Operation Deckhouse Five was a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

(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 Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. "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 I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

. An SLF was the designation of the Marine battalion (1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment reinforced) and the 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 , , war = the Vietnam War , image = FNL Flag.svg , caption = The flag of the Viet Cong, adopted in 1960, is a variation on the flag of North Vietnam. Sometimes the lower stripe was green. , active ...

and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) activity. The intent of the operation was to secure ammunition dumps, ordnance and engineering workshops, hospitals, and indoctrination centers.

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 Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 (HMLA-367) was a United States Marine Corps helicopter squadron consisting of AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters and UH-1Y Venom utility helicopters. Originally commissioned during World War II, the squadr ...

USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) USS ''Iwo Jima'' (LPH-2) was the lead ship of her class and type—the first amphibious assault ship to be designed and built from the keel up as a dedicated helicopter carrier. She carried helicopters and typically embarked USMC elements of a ...

* 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

External links

Information from www.vietnam-war.info

Deckhouse Five Deckhouse Five Deckhouse Five Conflicts in 1967 1967 in Vietnam Deckhouse Five United States Marine Corps in the Vietnam War January 1967 events in Asia History of Bến Tre Province {{USMC-stub