Gday, came in late did you? Well, the following will provide you with a briefing of the lives of the R.A.N.s DDGs and then a little of D38 HMAS PERTHS history on her first deployment with the USN 7th Fleet , in Vietnam in 1967/68. The Sea Dragon summary will brief you on the situation PERTH will be deployed into. firstly, if this is your first time here when you do START READING THE TIMELINE below. please start at the beginning . Next, might I suggest the below link to the download An introduction to mareks un-official. a power-point presentation. Hopefully the intro will give you an understanding of the lives and times of the three Australian DDGs; D38 Perth D39 Hobart and D41 Brisbane from keel laying to scuttling. Feel free to share. https://facebook/download/652021254816548/An%20Introduction%20to%20marek_s%20unoffical.pptx Once you have done that, please take some time to read and digest the Sea Dragon Summary below and you will have had a briefing of the situation that Hobart was coming out of and PERTH was entering into. Then with the posts please start at the bottom, each day is dated at the top of the post. IMPORTANT Please press the like button at the TOP of the page once, if you like this the mareks un offical. On every new entery of the ROP there is a like also, every time you read a NEW PAGE, if you click this, then this tells me that you are reading the mareks un-official . Pressing the share button sends a copy to your home page and, this may increases the list of reader at this page, either action allows me to feel that posting this deployment is being well received. Help me to help you. Press either the like and or share buttons please.ta. I hope you find the pictorial timeline interesting, ,do read, there s a lot here for those that only would look. Summary SEA DRAGON operations for 66-67 October 67 brought SEA DRAGON to the end of its first year and saw the first shore-based damage to an allied ship. The Australian DDG HMAS PERTH (D-38) suffered four wounded on the 18th of October 1967. Despite improved North Vietnamese gunnery, SEA DRAGON statistics were truly remarkable; 2,000 water-craft destroyed or damaged, 3,300 targets ashore bombarded, and 150 running duels with coastal artillery. Moreover, the observed flow of waterborne logistics fell to such a low level (759 in MAY compared to 200 in OCTOBER) that SEA DRAGON assets were set south on several occasions to provide NGFS for allied ground operations in and below the DMZ. Not surprisingly, whenever the ships left station, coastal logistic traffic increased until the warships returned. Operation SEA DRAGON finished 1967 with 13,976 rounds fired to sink 482 WBLC’s and damage more than 1,000 others. The number of ships involved in SEA DRAGON at any single time varied considerably and rose to as high as eight. Normally, however, the force remained at one Cruiser and four destroyers operating in two Task Units. Pacific Fleet studied SEA DRAGON statistics for 1967 and found the average WBLC engagement took place at 18,000 yards, required 29 rounds and involved a 46 –foot wooded seagoing junk. The most accurate shooting came, not surprisingly, from the 8 inch cruisers with 20 RPK (rounds per kill) while older 5- inch 38 destroyers took 35 RPK. The newer 5 inch/54 destroyers managed a RPK of just fewer than 28. During the 66- 67 SEA DRAGON period, SEA DRAGON units spent 1,384 ship days on station and, in addition to the WBLC targets, engaged 3,700 land targets, including 300 coastal defence and radar sites Keeping the ships supplied provided a significant challenge for SERPAC’s (Service Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet) Service Squadron Three and for Seventh Fleet’s logistic support force (Task Force 73), already supporting combat support ships off the South Vietnamese Coast. Navy Support Activity, DA NANG, coordinated ammunition re-supply by ammo ships (AE’s) from GUAM, YOKOSUKA, SASEBO and NAVAL Support Facility CAM RANH BAY. Many of the 100 deployed ships required ammunition every three days; thus, between 70 and 90% of replenishments were conducted while underway. During one occasion, an AOE replenished the USS CANBERRA while the Cruiser was engaged in a night fire mission. Fuel and provisions arrived in a similar manner on fleet oilers, provision ships, and combat stores ships from SUBIC, YOKOSUKA and GUAM. Like their ammo laden counterparts, the re-supply ships typically steamed circular routes, first replenishing YANKEE STATION before going on to CHU LAI and DA NANG and finally to SEA DRAGON . Replenishment ships spent a nominal 21 days on the 3,000 mile circuit before returning to their out of theater depots to refit for the next cruise. End of Summary fm the mareks un-official Vietnam Service Dossier.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:02:52 +0000
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