On 18 December 1965, the US Navy, for the second time in one hundred years, authorized the reactivation of a brown-water navy for riparian operations in South Vietnam. In July 1966, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara authorized the formation of a Mobile Riverine Force (MRF); a force that would bring back the river monitor.
The US Navy operated its Monitors as part of their River Assault Flotilla One, which initially consisted of four River Assault Divisions (RAD); with RAD 91 containing three monitors, RAD 92 having two monitors, RAD 111 having three monitors, and RAD 112 operating two monitors.
The Vietnam monitors were divided into two programs; program 4 would consist of the 40 mm gun monitors, while the later program 5 would entail the eight Monitor (H) Howitzer versions, and the six Monitor (F) Flamethrower models. All of the monitors were converted from World War II 56-foot (17 m) long Landing Craft Mechanized (LCMs) Mk 6s. When completed, they were 60 feet (18 m) long, 17 feet (5.2 m) wide, with a draft of 3+1⁄2 feet (1.1 m), had two screws driven by two Gray Marine model 64NH9 diesel engines, could do 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) and were manned by usually 11 or more crewmen. They usually carried about ten tons of armor.
0:41 Dude with fire extinguisher: "This is fine."
