As I wrote earlier in “Run, Skipper, Run!” the Point Welcome was moored at the Navy Swift Boat base in Qui Nhon, about 120 miles south of Danang when the Tet Offensive began on 30 January 1968. 

After the events of that night, we quickly left port around 20:30. Once out of the harbor, we were unable to communicate with any other American units because all the communication frequencies were overloaded. I made the decision to return to Danang.  At near maximum speed of 15 knots, the trip would take about 8 hours.

It was dawn when we got to Danang.  We moored as usual alongside three or four other Coast Guard Cutters. As the crew began the standard procedure of taking on fuel and water, I disembarked and talked with a couple of the other Commanding Officers.  I told them what had happened to us in Qui Nhon, and they told me of similar reports from other outposts. No one knew much about what was going on as there was supposed to be “cease fire” for the Tet Holiday.

Later that morning, the in-port CO’s met with the Division 12 staff.  They did not provide us with much additional information about what was happening in-country, but we did get an additional assignment. We were told that while we were in-port we would be providing extra security for the merchant cargo ships anchored in the harbor, in the event of further enemy attacks.

Danang Harbor was a large, deep water harbor and was not unusual to have 20 to 30 large cargo ships anchored awaiting dock space to unload their cargo, which was usually highly flammable aviation fuel or high explosives such as bombs and large and small arms ammunition. The biggest threat to these anchored vessels was an attack by a Viet Cong swimmer sapper armed with limpet mines or other explosive devices.

VC swimmer sappers were highly trained and very skilled. From a swimmer sapper captured in Cam Ranh Bay, it was learned that the swimmer sappers underwent up to two full years of training. This training included swimming distances of 600 meters underwater and up to 50 kilometers on the surface. Sappers were also trained in hand to hand combat, demolition techniques, and infiltration and exfiltration techniques.

Because it was known that the VC conducted significant reconnaissance before a sapper mission, the Coast Guard believed that scare tactics would be the best deterrent.  In this case, that deterrent was dropping concussion grenades into the water around the cargo ships at irregular intervals.  The grenades contained the equivalent of one-half pound of TNT and they were useful within 70 feet of a swimmer.  At 5 feet, the blast was lethal.  Out to 30 feet the swimmer was stunned but could recover.  Beyond 50 feet there was no physical harm, but the loudness of the explosion could frighten the sapper away.

Since most sapper attacks were expected to be at night, the in-port Cutters took turns doing random sorties dropping grenades around the anchored ships. 

So far as I know, none of the 82’s ever hit a swimmer sapper, but there was a good byproduct of our efforts.  At first light in the morning, we broke out scoop nets with long handles and collected any floating fish.  We usually collected enough fish to have a fish fry for all of the in-port WPBs and Division staff and any excess was given to the Vietnamese Junk Force Base.

Hence, “fishing” with dynamite in Danang Harbor.  This would never have been legal in the United States.