon provided covering fire and illuminated the scene with her mortar. The trawler eventually exploded and sank.^{[19][20][Note 2]}

On 11 November 1969, Point Gammon was the first Division 12 cutter turned over to the Republic of Vietnam Navy as part of the Vietnamization of the war effort.^[21] She was recommissioned RVNS Nguyễn Đao (HQ-703).^[2][4]

Notes

Footnotes

1. The Kelley reference is divided into several sections with each section starting its page numbering with page 1, therefore citations for this reference follows the same pattern.
2. The USCGA reference claims a sinking in Hassard's Bronze Star citation while the account of the incident in the Naval Historical Center reference says that there was a possibility of the trawler escaping to a nearby river.

Citations

1. "Navy Unit Commendation". Navy Unit Commendation. Mobile Riverine Force Association. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
2. Scotti, p 210
3. William R. Wells II, The United States Coast Guard's Piggyback 81mm Mortar/.50 cal. machine gun, Vietnam Magazine, August 1997
4. Coast Guard Historian website
5. Scheina, p 72
6. Scheina, p 71
7. Scotti, p 165
8. Scotti, p 166
9. Scotti, p 10
10. Scotti, p 219
11. Larzelere, p 13
12. Cutler, p 84
13. Larzelere, p 21
14. Cutler, p 82
15. Larzelere, p 15
16. Larzelere, p 33
17. Larzelere, p 54
18. Kelley, p 5-14
19. Bronze State Medal citation of Roger W. Hassard", USCGA Wall of Heroes, U.S. Coast Guard Academy
20. Commander, Naval Forces Vietnam (January 1967). "Monthly Historical Summary. January 1967" (pdf). Naval Historical Center, U.S. Navy. pp. 29–30. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
21. Larzelere, p 234

References cited

• "Bronze State Medal citation of Roger W. Hassard". USCGA Wall of Heroes. U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
• Commander, Naval Forces Vietnam (January 1967). "Monthly Historical Summary. January 1967" (pdf). Naval Historical Center, U.S. Navy. pp. 29–30. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
• Cutler, Thomas J. (2000). Brown Water, Black Berets: Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN 978-1-55750-196-7.
• Kelley, Michael P. (2002). Where We Were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press, Central Point, Oregon. ISBN 978-1-55571-625-7.^{[Note 1]}
• Larzelere, Alex (1997). The Coast Guard at War, Vietnam, 1965–1975. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN 978-1-55750-529-3.
• Scheina, Robert L. (1990). U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft, 1946–1990. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis. ISBN 978-0-87021-719-7.
• Scotti, Paul C. (2000). Coast Guard Action in Vietnam: Stories of Those Who Served. Hellgate Press, Central Point, OR. ISBN 978-1-55571-528-1.
• Wells II, William R. (August 1997). "The United States Coast Guard's Piggyback 81mm Mortar/.50 cal. machine gun". Vietnam Magazine. Retrieved 8 October 2010.

1. The Kelley reference is divided into several sections with each section starting its page numbering with page 1, therefore citations for this reference follows the same pattern.

External links

• "Point" Class 82-foot WPBs Coast Guard Historian's website