Viet Nam 044. A MK V Deep Sea Diver going down at Tien Sha Ramp, near Monkey Mountain. This was an indoctrination dive for this Navy Diver volunteer, a requirement to enter the diving program. He passed this test and I wonder whether he made it, I’m sure he would like these photographs.
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This is a collection of pictures from my 1-year service (1966-67) on the Da Nang Naval Support Activity Diving Barge and shows some of our diving jobs. The next 21 month in Viet Nam I carried out other duties!
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Viet Nam 025. The most frequent job we had was changing screws, shafts and bearings of all kinds of watercrafts. That is me, tending a diver who is using a mask with a hose for air. Our Command, the Naval Support Activity, NSA, supplied all of I Corps Tactical Zone (one of four in South Viet Nam) with bullets and beans by watercrafts and ships, up and down the I Corps coast.
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Viet Nam 026. Forgot, where I got this map from. It is a closer view of the Greater Da Nang area. If you open it to full size, it is easier to read.
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Viet Nam 027. This map came from Jim Henthorn. I marked it up with some of the work areas where we did our diving in Greater Da Nang. Red Beach, in the middle of the Da Nang Bay, is on the map, but I failed to mark it!
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Viet Nam 028. There is my good Buddy BM2 DV2 Fitzgerald tending a diver with a Jack Brown Mask We divers berthed on our barge and drew our chow from the APLs, just gave the Supply Officer a hand scribbled list of what food rations we needed.
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Viet Nam 029. A great many jobs were lifting sunken crafts, stuff that dropped over the side, Soldiers or Sailors who drowned, or casualties which drifted in the water.
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Viet Nam 030. Here a job in the middle of the Da Nang River-fouled screws. That was another frequent job. The three divers here and I , all, made the Navy a Career. BM2 DV2 Fitzgerald, sitting, BM1 DV2 Bamberger, outboard. I never heard from BM1 Bamberger again, I would like to; does anyone have some info?
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Viet Nam 031. Our diving Barge, outboard of a LCU-1600 Class Landing Craft. Our diving equipment and a shack was built up on a SeaBee pontoon barge, with some big outboards. This is on the Da Nang River in Da Nang.
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Viet Nam 032. The only pic I got from Chu Lai, south of Da Nang. Here we pulled the fuel rig up and welded the damaged part. Right is CPO Gibbens from a SeaBee outfit here. We were later in Washington DC in the same First-Class-Diver class. Left is our diver BM1 Fitzgerald, later we two were stationed in Pearl Harbor.
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Viet Nam 033. I do not remember the two fellow’s names. We are diving on the fuel line to Red Beach. In back is the range where the pass to Hue runs- forgot its famous name. Maybe the smoke in back is Allied artillery fire.
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Viet Nam 034. Small tankers did bring in most of the fuel supplies. We dove on fuel lines up and down the I Corps coast. This one is at Red Beach in Da Nang. Later there was a bigger one at China Beach. I got in trouble there and was treated in the recompression Chamber on Table 4.
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Viet Nam 035. The full length of Red Beach in back of this Navy AOG, a gasoline tanker. Ships move in their moorings, and some time tear up the fuel lines. The Call; “Divers to the Front” gets us onto the job!
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Viet Nam 036. We even rethreaded pipe underwater but later in most cases we just pulled up the whole rig and repaired it on the surface. Left is Monkey Mountain and in back the entrance to the Da Nang River.
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Viet Nam 037. That is me in my younger days-24 years old. What a job-jumping into warm water!!!. We dove on many of those ships out there in the Da Nang Bay for various troubles they needed divers for.
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Viet Nam 038. Still at the Red Beach Fuel Line. We dove on the fuel lines in Chu Lai, China Beach, Hue and Cua Viet by the DMZ. Many of my photos were shot by beginners like me. In back is Monkey Mountain and we see the service road go up that hill all the way. The U.S. had anti aircraft rocket batteries there since the beginning of our involvement in Viet Nam.
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Viet Nam 039. One night the spilled fuel that had ended up at the beach went up in flames. If the job took longer, we stayed there overnight the spilled fuel that had ended up at the beach went up in flames. This was Red Beach where the underwater fuel line was. In foul weather the fueling ships caused damages and we repaired it. One of my friends got hurt from jet fuel that was buried in the mud underwater.
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Viet Nam 040. My Petty Officer in Charge, John T. Brady heads the diver. The SeeBee Diver holding him; I forgot his name. Jim Starcher, EN 2 DV 2 is at right. I was in contact with him in later years and he had made Master Diver. That is EN2 DV2 Starcher at right.
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Viet Nam 041. Here we slap the 80-pound belt on to a Deep-Sea-Diver applicant. Applicant divers had to dive in this rig as a prerequisite. The whole rig weight about 190+ pounds.
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Viet Nam 042. The Applicant diver is walking to the ladder. The whole outfit weighs about 190 plus pounds. It was ideal, diving from this front porch of our Diving barge.
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Viet Nam 043. The Applicant diver is going down. We were tied up at Tien Sha Ramp most of the time until an armed VN Army Soldier came down one time and wanted to do us harm. Background story is left out.
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Viet Nam 044. A MK V Deep Sea Diver going down at Tien Sha Ramp, near Monkey Mountain. This was an indoctrination dive for this Navy Diver volunteer, a requirement to enter the diving program. He passed this test and I wonder whether he made it, I’m sure he would like these photographs.
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Viet Nam 045. A MK V Deep Sea Diver going down at Tin Sha Ramp, near Monkey Mountain. This was an indoctrination dive for this Navy Diver volunteer, a requirement to enter the diving program. He passed this test and I wonder whether he made it, I’m sure he would like these photographs.