Lowe (DER 325) - Naval Cruise Book

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Bolstering Coastal Force A r.S. Navy tactic devised in South Vietnam over the last few months has sparked a new trend in the coastal surveillance force ships on patrol off the coast. To prevent infiltration of arms, men and supplies to the Viet Cong b.v sea. surveillance force ships must have several virtues. The.v must prossess long endurance on station, reasonably good habitability conditions, good radar and commu- nications equipment, and must be able to pursue light enemy junks and sampans through the shallow waters off the coast and destroy the enemy vessels. The solution was to team up radar picket destroyer escorts (DERs) with the new 50-foot high speed SWIFT boats and the 82-foot Coast Guard cutters. The SWIFT and cutters have the shallow- draft and speed required to chase possible infiltrators through the shallow waters off the Vietnamese coast-where it is possible in places to wade as far out as two miles without getting your chin wet. And the five .50-caI machine guns and 81mm mortar of the cutters or the three .50-cal machine guns and Slmm mortar of the SWIFTS are more than ade- quate to destroy an enemy junk. But shallow draft means small size, which means limited range. These limitations were overcome by using the .306-foot DERs as mobile bases, carrying spare crews, fuel, water and food for the smaller components. Thus, the cutters and SWIFTS can run in for a pit stop and charge out again refueled and resupplied. In the case of the SWIFTS, a fresh crew can be sub- stituted, a desirable capability because of the beating a small craft takes while operating at high speed at sea. The larger cutters do not need to shift crews, since they can rotate the key watches among their 11 men on board. And since the larger, heavier cutters run at top speeds of about 15 knots compared to 25 for the SWIFTS- the ride is not quite so rough. In a 10-day trial of the concept. USS LOWE (DER 325) teamed up with IISCGC POINT COMFORT and SWIFT PCF 10. The patrol area assigned was 100 miles from their normal operating base at An Thoi, Phu Quoc Island, in the Gulf of Thailand, the southermost area of South Vietnam. Two crews were assigned to the SWIFT. Once a day the boat rendezvoused with the LOWE, shifted crews, replenished supplies and held a briefing debriefing session for the two skippers-all in 30 minutes, before resuming patrol. The cutter, which needed less support, came in every three days for supplies at rendezvous points dictated by the tactical situation. During the course of the patrol. LOWE guided the cutter and SWIFT towards areas where junks were concentrated, as determined by LOWE ' S radar. A special advantage of the team concept became obvious when the SWIFT and a small boat from LOWE were taken under fire by small arms from the beach while inspecting a suspicious junk. LOWE opened up with her three-inch guns to provide covering fire as the boats withdrew out of range. All benefited from the change of pace. Crewmen from LOWE took turns going along on SWIFT runs as supernumeraries, and one crew man has already requested assignment to a SWIFT at the time of his reenlistment. The men from the SWIFT, accustomed to the spartan tent camp at An Thoi, enjoyed the comforts of home : comfortable bunks, hot meals, showers, haircuts and a ship ' s store. The only loser is Charlie , the Viet Cong. Now it ' s going to be tougher than ever to sneak through the net of the .Mar ' Ket Time patrols. Jerry Gross, LT, USSR

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- 6 |H % -. ■ W|i - K w k . - KSi hL s M W ■11 4 ' v ' itt BANGKOK was certainly the most interesting city we visited. «%s -

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From: Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Force, l ' . S. Pacific I ' lret To : CommandioK Officer. ISS LOWE (DER 325) Subj: Metal Detector: development and use Kef: la) CO I ' SS LOWE Itr .V)0() ser OSO of 30 DEC 65 1. The development of the Metal Detector described in reference (a) is noted with pleasure, the ini;enuity shown and the ability to make do with materials available demonstrates the kind of enthusiastic can-do altitude that makes I ' SS LOWE into a hithly ef- fective ship. 2. The desiKn of the detector and its use in gathering intelligence information reflect great credit on those concerned. This is par- ticicularly true of the imagination exercised by those personnel operating the equipment. 3. WELL DONE : S W.H. BAUMBERGER RADM USN 14. June 1966 From : Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group. SEVENTH Fleet To: Commanding Officer, ISS LOWE (DER 325) Subj : Performance of I ' SS LOWE (DER 325) in the SEVENTH Fleet L It is with great pleasure that I recognize the significant contribution of USS LOWE to the successful operations of the Cruiser- Destroyer Group. SEVENTH Fleet in support of our naval effort in the Western Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea from 22 November 1965 to 11 June 1966. 2. The Western Pacific Ocean employment of USS LOWE was characterized by many consecutive arduous weeks at sea. The little time in port was mainly devoted to maintenance, repair and resupply efforts at the expense of time normally available for rest and recreation. Notwithstanding the strenuous operations schedule, the officers and men may be justifiably proud of their splendid per- formance under actual combat conditions during close-in patrol and search operations in Vietnamese waters. 3. In every aspect, the record of dedicated service of the ship ' s company of I ' SS LOWE while serving as a vanguard of l .S. sea- power in Southeast Asia was in keeping with the highest traditions of the naval service. S, T. S. KING. Jr. RADM USN