Assault Craft Unit ONE, (ACU-1) is a

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

Maritime Prepositioning Force Strategic sealift ships are part of the United States Military Sealift Command's (MSC) prepositioning program. There are currently 17 ships in the program, strategically positioned around the world to support the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

operated under Naval Beach Group ONE out of Naval Amphibious Base (NAB) Coronado with a Forward Detachment in

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

, Japan. ACU-1's force consists of Landing Craft Utility (LCU) boats, Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM), Mark 8 boats , and Maritime Prepositioning Force Utility Boats (MPFUBs) . The sister unit of ACU-1 is Assault Craft Unit 2 in

Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

History

Assault Craft Unit 1 traces its roots to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as hundreds of LCUs were decommissioned, leaving 30 LCUs in the command of "Centralized Flotilla Command" in NAB Coronado known as LCU Squadron ONE. In July, 1947, a neighboring command, Boat Unit ONE, was created to command Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) LCM-3s and Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP)s. In 1950, the two commands participated in the

Battle of Inchon The Battle of Incheon (), also spelled Battle of Inchon, was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved ...

and in every amphibious operation of the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

afterward. In 1963, the LCU Squadron ONE and Boat Unit ONE were merged to make Assault Craft Squadron 1 (ACS-1). In 1968, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) directed to have ACS-1 and its Assault Craft Divisions ELEVEN, TWELVE and THIRTEEN be disestablished and reformed as Assault Craft Unit ONE (ACU 1). In 1990, in response to the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

, ACU-1 was a first responder, acting to transport and unload cargo from Maritime Prepositioning Ships using LCM-8s. Since the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, ACU-1 has operated outside of a strictly military role, providing humanitarian services and disaster relief. Recently, ACU-1 has operated with other Amphibious Battalions providing Military logistics for the Key Resolve/Foal Eagle Military exercise in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

LCU 1500 Memorial

On 28 February 1968, near Ocean View, Viet Nam, LCU 1500 was hit by a rocket, killing the

Radioman Radioman (RM) was a rating for United States Navy and United States Coast Guard Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel, specializing in Military communications, communications technology. History of the rating The rating was created originally in 1 ...

. One year later, on 27 February 1969, while loading ammunition in

Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is o ...

, an enemy rocket hit the nearly loaded craft and killed 13 crew aboard. On 14 March 1969, ACU-1 began an annual memorial to the 14 sailors that lost their lives on LCU 1500. At the ACU-1 compound on NAB Coronado, a recreational

cabana Cabana, cabanas or cabañas may refer to: *Cabana (structure), either a small hut built with a thatched roof, or a recreational structure with at least one wall open at a beachside or poolside club Places * Cabana, Peru, capital of the Cabana D ...

was erected near its piers and painted to look like LCU 1500. The cabana houses pictures of the crew and ship as well as a memorial with the names of the slain Sailors.

Structure

The six departments of ACU-1 are Landing Craft, Administration, Engineering, Medical, Operations, and Supply. The most prevalent ratings at the command are Boatswain's Mates (BM), Enginemen (EN), Quartermasters (QM), and Undesignated Seamen (SN). Secondary and support ratings at ACU-1 include Culinary Specialists (CS), Damage Controlmen (DC), Electrician's Mates (EM), Hull Maintenance Technicians (HT), Logistics Specialists (LS), Machinist's Mates (MM), Operations Specialists (OS), Navy Counselors (NC), and Yeomen (YN). The LC department is divided into three divisions; LCU, MPF, and MRF. The LCU Division operates its LCUs which can make long deployments independently or aboard larger amphibious vessels such as LHDs and LHAs. The MPF Department operate and maintain its LCM-8 and MPFUB crafts locally and are mobilized and flown to theaters to perform maritime prepositioning operations within 24 hours notice. The MRF Department operates 6 eleven-meter RHIBs. ACU-1 had its change of command on Dec. 1, 2017, at which time CDR Nathan W. Fugate took over as Commanding Officer.

Awards

Through its continuous operation from the Korean War through today, Assault Craft Unit ONE has been awarded 21 different medals, several with multiple awards.

References

{{Reflist

External links

ACU-1 Home Page
Amphibious units and formations of the United States Navy