If you contact a Shipmate through HullNumber, your email address is not displayed in the message to your Shipmate. Marine helos, including HMM-164, provided massive support to Marines dug in throughout Leatherneck Square in northeast I Corps. Photographed from USS South Dakota (BB-57). 2 March 1959 During the next months it was followed by HMM-265 (MAG-16, MMAF), HMM-165 (MAG-36, KyHa) and HMM-262 (MAG-36, KyHa), all in CH-46As. The South Vietnamese Marine Division (VNMC) held the advancing NVA at the My Chanh in April. Princeton was designed to carry 45 aircraft. In May, they flew against the railroad bridges connecting Pyongyang with Sunchon, Sinanju, Kachon, and the trans-peninsula line. Soon after this on another black night, an HMM-263 medevac effort brought out 27 WIA from a hot LZ just SW of Thuong Duc following the ambush of a 7th Marines patrol. To the north, MAG-36 and PROVMAG-39 provided helicopter-borne logistic support to Operation Dewey Canyon, which took place in the northwestern-most I Corps. Princeton returned to California 3 November for a two month respite from the western Pacific. The ships usually included an Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) examples of which include the USS Iwo Jima (LPH 2) and USS Princeton (LPH 5); a Landing ship Dock (LSD) examples of which included the USS Point Defiance (LSD 31) and USS Alamo LSD 33); and APA (Attack Personnel Transport Ship . on 30 April 1952 HMH-463 deployed to MCAS Kaneohe Bay. The deck logs for the USS Princeton (LPH-5) from April 1968 through January 1969 have now been digitized and may be viewed online using the National Archives Catalog. The operation commenced 12 miles south of Da Nang, in an area that was and would be cleared many times with support from MAG-16. as flagship for Amphibious Ready Group Alpha USS Oriskany 115671020689 It was destroyed, along with 38 other starships. Search and destroy missions against Viet Cong and North Viet-Namese Army units followed as Princeton provided transportation HMM-165 was the first 1stMAW unit to leave on 14 Aug. During November, the district headquarters at Hiep Duc, in western Quang Tin Province, a place we would come to know well, was overrun. Helos lifting off M Co from USS Princeton heading for the "Street Without Joy" area just north of Dong Ha on Operation DECKHOUSE II 16 July. HMH-361 (H-53As and some Ds) redeployed to CONUS as part of the third redeployment of US forces on 28 Jan. VMO-2 moved from MAG-16 (helicopter MAG) at MMAF to MAG-11 (fixed wing MAG) at Da Nang on 1 Feb. With the space created by the removal of HMH-361 and VMO-2 from MMAF, HMMs 161 and 262 moved from Phu Bai to MMAF. The vintage footage in this video has been uploaded for research purposes, and is presented in unedited form.. On 30 April 1975, the President of South Vietnam, General Duong Van Minh, told his soldiers to lay down their arms. In September and October 1946, she operated in Japanese and Chinese waters, then returned to the Mariana Islands where she remained until February 1947. In March, HQMC restructured all VMO squadrons in the USMC to begin receiving the North American OV-10A Broncos. HMM-363 moved further south to Tuy Hoa, again in support of the 101st Airborne, which was opening another airfield at Phu Cat. sponsored by Mrs. Harold Dodds; and commissioned 18 November 1945 These squadrons, plus a detachment of CH-37Cs (H&MS-16) and two VMO-squadrons (VMO-2, VMO-6) with UH-1Es made up Marine helicopter assets in Vietnam. to protect Viet-Namese in the Phu Loc area from Viet Cong "harassment.". She cruised the West Coast, Hawaiian waters, and the Western Pacific (1 October 23 December) in 1948. bobneu@webtv.net Thank you. By 1964, all H-34s that were in country were equipped with oil tank armor plate under the engine compartment. The U.S. Navy "Amphibious Ready Group Alpha" (Task Group 79.4) underway off Vietnam on 31 July 1968. Upon arrival over the area, the helo crew saw that the recon team was located approximately 200 yards from the only LZ. Marine No Marine helicopter activity was recorded. she assisted in countering an enemy threat t cvs) during the vietnam conflict. The squads were used as additional maneuver elements rather than reinforcements. On 28 Feb, 1973, after modifying all 15 of their H-53s, conducting AMCM training for all of their own crews plus those of HMM-165 and HMH-462, who were being held in reserve; and enduring numerous green side/brown side out drills caused by the political environment, HMH-463 and HMM-165 deployed to the Grand Norway Island area outside of Haiphong Harbor with the rest of TF 78. For 138 days her planes flew against the enemy. The Super Gaggle enabled eight or more H-46s to drop their entire resupply in approximately five minutes, thus reducing the individual exposure to NVA firepower. The continuing defeat of ARVN units throughout the country caused planning for the humanitarian evacuation of Americans, foreign nationals and Vietnamese citizens and officials from Saigon to accelerate. Combat operations, interrupted in November for flood relief work, continued into the new year, 1965, and culminated in May off Chu Lai as she carried out her primary mission, vertical envelopment, for the first time in combat. and for the next six days continued the pace to support marines fighting t April 1963 saw the tempo of operations pick up with the advent of clear weather. HMM-262 redeployed on 7 May to MCAS Kaneohe Bay. Next, they combined close air support with raids on power sources in the Hwachon Reservoir area and, with the stabilization of the front there, resumed interdiction. HMM-162s operations were expanded to continuously maintain a two aircraft section at Quang Tri or Khe Sanh to perform SAR NORTH in support of operations in Laos and North Vietnam. 26 March Chu Lai and Ky Ha facilities fall to the NVA 24 March Quang Ngai and Tam Ky fall to the NVA Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Lebanon, Dominican Republic, Panama, Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Copyright 1997-2021 - USMC Combat Helicopter & Tiltrotor Association, USMC Combat Helicopter & Tiltrotor Association. Two days following that, HMM-362 suffered the first combat damage to an HUS-1 during OPERATION NIGHTINGALE when a bullet pierced an oil line in its engine compartment. The HUS-1 became the UH-34D, the OE-1 the O-1B, the R4D the C-117, the HR2S-1 (deuce) the CH-37C and the GV-1 became the KC-130. HMM-163 (UH-34Ds) relieved HMM-365 on 18 Feb. HMM-365s aircraft, on board the USS Princeton were transferred to HMM-162 on 9 Mar. When the USS Enterprise-D approached the battle . and "Osage" she operated in Japanese and Chinese waters HullNumber.com does not retain your payment information if you make a purchase. The wing stations carried 19 shot 2.75 in rockets, flares, CBU-55 (FAE) weapons or 150 gal. In September, the VMO-squadrons were assigned a priority mission of a 24-hour medevac standby with a UH-1E medevac slick, a UH-1E gunship and crew of four pilots, two crewchiefs, a door-gunner and a corpsman. Some MAG-16 units, including a detachment of eight UH-1Es from VMO-2, moved to Dong Ha Airfield to support Hastings. Hawaiian waters Scott Margolis, the operations officer aboard the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton (CG 59), during a scheduled visit to the ship. USS PRINCETON LPH-5 Vietnam War Ships Carrier Photo Cacheted First Day Postmark. n landing team and carrying helicopters in place of planes Major operations took place along the DMZ, in the Da Krong Valley, and on Charlie Ridge southwest of Da Nang. USS Rasher SS 269 December 17 1969 Portland OR Pmk. in combined Reactivated with the outbreak of hostilities in Korea 15 months later, Princeton recommissioned on 28 August 1950. Vice Adm. Roy Kitchener, Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, right, speaks with Lt. Cmdr. Crews were issued vests and diapers of spun fiberglass that were only marginally effective in stopping light shrapnel. During mid-September, 24 H-46s, primarily from MAG-39 at Quang Tri landed 1700 troops along the south side of Ben Hai River, in the middle of the DMZ, in a pincer movement. H-46 missions were restricted to emergency only. sever communications Loss of USS Princeton (CVL-23), 24 October 1944. She launched 248 sorties against targets in the Hagaru area to announce her arrival, and for the next six days continued the pace to support Marines fighting their way down the long, cold road from the Chosin Reservoir to Hungnam. Helicopter operations were resumed for the remainder of the night. It was a spectacular finale to a long night. MACV announced, in January, that all Marines would be withdrawn from RVN during the first half of 1964 as part of a plan to end direct US participation in the war. in the Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf area. Returning to her homeport, Long Beach, California, Princeton visited San Francisco, Puget Sound, and Hawaii as part of the 1965 Pacific Midshipman Training Squadron. This armor was constructed of a steel-kevlar sandwich and performed well. After many unsuccessful attempts to locate the LZ, the 46s climbed out of the weather to wait for a break in the overcast. The first all-Marine night helicopter assault took place with BLT 2/3 and HMM-361, HMM-261 and VMO-2 in Elephant Valley on 12 Aug. This was the beginning of the planned replacement of H&MS-16s CH-37Cs. For the next five years she alternated HUK exercises off the West Coast with similar operations in the western Pacific and, in late 1957-early 1958, in the Indian OceanPersian Gulf area. "Deckhouse II" and support for "Hastings" followed as Navy The Dept. with Air Group 81 embarked The operation into Laos ended for the Marines on 27 Mar. In January 1970, the USS Princeton was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Register, and then sold for scrap in May 1971. After "Hastings" ProvMag 39 was deactivated 31 Oct. On 7 Nov, the MAG 36 command group left Phu Bai for Okinawa. John Van Nortwick of HMM-363 was wearing an XXL infantry flak vest because his regular vest was borrowed while he was away from the squadron. Lee and controlled close air support all night from VMO-2 and fixed wing, aided by the additional ammo and armament from the disabled UH-1E. Long Beach RVN losses were significant. The NVA determined to hold Quang Tri City at all costs. HMH-463 (CH-53Ds), with Dets from HMM-164 (CH-46Ds) and HML-167 (UH-1Es) attached; and HMM-165 (a composite squadron with a mix of CH-53Ds, CH-46Ds and UH-1Es) joined TF 78, together with the Navys HM-12 (RH-53As). The 1st MAW was being asked to support all of the aviation needs of two reinforced Marine divisions. As he passed under the nose, he looked up, grinned, gave a big thumbs up and could be heard to say: Thanks for coming down and saving my life! Only after that did John see that the Marines right leg was missing from the knee down. USS Princeton, a 27,100-ton Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier built at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, was commissioned in November 1945, a few months after the end of World War II. HMM-364 redeployed on 12 Mar. These ops continued into June, and all were supported by the three helicopter groups. On 7 May, 3rd MAB ceased all ground combat and fixed-wing air operations by Marines in Vietnam. She was renamed Princeton on 21 November 1944 to commemorate the light carrier USSPrinceton(CVL-23), which was lost at the Battle of Leyte Gulf on 24 October 1944. Ships Store: Paul Johnson. For full info contact: USS Princeton Assn. her helicopters While on alert at LZ Baldy, two H-46s and two Cobras were launched to pick up a critically wounded Marine located on Hill 845 in zero/zero weather. In December, she returned to the United States. NVA attacks multiplied as main-force units over-ran the ARVN during March. Congress declared the cessation of all U.S.-funded military operations in Southeast Asia on 14 August. The NVA marched south, overrunning Dong Ha and Quang Tri and advancing toward the My Chanh River north of Hue. NH 93797: USS Princeton (LPH-5), U.S. Marines loading relief supplies on a USMC/Sikorsky Ch-34 helicopter for delivery to South Vietnam. After many sightings, and in an attempt to capture NVA prisoners, HMM-265 helilifted reinforcements to the position. Additional VMO-2 O-1Bs arrived; Birddogs had already been in-country with SHUFLY and the 9th MEB. USS Princeton (LPH-5) underway off the coast of South Vietnam on 13 January 1967 (NNAM.1996.488.060.024).jpg. HMM-162 conducted a major lift of 300 ARVN into three LZs 15 miles west of Da Nang. in the Khe Sanh area Princeton's mission became that of vertical envelopment--the landing of Marines behind enemy beach fortifications and providing logistics and medical support as they attack from the rear t She remained in the area after the truce on 27 July, and on 7 September got underway for San Diego. The Third Marine Expeditionary Force, later re-designated Third Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) was formed 6 May from the 9th MEB units, including all elements of MAG-16. Gene Kimmel of VMO-2 in an OV-10 on a mission to support a Marine rifle company SW of Da Nang on a sweep of a paddy/village area. for info contact: bobneu@webtv.net USS Princeton Assn. On 9 Apr HMM-364 replaced HMM-362 on the SLF. Prior to the battle for Quang Tri City, on 27 Jun, HMM-165 conducted an amphibious demonstration (feint) off of Quang Tri. The action started to pick up and many of HMM-364s H-34s and their escorting Army gunships were hit. cut enemy supplies The Princeton's reputation in the Navy never recovered from a devastating incident early in her service. The team requested an emergency evac. HMM-363 replaced HMM-364 on the SLF on 4 Jul. HMMs 362 and 165 flew in support. USS New Orleans LPH 11 December 3 1969 (N36383) No Cachet. hen returned t o the Marianas where she remained until February 1947. 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