In the continuing Vietnam operation known as Game Warden, Navy Task Force 116 has the job of controlling the river and swamp areas in the Mekong Delta and in the Rung Sat Special Zone surrounding the main shipping channel to Saigon. Navy Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron Three is one supporting unit in the task force, which is mainly built around PBR river boat units. The "Seawolves," as the squadron is known, number some 250 personnel and 22 helicopters, deployed about the area in seven detachments. Detachment Three, pictured here, is based at Vinh Long, an Army base located on the Mekong River, about 55 miles southwest of Saigon. The detachment has two UH-1B "Huey" gunships and one utility helicopter, manned by 11 officers and ten enlisted crewmen. A 35-man unit, which also serves three other detachments, provides aircraft maintenance support. In the images above, the helicopters are serviced and armed in preparation for a combat patrol.
With the co-pilot (above) serving as navigator, one of the gunships weaves at treetop level over a suspected Viet Cong staging area. The four-man helicopters always operate in pairs, permitting one to fly cover on the other.
Diverted by radio to the Ham Luong River, where a PBR has been heavily damaged by recoilless rifle fire, the lead helicopter turns in for a firing run on the riverbank ambush site.
A burst of white smoke, below, marks the impact of a 2.75-inch rocket a few hundred feet from the burning PBR, which is barely visible through the trees at far right. Shortly afterward, another Navy gunship removed a seriously wounded crewman from the river boat, and after the helicopters departed to refuel and rearm, two Air Force F-100s arrived to continue the strike against an estimated 300 Viet Cong in the area.
Length, over-all 53 feet
Length of Fuselage 42 feet, 7 inches
Diameter of Main Rotor 44 feet
Diameter of Tail Rotor 8 feet, 6 inches
Weight, empty 4,500 pounds
Maximum Take-off Weight 8,500 pounds
Power Plant One 1,100-shaft-horse-power turbine
Maximum Cruising Speed 138 miles per hour
Crew of 4 (pilot, co-pilot, crew chief, door gunner)
Armament:
4 externally-mounted M60 7.62-mm. machine guns (fired by co-pilot)
14 2.75-inch folding-fin aircraft rockets (2 pods of 7 each, fired by pilot)
2-hand-held M60 machine guns (fired by crew chief and door gunner)
2 hand-held M79 grenade launchers (fired by crew chief and door gunner)
Manufactured by Bell Helicopter Company, Fort Worth, Texas
All Navy UH-1B helicopters in Vietnam were received from U. S. Army inventories