Operation Deckhouse Five

Operation Deckhouse Five was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) and Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps operation that took place from 6-15 January 1967 in the Mekong Delta, during the Vietnam War. "The ten-day sweep," reported the AP from its daily military roundup from Saigon, "proved unproductive."

Background

For the USMC, the operation was notable for the following reasons: it was a sizable, combined USMC and Vietnamese Marine amphibious operation and it was the last Special Landing Force (SLF) amphibious landing to take place beyond the boundaries of I Corps. An SLF was the designation of the Marine battalion and medium helicopter squadron (HMM) assigned to the Seventh Fleet Amphibious Ready Group. The SLF regularly conducted amphibious operations across Vietnamese beaches into areas of suspected Viet Cong and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) activity.

Operation

After 2 days of postponement due to bad weather, the operation began on 6 January with a sea and heliborne assault onto the beaches between the Co Chien and Ham Luong branches of the Mekong Delta which was suspected of being a Viet Cong stronghold.

Supporting units

• HMM-362
• VMO-3
• USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2)
• USS Canberra (CA-70)

Aftermath

The operation was a disappointment resulting in only 21 Vietcong killed, 2 small arms workshops destroyed and 44 weapons captured for the loss of 7 US and 1 Vietnamese Marines. It was believed that the Vietcong had been forewarned of the attack because intelligence learned that larger Vietcong units had recently left the area.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps.

External links

• Information from www.vietnam-war.info
• E/2/3 memorial page