LEGEND
FOR
DA NANG BASE LAYOUT
As you have seen, the base layout that was originally shown has been
modified and made more accurate thanks to the input of a number of guys
that took the time to send me their comments and suggestions. In addition,
some other photographs have surfaced that continue to add details and
questions to the quest of making this base layout as accurate as possible.
What you will see below is the original description I submitted to the
viewers (in red) and responses that I got
back concerning specific buildings and details (italics). This is
an ongoing project. If anyone feels they have something to contribute,
PLEASE let Dan Withers or myself (Chip Marshall email: bgmarshall@aol.com)
know what you have to say. It helps tremendously to include the time you
served in Da Nang to give a time reference to your observations. One thing
I have learned on this little adventure is that the base changed over a
period of time and parts were changed to fit a modified operational
layout. I take responsibility for all mistakes on this base layout.
- Offices for Naval Advisory Detachment, SOG and
“other” agencies. Concrete block building with metal hip roof and
one entrance, NO WINDOWS. Just air conditioning units along the walls.
Jim: the NAD building came around 1965 and the fence was
later if I am correct. "They" used to work out of the White
Elephant in Da Nang across from the river and near the Bamboo
Restaurant.
CJ: The fence around the NAD building was about 10' high with a barbed
wire top. The gate was right across from the door, there were two
gates. First one into a small four foot square area and then another
gate. The perimeter fence was twelve to sixteen feet outside of the
NAD building walls, could be wrong?
Pat: This was the "Super Spook" building.
- Trailer that arrived with PTFs 1 and 2.
Trailer was originally a support unit for the “gassers” and
arrived with support equipment for the boats. This equipment was
removed and installed in the MST Shops (see 03) and converted to an
armory for the base.
Pat: The trailer was not there when I was there. Maybe it
was the trailer between the supply building and the fuel dump we used
as a botswain's locker.
- Mobile Support Team Shops. Concrete block
building with metal single shed roof. The building was divided up into
five separate areas, each with a grilled covered window and door. The
spaces included the MST office, electronics shop, carpenter shop,
machine/electrical shop, boat engine shop and the ship fitter’s
shop.
Bryan: The electronics shop was in this building in the
lower end.
CJ: You've got this building down great! I remember the shop to be
very dark inside. They had sliding doors I think.
Pat: The MST building was laid out as follows: (from south to north on
the waterfront side) the CO's office, the metal machine shop and the
wood machine shop. On the side facing the NAD building was the
"Pigpen." It housed electronic repair and communications.
- Warehouse and Supply Office. Concrete block
construction with corrugated hip roof and two overhead doors.
Pat: Supply in the rear, gunners in the center and boats in
the front
Bryan: In the lower corner closest to the water was the armory
Alan: I believe the left hand end of the Supply Building was occupied
by the gunners mates as their armory. I could be wrong.
- Warehouse (Chip Marshall missed the
boat on this one!)
Pat: Lounge, head and sick bay for MST personnel
CJ: This building has a bunk room and lounge for the "duty"
personnel. I remember they put air conditioning and it was so cold
(about 68) you couldn't stay in there. They finally turned it up to
about 80 and it felt real good. I also remember they put sick bay in
this building.
- Head (toilet) facilities for boat crews
- Generator building
- Unknown
Pat: Used for Vietnamese workers but mostly housed the
snake.
CJ: All I remember was a water trough outside about 4' x 16' x 4' deep…that's
where we put the snake to feed it. Quite a show to watch it eat!
- Fuel farm. Fuel bladders enclosed with sand
bags.
- Unknown (ammo bunkers?)
Chip: Still looking for any information on this area.
- Twelve foot wide openings in 10 foot tall
perimeter concrete block wall. Perimeter wall was white washed.
CJ: The gates swung in and out I think. Also had a small
door for walk-in's. I think they were wood, very tall. I think the
guards were Montagnards we hired.
- Pier One. Primary pier for Nasty class PTFs in
early days. Floating pier sections able to berth six boats. Equipped
with P250 gas powered water pump for fire fighting.
- Pier Three. Floating pier section off of Pier
One used for small craft and LCM(s) assigned to base.
- Pier Four. Floating sections used by the NAD’s
Swift boats. Equipped with a P250 gas powered water pump for fire
fighting.
- Pier Two. Floating sections used in the early
days to berth the “gassers,” PTFs 1 and 2. Later, after the
aluminum boats left, the pier was used to berth up to four of the
Nasty class PTFs. Equipped with a P250 gas powered water pump for fire
fighting.
- Anchor buoy for PTFs 1 and 2. The “gassers”
were never refueled at the pier. The boats were moved out to the
refueling buoy and the 115 octane gas used to power the boats was
delivered by a truck through a hose floating on the water.
Jim: The 1 and 2 boats got their fuel from ESSO by trucks
- Searchlight that could be used to spot
intruders on Monkey Mountain or out in the harbor.
- Open area
Jim: The Deltics were stored when I was
there on the quay wall near Pier 1 so the floating crane could pick
them up and carry them around to the pier so the boat requiring an
engine change did not have to be moved. They (the Deltic diesels)
started out in crates. Then they came up with the Herulite bags that
covered the engines. If I remember right, this allowed the engines to
be air freighted if required.
CJ: This is where the engines (Napier-Deltic diesels) were kept. I
think they came in on truck and were taken off with a mobile crane we
had. There were usually six of them. We changed engines "a
lot."
- Was supposed to be Mess Hall/Sick Bay
Chip: turns out the building closer to the waterfront (#05)
was the mess hall/sick bay
Pat: I remember this building to be the one the basket boats were
stored in. The basket boats looked like a big bowl made of water tight
weaving. They were used to return properly adjusted North Vietnamese
to their homeland. The idea was to create safe houses for downed
pilots.
- Concrete slab for forklift with bunker nearby (New item)
CJ: Beside the head we put in a cement slab (1967) and later added
a roof for the fork lift. I also remember a small bunker there…four
feet deep surrounded by sand bags. Maybe eight to ten feet square.
- Trailer used as bosun's locker (New item)
Pat: The trailer was not there when I was there. Maybe it was
the trailer between the supply building and the fuel dump we used as a
botswain's locker.
- Guard trailer/Engineering Office (New item)
Pat: At the end of the main PTF pier was the guard trailer. It
looked like a hot dog stand with the front opening up on a hinge.
Inside was a guard supply area with grenades, flashlights and a nice
intercom system. This van was filled with holes when one of the guys
fired his weapon by mistake.
CJ: this was the watch trailer, also the gathering site to
"hang" before going to Camp Fay. There was a work bench
across the whole length on the "flap" side…that's where we
sat. I was there when it got filled with holes. We were waiting to go
to Camp Fay and an SN was playing with one of the AR-15s from the rack
inside…there was a bench outside on the east side but you sat low
because the trailer was still on wheels, your head just came slightly
over the bottom of the trailer. He fired about ten rounds on full
automatic that came out right over the heads of the guys sitting there…I
was on a bench by the main building when it happened. There was also a
bunker beside the trailer on the south side just before the Swift pier
(Pier 4).
Alan: When I was there from 1969 to 1971 there was a trailer that
served as the engineering office located on the shore between Piers 2
and 4. Located longitudinally along the shore with a large window
overlooking the piers (nice view).
- Gravity feed fuel oil tank/Security Tower (New item)
CJ: This was a eight hundred gallon gravity feed oil tank that was
built of aluminum so we would not have to roll fifty five gallon drums
down piers for engine changes. Didn't work too well and I only
remember the Vietnamese using it to top off oil on the boats before
missions.
Bryan: Between Piers Two and Four, very close to the water, was a 25
foot tall tower where we would watch the boats at night. I can still
remember standing mid-watches in that tower.
Alan: On the shore between Piers One and Two was a typical guard tower
(Chip's note: Alan has the tower in a different location
- Another possible location for the guard trailer? (New item)
Pat: At the end of the main PTF pier was the guard trailer. It
looked like a hot dog stand with the front opening up on a hinge.
Inside was a guard supply area with grenades, flashlights and a nice
intercom system. This van was filled with holes when one of the guys
fired his weapon by mistake.
- Fuel Line to the Piers (New item)
CJ: The fuel was piped down to the piers in I believe 6"
pipe. When they got to the floating section they had a flexible rubber
hose with wire in them to take up the up and down motion of the
tides.
- Concrete causeway (New item)
Alan: There was one of these "causeways" (about four
feet off the water at normal tides) that had no pier attached to it
when I was there. The gunner's mates used this site to dispose of
outdated/damaged ordnance. This led to an interesting incident I
witnessed. The Vietnamese did a lot of "fishing" with
concussion grenades. One day I was watching a guy "fishing"
when he tossed a grenade off this causeway. It set off the collected
ordnance in the water and there was a huge explosion. Water shot about
fifty feet in the air and the causeway partially collapsed. The guy
didn't get hurt so we all found it highly amusing!
- Security bunker (New item)
Pat: After the VC blew up the airbase in 1968, we built a sand
bag bunker in front of the main building and at the top of the piers
used to tie up the Swifts and the barge.
Jim Thomas supplied a lot of the basic information.
The photos on the website and recent navigational charts were used for
proportion and reference.
We welcome any information concerning the base layout/construction.
Please include a reference date when you saw the item you are describing.
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