Armored Troop Carriers (ATC), often called ''Tangos'' from the phonetic alphabet for ''T'', were LCM-6 landing craft modified for riverine patrol missions. They were used by the

Mobile Riverine Force In the Vietnam War, the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) (after May 1967), initially designated Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force, and later the Riverines, were a joint US Army and US Navy force that comprised a substantial part of the brown-water n ...

(MRF) of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. They were also used by

Republic of Vietnam Navy The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; - ''HQVNCH''; was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam) from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats f ...

(RVNN) and Khmer National Navy.

History

The MRF began to be organised in late 1966 with the arrival of the 2nd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division at Vung Tau on 19 December 1966. The Navy contribution would be RIVFLOT 1, comprising two river assault squadrons (RAS 9 and RAS 11), each with two river assault divisions under them. The basic mission of RIVFLOT 1 was to transport Army troops to battle zones and support them in battle. The craft the Navy acquired for this task was the ATC, a modified LCM-6. Like its World War II ancestor, it had a large well deck for transporting troops and a drop-down ramp for landing soldiers on a hostile beach. The RVNN had been using LCM variants in its river assault groups for many years, so the craft had a proven track record on the rivers. The U.S. Army, however, wanted more than a simple landing craft; it desired a craft capable of patrolling rivers, providing fire support for troops and minesweeping. The boat ultimately developed was equal parts assault craft and troop transporter. The Tango was long with a beam and a draft. Displacing , it could achieve a top speed of knots with its twin Gray Marine 225-hp diesel engines, however armor and weapons reduced the effective speed to 4-7 knots. At with a full fuel load of of diesel, the Tango could travel without refueling. High-hardness XAR-30-type steel and bar armor provided ballistic protection for the crew from rounds up to .50-caliber in size and offered some protection against

high explosive anti-tank High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity ...

(HEAT) rounds up to 57mm. Below-waterline hull blisters provided added hull protection, minimized draft, and increased stability. The Tango's armor, however, generally could not withstand the full force of a B40 HEAT grenade. Armament on the Tango usually consisted of one

20 mm cannon 20 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. The dividing line between smaller-caliber weapons, commonly called "guns", from larger-caliber "cannons" (e.g. machine gun vs. autocannon), is conventionally taken to be the 20 m ...

, two .50-caliber and four .30-caliber machine guns, two Mk 18 grenade launchers and various personal weapons (

M16 rifle The M16 (officially Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of assault rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States Armed Forces, United States military. The original M16 was a 5.56×45mm NATO, 5.56×45mm automatic ...

s, shotguns and

M79 grenade launcher The M79 grenade launcher is a single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher that fires a 40 mm grenade, 40×46mm grenade, which uses what the US Army calls the High-Low System, High-Low Propulsion System to keep recoil forces low, and ...

s). The ATC carried a Navy crew of seven and could accommodate a platoon of 40 soldiers, an

M113 armored personnel carrier The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier (APC) that was developed and produced by the FMC Corporation. The M113 was sent to United States Army Europe in 1961 to replace the mechanized infantry's M59 armored personnel carrier, M59 A ...

, or a 105mm howitzer with a prime mover. By the end of 1967 each river assault squadron contained 26 ATCs, 16 Assault Support Patrol Boats (ASPBs), five Monitors, two command and control boats (CCBs) and one refueller (a modified LCM).

Operators

* – U.S. Navy * –

* – Khmer National Navy

References

Bibliography

*Gordon L. Rottman and Hugh Johnson, ''Vietnam Riverine Craft 1962-75'', New Vanguard series 128, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 2006.

External links

*http://www.warboats.org/ATC.htm *http://www.rivervet.com/tango.htm *https://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/detail.asp?ship_id=Armored-Troop-Carrier-ATC {{DEFAULTSORT:Armored Troop Carrier (LCM) Military equipment of the Vietnam War Patrol boats

History

Operators

See also

References

Bibliography

External links