Where was the alpha boat useful?

Answer 1

Of the four riverine boats operated by the USN's Brown Water Navy in South Vietnam, only the ASPB (Alpha) was designed and built specifically for the Vietnam War. The famed Swift Boat (PCF-Patrol Craft Fast) was actually a design taken from an oil rig transport boat that took workmen to and from oil rig sites in the Gulf of Mexico. The PBR (Patrol Boat River) was a quick design based upon civilian pleasure craft, and the Monitor was simply a converted WWII LCM (Landing Craft Medium).

The ASPB (Alpha boat) was designed and built by the Gunderson Brothers out of Portland Oregon in 1966. The vessels were designed to be mine proof and heavily armed for combat specifially on the rivers of South Vietnam; and they arrived in country in 1967. The Brown Water Navy primarily used Alpha boats for mine-sweeping, in which they often led the way of the riverine boats as they deployed up and down the rivers. They were a little over 50' long and 15' wide, and displaced roughly 25 tons. Powered by two 475 hp diesels, and manned by six crewmen, the machine had a speed of about 16 knots, and was armed with 2 fifties, a 20mm and one 81mm mortar. The Alpha boat was considered the "destroyer" of the Brown Water Navy (while the Monitor was called the "battleship" of the riverine forces; this vessel was armed with either a 40mm or 105mm cannon mounted in a turret).