Special Boats

Tip of the Spear

By: LT Bart Garrison

With special operations missions becoming more sophisticated, Naval Special Warfare (NSW) forces are increasingly relying more on its special boat squadrons for conducting maritime special operations-maritime interdiction, forward-presence, escort, noncombatant evacuation, foreign internal-defense, and long-, medium- and short-range insertion and extraction of Special Operations Forces (SOF). Additionally, the special boat squadron units support SOF operations by providing reconnaissance, intelligence collection, operational deception, and tactical-swimmer operations.

To accomplish these missions, the special boat squadrons use three types of vessels: the 170-foot patrol-coastal (PC) ship, the 11-meter naval special warfare rigid-hull inflatable boat (NSW RHIB) and the 82-foot Mark V special operations craft (MK V SOC). Both the NSW RHIB and the MK V SOC operate from the squadrons’ special boat units (SBU) and are manned by combatant crewmen, who are graduates of the NSW Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen (SWCC) course, a rigid nine-week course that focuses on basic small-boat operations, communications, maintenance, repair, navigation and tactics. The trainees also participate in a demanding physical training regime on land, in the pool and in the ocean. Once a trainee graduates, he is assigned to a special boat unit’s special boat detachment. Eventually, he will earn his combatant-crewman warfare pin, which allows him to be “closed-looped” within the community and to remain part of the special boat units throughout his service career.

The Pin

By: GMCM(CC) Jim Gray, USN(Ret.)

The “pin” or the “boat pin” is the nickname commonly used to refer to the warfare insignia worn by the “brown- water” Navy and special boat detachments. Officially, the U.S. Navy refers to it as the “small craft insignia.” The pin-gold for officers and silver for enlisted personnel-is roundish with an anchor at the bottom and a river-patrol boat in the center. There are three stars in a ribbon at the top. The Chief of Naval Operations, recognizing the responsibilities of an officer-in-charge (OIC), patrol officer or river-section leader of a combatant craft, authorized the pin for junior officers, chief petty officers and petty officers serving as a combatant-craft OIC under combat conditions during the Vietnam War.

While operating in combat conditions, the boat OIC truly earned his pin by virtue of the enormous responsibility placed on his shoulders. As the leader, he was held accountable for his craft, personnel, and operations and routinely made decisions that could ultimately mean life or death.

The officers in charge of today’s special boat units may also wear the pin and bear the same responsibility as their predecessors: sailing their craft beyond the forward-edge of battle and deep into enemy waters. If detected by the enemy, they will make life and death decisions. OICs also have weapons-release authority and are held accountable for their actions. They will participate in the mission-planning process for the insertion and extraction of SEALs, whether it is on a winding river delta or on the open sea.

Few Sailors have the opportunity to wear the pin because it is a command insignia and is not a warfare badge. It is most coveted by those in the Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen (SWCC) community because only OICs wear them. For those who have been and are in the special boat units, the diminutive insignia is steeped in a tradition of valor and courage under fire. Those Sailors who are part of this community -past or present- truly understand and appreciate what the pin represents.

Life Aboard a PC—

The Command Chief’s Perspective

By: BMC(SW/CC) Dean Bottomley, USN

The achievements of USS Monsoon (PC 4) reflect the versatility of the patrol coastals and the dedication of her crew. Homeported in Coronado, Calif., and attached to Commander, Special Boat Squadron 1, Monsoon has participated in numerous joint and international operations in every major theater of the world.

Following her commissioning in 1994, Monsoon deployed immediately to support the United Nations’ embargo operations against Haiti. The following year Monsoon participated in UNITAS, training South American naval special warfare units in littoral special operations. The ship returned to Central and South America in 1996 where she again provided support to U.S. and foreign Special Operations Forces (SOF), and conducted counterdrug operations. In 1998, Monsoon and her sister ship, USS Hurricane (PC 3), sailed from San Diego to the Western Pacific as a part of the task force conducting CARAT 98, a multinational exercise with the special forces and navies from Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This exercise was the first time ships of this size had deployed to Southeast Asia since World War II.

Life inside this 170-foot hull is unlike any in the fleet. From underway watchstanding to in-port daily operations, the 30-member crew can claim no specific task to be their own.

The mess specialist, for example, not only cooks for the crew, but also stands watch as lookout, is a 25-mm gunner during general quarters (GQ) and is an emergency medical technician during medical emergencies. The gunner’s mate is not only responsible for the weapons, but also is search-and-rescue swimmer-qualified and cooks dinner for his duty section when the ship is in port.

The enginemen man weapons during GQ, train as visit, board, search and seizure team members, qualify as boat coxswain for in-port liberty runs and assist the deck and operations departments with daily tasking such as underway replenishments and mooring evolutions. The boatswain’s mates not only are responsible for the usual topside gear, but also are commonly found performing rounds as sounding and security, conducting preventive weapons’ maintenance, or leading the fire party as the on-scene leader.

These fleet Sailors also do without the comforts of fleet-sized ships: there is no crew’s lounge, wardroom, ship’s store, or ship’s laundry service. They have what they can fit into their lockers when underway. When the ship is not deployed, they live ashore, or in the bachelor’s enlisted quarters. They are all part of the mess and pay mess dues. They cross-train to carry out the ship’s mission and must set aside any differences to ensure mission success. Yet, the greatest attribute of being stationed on board a PC is the opportunity to qualify in areas that few enlisted can attain: senior enlisted Sailors can qualify as a chief engineer or officer of the deck-underway.

Port calls are probably the next biggest attraction because “size” enables PCs to visit ports fleet-size ships can’t enter: Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallerta, Belize, Limón, Costa Rica.

On the average cruise, the ship pulls into port every four to six days for refueling and fresh supplies. Maintenance-support teams are always one step ahead of the ship, establishing a logistics-support base at the port before the ship arrives.

As assets of naval special warfare, PCs are called on for a variety of missions-it is not uncommon for a West Coast PC to be deployed to the Caribbean as well as the Western Pacific.

From 1993 to 1995, West Coast PCs served in several theaters including operations in Haiti and exercises in Central America.

Patrol-Coastal Ships—Capitalizing on Size and Speed

By: LT James Mills and

CTT1(SW) William Norgaard

Under cover of darkness, the patrol coastal ship USS Monsoon (PC 4) is preparing to evacuate U.S. citizens from an unstable foreign country. On the bridge, the captain is overseeing the senior radioman as he takes the deck and places the ship in “Condition II-GUNS.” Within moments, the ship’s electronics technician and mess specialist man the port and starboard .50-caliber machine guns while a gunner’s mate heads aft to ready a 25 mm cannon. The ship’s cryptologic technician (technical) and operations specialist are in the combat information center ensuring all of the CIC’s sensors and communications equipment are functioning properly before making a “ready” report to the pilot house. On the mess deck, the boat crew is completing preparations before they begin manning the boat deck. The ship goes “dark” and all personnel are manned and ready. The ship is now ready for its mission.

The Cyclone-class PCs were built with the primary mission to “conduct coastal patrol and interdiction operations in support of special operations forces (SOF) and conventional naval forces.” Typical PC missions range from SOF insertion and extraction to convoy support operations. Although most PC missions involve clandestine operations, the platform can defend itself and perform sustained, offensive combat operations at sea, both in the littorals and on the open ocean. In addition, PCs routinely operate with the U.S. Coast Guard and foreign navies to perform maritime interception and counter-drug operations worldwide.

The 170-foot long Cyclone-class coastal patrol ship has a 25-foot maximum beam width, four Paxman-Valienta diesel engines, four shafts, a 360-ton displacement and a 7.8-foot draft. In addition, PCs are armed with two 25 mm cannons, five .50-caliber machine guns, Stinger anti-air missiles and various small-caliber weapons.

Because of the limited number of personnel assigned to the ship, cross-training is necessary and results in unique opportunities for Sailors to excel in and out of their rates. A tour on a PC ship offers the junior Sailor the opportunity to earn qualifications as an officer of the deck-underway, combat information center officer, engineering officer of the watch and fire party leader. Moreover, it is not unusual for dedicated enlisted personnel to achieve qualifications typically reserved for officers. Junior Sailors often are division officers in their primary duty, along with having multiple collateral duties.

Professional leadership traits and valuable experiences gained from a tour aboard a PC are priceless. Every crewmember is crucial to the planning and execution of the assigned missions. Nowhere else in the Navy are the actions of a single Sailor so instrumental to the overall success of the ship.

It’s a Great Day to be a Boat Guy

By: DCCS (CC/SW) P. J. Battles, USN

Just one great day on the water makes me appreciate what a superb job I have. I tend to remember the good days, the beautiful sunsets and the great seas but there are always bad days-huge seas, long transits in rough weather and the cold! You really cannot appreciate the great days without being cold, wet and miserable some of the time. Then there are those missions with seas that would make a fish walk, and your most hardened combatant crewman get seasick.

I will always remember the “great days to be a boat guy.” My detachment was embarked on board USS Cleveland (LPD 7), which was deployed with an amphibious ready group (ARG) to the Western Pacific.

The ship was stationed briefly in the Red Sea off the Coast of Eritrea, supporting a possible noncombatant evacuation mission. We launched two naval special warfare (NSW) 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIB) for maintenance and IFF testing. The seas were calm, and the sunset was fantastic. I also remember on that same deployment, nights when the seas were so luminescent you could have read a book by them.

Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Boxer was conducting maritime interdiction operations in the Northern Arabian Gulf in support of the 5th Fleet. We launched our RHIBs and joined three other small craft belonging to the United Kingdom’s Royal Marines. Our small flotilla began making way at 25 knots. There was no moon, and the sky was pitch black. The bioluminescence was fantastic, so when we got close to the operations area we had to slow down to avoid detection.

Any boat guy knows bad weather; big seas and long transits go with the job. These things all came into play in the channels between the Hawaiian Islands. During RIMPAC ’98, my detachment was tasked with inserting a reconnaissance and surveillance element near the entrance to Pearl Harbor. The Cleveland launched our two RHIBs near Kaneohe Bay on the eastern side of Oahu, about 45 nautical miles from the insertion point. The seas were six feet at launch and getting bigger-inside the channel separating the islands of Oahu and Molokai, the seas had increased to 18-foot walls of water. We could not see the bottom of the wave crest when we looked over the side of the RHIB. I never really appreciated how well a RHIB handled under the expert seamanship of a well-trained crew in such large seas until that night. We got the SEALs to their insertion point and then headed back the same way we came, this time into the seas, head on.

As our craft improves so does the distance it travels. The new 11-meter RHIB has a range of 190 nautical miles. With these new sea legs the boat crew can travel further and stay out longer. But the seas never cooperate, and speeds must be reduced: four-hour transits become eight-hour roller coaster rides. Yet, it is “a great time to be a boat guy.”

We have been given great platforms. Besides the 11-meter RHIB, we have the Mark V special operations craft (MK V SOC). We also have new weapons: the MK 23 SOCOM .45-caliber pistol, the M-4 carbine, the MK 19 40-mm grenade launcher and laser sights. We have Global Positioning Systems for navigation and satellite communications, along with digital imagery-transfer capabilities.

But in this day of new equipment, we have to be careful not to forget what really makes “a great boat guy”-boat maintenance, navigation, heavy weapons and tactical communications.

Ah, boat maintenance. Constant maintenance-everything must work all the time and salt water is unforgiving. This is truly where a good combatant crewman stands out. You can swim all you want, you can do push-ups for days and run everyone else into the ground, but if your boat cannot leave the pier, you are useless. Our craft must be reliable, and boat maintenance is the key.

We have faster craft today, but they also have become more advanced technically. The days of shimming pumps and putting quarters in the governor are over. Diligent and experienced boat engineers are an absolute must in today’s special boat units.

BMCM (CC/SW) Kelly Webb, the U.S. Navy’s most senior combatant crewman once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, don’t go there fast!” Those words sum up navigation and are good words of wisdom in every situation. Yes, we have new navigation systems, GPS and installed computer-driven charts, but charts still need correcting. Every detachment member must study these charts because navigational tracks still must be laid out on paper charts and carried out while underway. The craft we have go very fast but the coxswain must know when, and, more importantly, know when not to use that speed. GPS systems do not negate the responsibility of the detachment navigator to dead reckon (DR) with a good seaman’s eye. DR navigation is an absolute must. If you do not know where you are going and you cannot navigate, you just do not leave the pier.

Heavy-weapons knowledge also is a tool of the trade. The new RHIB supports a better weapons’ package than previous iterations. My preferred weapons’ posture is to mount .50-caliber M2HB machine guns with a PEQ-2 lasers forward on both craft and a .50-caliber aft on one RHIB with a MK 19 MOD 3 40-mm grenade machine gun on the other-pretty heavy fire support for two small boats. Each mount also supports M60 7.62-mm machine guns. The MK V SOC supports similar weapons, but has twin .50-caliber mounts. Any day spent shooting any one of these weapons is “a great day to be a boat guy.”

Communication is quickly becoming the key to all operations. My task unit commander said, “If you can’t talk to me, you don’t leave the ship.” The RHIBs and MK V craft have on-board Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), internal VHF, UHF, HF and satellite communication radios, which can operate in the clear or in the encrypted mode. In addition, each man in the detachment carries a PRC-112 escape and evasion radio while underway, for safety.

All crewmembers in the special boat units are a potential communicator and must be able to operate and troubleshoot communications systems. This is a new area of responsibility and must quickly be learned. The old, reliable PRC-77 is gone and has been replaced with DAMA-capable satellite radios.

Tomorrow’s combatant crewmen will be equipped with laptop computers and digital cameras. The real-time transfer of information and imagery will be the norm. We must adapt with the times…and always carry radio expertise in our toolbox!

A special warfare operation craft detachment is a team. Detachment commanders are junior officers or senior enlisted personnel and must have superior tactical-employment knowledge. A good armorer is as valuable as a good engineer or coxswain. If the engineer is not accountable for his craft then the detachment cannot get underway. The navigator is responsible for safe navigation, often at high speeds, and almost always at night; his “weapon” is usually a radar and his ability to discern contacts. The petty officer in charge is responsible for his craft, crew and weapons. Nowhere today in the U.S. Navy do junior enlisted personnel have so much authority, including weapons-release authority. In addition, as a RHIB detachment chief, I have the pride of calling these fine young Sailors, “my detachment.”

We work for the Special Operation Command, and we’re trained at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, Calif. We are not SEALs, but instead, highly trained Naval Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen. We have a proud heritage that started in the littoral waterways of Vietnam and continues in today’s Sailors. And, yes, today is a “great day to be a boat guy.”

Warfare in Shallow Water

By: GMCM (CC) Jim Gray, USN (Ret.)

Naval special warfare and coastal riverine warfare operations for the U. S. Navy are as old as the American Revolution and have been used in every war the United States has been involved in when coastlines and rivers are in the area of operations. The modern development of the special boat squadrons can be traced back to World War II’s combatant crafts: the famous PT (patrol torpedo) boat and the PC (patrol coastal) in coastal-interdiction operations. One PT boat squadron, composed of only 3 PT boats, would have the sole mission of special operations-inserting and extracting OSS (Office of Strategic Services) agents behind enemy lines. The small unit, which became the model for today’s special boat units, deployed to the European Theater and was successful in numerous missions before D-Day.

During the 1950s, the United States turned its PT boats over to the South Korean Navy with American Sailors, under the command of CAPT Phil Bucklew of Naval special warfare fame in WWII. This mission, again, would define the role for today’s Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen (SWCC).

Vietnam began in 1962 with SEAL advisors but quickly expanded to boat operations. In 1964 Bucklew, then the commanding officer of Naval Operations Support Unit 1 (equivalent to today’s Naval Special Warfare Command) created, and commissioned, Boat Support Unit 1 (BSU1). This combatant craft unit’s mission was to support underwater demolition team (UDT) and SEAL teams on combat operations along the rivers, deltas and coastlines of Vietnam. Other “brown-water” Navy units would, on occasion, support SEALs during an operation, but only the boat-support unit detachments would deploy with a SEAL platoon for an entire deployment.

In 1971, BSU 1 was renamed Coastal Riverine Squadron 1. In 1978 the coastal riverine squadrons were renamed special boat squadrons with special boat units as their operational arm. Just like in the past, the SBUs would train its detachments and then deploy them to support a SEAL platoon, including deployments with amphibious ready groups. The small boat units also support other special operation forces and have combat mission requirements in coastal riverine warfare as well

Special boat unit detachments are deployed worldwide and have been involved in recent conflicts in Grenada, Lebanon, Panama and Somalia, as well as participating in Operation Earnest Will and Desert Storm. In the 1990s the PCs were added to the Naval Special Warfare inventories for coastal patrol and interdiction and placed under the operational control of the special boat squadrons.

These articles were published in Surface Warfare Magazine and downloaded from the Internet.