McKenney, Norman LaForest, ET2

A task assigned to the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam war was harbor defense. Massive amounts of matenel came to Vietnam by ship and were unloaded at any of several major harbors in Vietnam. Ships waiting at anchor to unload were vulnerable to sapper attack. And because of the heavy traffic passing in and out of these harbors, infiltration of enemy supplies and men was a continual worry. On 14 January 1966, MACV directed CHNAVADVGRU to create a plan for the defense of Vietnam's major harbors. In February representatives from CINCPACFLT, CHNA-VADVGRU, and COMIUWGRU1 (Commander Inshore Un-dersea Warfare Group 1-a San Diego-based command already in existence) traveled to Da Nang, Qui Nhon, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh, and Vung Tau. They found that Da Nang had already developed a good harbor defense system, but that the other ports needed some help. In Saigon the group de-cided that each harbor except Da Nang would need a Harbor Entrance Control Post, a tactical command center in the best location to see and control the harbor, equipped with enough radar and communications equipment to coordinate the op~ erations of assigned patrol craft. COMIUWGRU 1 would ini-tially provide detachments to man the sites until permanent personnel could he gradually phased in. These units would fall under the operational control of Commander Task Force 115 as part of Market Time. In August 1966 they received their own name, Operation Stable Door, but remained a part ofTask Force 115. Assigned to these units were LCPLs (Landing Craft, Per-sonnel, Large), 16-foot skimmer craft (Boston Whalers), and a specially designed 45-foot "picket boat" that began arriv-ing in Vietnam after June 1967 and carried a crew of five men plus one officer. The other craft were assigned to all enlisted crews. The total Stable Door inventory would eventually reach a peak of sixteen LCPLs, twenty-five skimmers, and eight picket boaters. In early 1968 another unit was established at Vung Ro Bay, bringing the total to five. They were designated by that time as Inshore Undersea Warfare Units: IUWU-1 at Vung Tau, IUWU-2 at Cam Ranh, IUWU-3 at Qui Nhon, IUWUA at Nha Trang, and IUWU-5 at Vung Ro. The total force con-sisted of more than 500 people at its peak. A November 1968 COMNAVFORV press release described the Stable Door mission: STABLE DOOR units maintain 24 hour visual and radar surveillance of harbor approaches and anchorage areas. STABLE DOOR harbor patrol boats intercept and search local indigenous craft, maintain a vigilant watch for en-emy swimmers or floating objects which could be mines, and carry Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) diver personnel for inspection of ship's hulls and anchor chains. These duties proved to be even more mundane than the average Market Time operation. Once the patrols began, the enemy moved their infiltration attempts from these harbors to the coastal areas where the chances of success were greater. Sabotage attempts on anchored ships continued throughout the war, but the men on Stable Door patrols were dealing with an unseen enemy. They conducted random sweeps of the harbor, dropping grenades into the water and watching for bubbles that might mark a sapper's approach. Occasion-ally bodies washed up on the beach as evidence of their suc-cess, or ships exploded as evidence of their failure, but very rarely did they find themselves in a direct confrontation with the enemy. Theirs was an important but intangible job. Not until January 1968 did a Stable Door unit make its first capture of an enemy swimmer.