Zippo Lighter PBR RIVER DIVISION 593 NHA BE VIETNAM WAR RARE
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:42607960 | Modified Item: No |
| Conflict: Vietnam (1961-75) | Country/Region of Manufacture: United States |
| Original/Reproduction: Original |
The guerrilla nature of warfare in Vietnam required the U.S. Navy to add innovative watercraft to its arsenal and fight far inland on the country’s maze of rivers, something American sailors had not done in force since the Civil WarOn March 21, 1966, just six months after the U.S. Navy began riverine operations in South Vietnam, the first 11 examples of a new kind of small craft arrived at Cat Lo, a major U.S. naval combat and logistics base on the northern shore of Cape Vung Tau.The... craft was designated “patrol boat, river, ” or PBR, a high-speed, shallow-draft, diesel-powered freshwater patrol craft with a fiberglass hull and water jet propulsion. The PBR was the first jet-propelled watercraft used in combat, and it became an integral element of the “Brown Water Navy.”
