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{{short description|U.S. Navy, Vietnam War (1966–1975)}}
{{redirect|River Patrol Boats|the UK Royal Navy ships|River-class patrol vessel}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=PBR-829 in Kenner LA.jpg
|Ship image size=300px
|Ship caption=Preserved PBR 829 in [[Kenner, Louisiana]].
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=PBR (Patrol Boat, River)
|Builders=
|Operators= See ''[[#Operators|Operators]]''
|Class before=
|Class after=
|Subclasses=
|Cost=$400,000<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sherwood |first1=John |title=Defending the Mekong Delta: Tet and the Legacy of the Brown-Water Navy |url=https://warontherocks.com/2018/01/tet-navy/ |website=War on the Rocks |access-date=22 February 2019 |date=31 January 2018}}</ref>
|Built range=
|In service range=
|In commission range=
|Total ships building=
|Total ships planned=
|Total ships completed=718<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Follansbee |first1=Joe |title=Arsenal: The river patrol boat was the backbone of the Brown Water Navy |url=https://www.historynet.com/arsenal-river-patrol-boat-backbone-brown-water-navy.htm |magazine=[[Vietnam Magazine]] |via=HistoryNet |date=2 January 2019 |quote= The 11 PBRs delivered in March 1966 and the approximately 300 delivered over the next few years to the U.S. and South Vietnamese military...In 1967 the Mark II version of the PBR appeared, with an aluminum gunwale to protect its sides when junks and sampans came alongside. A transom lengthened the boat by about 6 inches. Most of the 418 Mark II PBRs constructed by Uniflite}}</ref>
|Total ships cancelled=
|Total ships active=
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=
|Total ships retired=
|Total ships preserved=1 operational
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type=Riverine [[patrol boat]]
|Ship displacement= 8.9 ton for Mk II
|Ship length=*{{convert|31|ft|m|abbr=on}} (Mk I)
* {{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}} (Mk II)
|Ship beam=*{{convert|10.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} (MK I)
* {{convert|11.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} (MK II)
|Ship height=
|Ship draft={{convert|2|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=2 × {{convert|180|hp|kW|abbr=on}} [[Detroit Diesel]] 6V53N engines each driving a [[Jacuzzi|Jacuzzi Brothers]] 14YJ [[Pump-jet|water pump-jet]] with thrust buckets for [[Thrust reversal|reverse thrust]].
|Ship speed= {{convert|28.5|kn|km/h mph}}.
|Ship range=
|Ship boats=
|Ship complement=4 enlisted
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*1 × twin [[.50 BMG|.50 caliber]] (12.7 mm) [[M2 Browning machine gun|M2HB Browning machine gun]]s (forward in a rotating tub)
* 1 × single M2HB (rear)
* 1 or 2 × [[7.62×51mm NATO|7.62 mm]] [[M60 machine gun]](s) (side-mounted)
* 1 × [[40mm grenade|40 mm]] [[Mk 18 Mod 0 grenade launcher|Mk 18 grenade launcher]]
|Ship armor= [[Ceramic armor]] shields fitted to guns, bridge. Also crew-applied ballistic blankets to protect the coxswain in the control cockpit.
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''Patrol Boat, River''', or '''PBR''', is the [[United States Navy]] designation for a small rigid-[[Hull (watercraft)|hull]]ed [[patrol boat]] used in the [[Vietnam War]] from March 1966 until 1975. They were deployed in a force that grew to 250 boats, the most common craft in the [[Operation Game Warden|River Patrol Force, Task Force 116]], and were used to stop and search river traffic in areas such as the [[Mekong Delta]], the [[Rung Sat Special Zone]], the [[Saigon River]] and in [[I Corps (South Vietnam)|I Corps]], in the area assigned to Task Force Clearwater, in an attempt to disrupt weapons shipments. In this role, they frequently became involved in firefights with enemy soldiers on boats and on the shore, were used to insert and extract [[United States Navy SEALs|Navy SEAL]] teams, and were employed by the [[United States Army]]'s 458th Transportation Company, known as the 458th Sea Tigers.
The PBR was replaced by the [[Special Operations Craft – Riverine (SOC-R)]].<ref>[http://www.458thseatigers.com/pbr.html 458th Sea Tigers]. Accessed on 13 August 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a12728/4303591/ | title=Behind the Scenes With a Special Ops Gunboat Crew | work=Popular Mechanics | date=1 October 2009 | first=Erik | last=Sofge | access-date=11 January 2019 }}</ref>
==Design==
[[File:PBR Mark II full speed.jpg|thumb|PBR Mark II]]
The PBR was a versatile boat with a [[fiberglass]] hull and [[Pump-jet|water jet drive]] which enabled it to operate in shallow, weed-choked rivers. It drew only {{convert|2|ft}} of water fully loaded. The drives could be pivoted to reverse direction, turn the boat in its own length, or come to a stop from full speed in a few boat lengths.
The PBR was manufactured in two versions, the first with {{convert|31|ft}} length and 10-foot, 7-inch beam. The Mark II version was {{convert|32|ft|m}} long, and had a {{convert|1|ft|adj=on}} wider beam than the Mark I. It also had improved drives to reduce fouling and [[aluminium|aluminum]] [[gunwale]]s to resist wear.
The PBR was designed by Willis Slane and Jack Hargrave of Hatteras Yachts, located in High Point, NC at the time, and its hull was based on an existing Hatteras Yacht hull. Just seven days after a meeting with US Navy officials, Slane and Hargrave had a prototype ready.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/patrol-boat-river?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1|title = The iconic PBR was based on a recreational boat and powered by Jacuzzi jets|date = 21 September 2020}}</ref><ref name= NavyT>{{Cite web|last=Magazine|first=Joe Follansbee, Vietnam|date=2019-12-20|title=Arsenal: The river patrol boat was the backbone of the Brown Water Navy|url=https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/12/15/arsenal-the-river-patrol-boat-was-the-backbone-of-the-brown-water-navy/|access-date=2021-01-21|website=Navy Times|language=en-US}}</ref>
The 11 PBRs delivered in March 1966 and the approximately 300 delivered over the next few years to the U.S. and South Vietnamese military were based on a pleasure boat design constructed by Uniflite, a boatyard in Bellingham, Washington, on the northern end of Puget Sound near the Canadian border.
In October 1965, the Navy awarded a contract to the company for construction of 140 PBRs. The first craft off the assembly line, called the Mark I, was 31 feet long with a hull constructed entirely of fiberglass, a technology developed in the early 1950s.<ref name= NavyT/>
===Crew===
The PBR was usually manned by a four-man crew. Typically, a First Class Petty Officer served as boat captain, with a gunner's mate, an engineman and a seaman on board. Each crewman was cross-trained in each other's jobs in the event one became unable to carry out his duties. Generally, PBRs operated in pairs under the command of a patrol officer who rode on one of the boats.
===Power===
The boats were powered by dual {{convert|220|hp|kW|abbr=off}} [[Detroit Diesel]] 6V53N engines with [[Jacuzzi|Jacuzzi Brothers]] 14YJ water-jet drives. The boats reached top speeds of {{convert|28.5|kn|km/h mph}}.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}
===Armament===
[[File:PBR Mark II forward twin MG.jpg|thumb|PBR Mark II forward [[.50 BMG|.50 caliber]] twin [[M2 Browning machine gun|M2]] [[machine gun]]s]]
The boats had a comparatively heavy firepower for their size. Typical armament configuration included twin [[M2 Browning machine gun|M2HB]] [[.50 caliber]] (12.7 mm) [[machine gun]]s forward in a rotating, shielded tub, a single rear M2HB, one or two [[M60 machine gun|M60]] 7.62 mm light machine guns mounted on the port and starboard sides, and a [[Mk 18 Mod 0 grenade launcher|Mk 18 grenade launcher]]. There was also a full complement of [[M16 rifle]]s, shotguns, [[.45 ACP]] handguns and hand grenades. Some had a "piggyback" arrangement, a .50 cal machine gun on top of an [[81 mm mortar|81mm mortar]];<ref>{{cite web|last=Wells II|first=William R.|title=The United States Coast Guard's Piggyback 81mm Mortar/.50 cal. machine gun|publisher=Vietnam Magazine|date=August 1997|url=http://www.pcf45.com/misfire/81-50.html|access-date=16 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcf45.com/misfire/mortar.html|title=Notes on Mk 2 Mod 0 and Mod 1 .50 Caliber MG/81mm Mortar|author=Bob Stoner}}</ref> others had a bow-mounted Mk16 Mod 4 Colt 20 mm automatic cannon, derived from the AN/M3 version of the [[Hispano-Suiza HS.404]] and also found on the LCMs and PBRs.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9Cl0apC1gUC&pg=PA11 | page=11 | title=Vietnam Riverine Craft 1962–75 | first=Gordon L. | last=Rottman | publisher=Osprey Publishing | year=2012 | isbn=9781782000600 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
The boats are not well protected, aside from some [[ceramic armor]] shielding for the machine gun pit, and some quarter-inch thick steel armor plate for the coxswain's flat.
They were designed to rely on rapid acceleration, maneuverability, and speed to get out of dangerous situations.
==Operational career==
From 1966 to 1972, PBRs were operated by the Navy as the principal component of Task Force 116. PBRs operated with the [[United States Navy Reserve|U.S. Naval Reserve]] up until 1995 at [[Mare Island]], California, prior to the base's closure due to [[1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission|BRAC]] action that year. During the Vietnam War, Mare Island was home to the U.S. Navy's Repair Facilities, Mothballing Operations, Submarine Operations, and Riverine Training Operations for both Patrol Craft Fast (PCF—more commonly known as [[Swift Boats]]), PBRs, and the River Assault Boats of the Mobile Riverine Force.
The training areas for the PBRs and Swift Boats still exist today within the [[Napa Sonoma Marsh]] state wildlife area. [[Slough (hydrology)|Sloughs]] such as Dutchman Slough, China Slough, Napa Slough, Devil's Slough, Suisun marshland and the Napa River all run through the former training area.
Since the Navy was busy patrolling the rivers, the U.S. Army had to secure the waters around its military ports. So, it converted the 458th Transportation Company (LARC) into a PBR company in early 1968 under the 18th Military Police Brigade. With the company headquarters at Cat Lai, the company assigned pairs of PBRs to each of the Army ports. The crews consisted of two army mariners, coxswain and engineman, and two military police as gunners.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://transportation.army.mil/history/documents/458th%20Trans%20Co.pdf|title=458th Transportation Company|access-date=21 July 2019|archive-date=19 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419090152/https://transportation.army.mil/history/documents/458th%20Trans%20Co.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In the late 1990s, what remained of the U.S. Navy's PBR force was solely in the Naval Reserve (Swift Boats had been retired from the active duty U.S. Navy immediately following the Vietnam War during the early 1970s), and was moved further inland towards [[Sacramento]], California, the state capital, which is also intertwined with rivers. From Sacramento, PBRs could still transit directly to and through [[San Francisco Bay]] and into the Pacific Ocean, if need be. The waters of the State Wildlife Area, next to the former U.S. Navy (Riverine) training base at Mare Island, are still available for U.S. Navy PBR usage.
==Operators==
<!--READ FIRST: This section is for cited entries only. Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->
{{refimprove section|date=April 2023}}
* {{flag|Philippines}} - Formerly used by Philippine Navy<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/12/15/arsenal-the-river-patrol-boat-was-the-backbone-of-the-brown-water-navy/ | title=Arsenal: The river patrol boat was the backbone of the Brown Water Navy | date=20 December 2019 }}</ref>
* {{flag|United States}} – Formerly used by US Navy<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/ships-us/ships-usn-p/patrol-boat-riverine-pbr.html | title=Patrol Boat, Riverine (PBR) }}</ref>
* {{flag|South Vietnam}} – [[Republic of Vietnam Navy]]
* {{flag|Khmer Republic}} – [[Khmer National Navy]]
* {{flagicon|Laos|1952}} [[Kingdom of Laos]] – [[Royal Lao Navy]]
* {{flag|Thailand}} – [[Royal Thai Navy]]
* {{PAN}} – [[SENAN]]
== Medals ==
[[James E. Williams|James "Willie" Williams]] was a [[United States Navy]] sailor commanding PBR ''105''. During a patrol operation on 31 October 1966, an engagement between the two PBRs (105 and one other) and two [[Viet Cong]] (VC) sampans escalated into a three-hour running battle involving more than 50 enemy vessels, numerous VC ground troops, and [[HA(L)-3|U.S. Navy attack helicopter]] support. For his role in this battle, Williams received the [[Medal of Honor]]. According to the citation, "the patrol accounted for the destruction or loss of 65 enemy boats and inflicted numerous casualties on the enemy personnel." Williams is considered the most heavily decorated enlisted sailor in U.S. Navy history. The U.S. Navy posthumously named a [[guided missile destroyer]], [[USS James E. Williams (DDG-95)|USS ''James E. Williams'']], after him.
On 6 March, 1967, United States Navy Seaman [[David George Ouellet]] was the forward machine gunner on PBR ''124''. After observing a grenade hurtled in his boats direction, Seaman Ouellet left the protection of his position and ran to the rear of his boat warning his shipmates to take cover. He then pushed the boat's captain down to safety and placed himself between the grenade and his shipmates. His actions saved the other men, but Ouellet was mortally wounded when the grenade detonated. For his actions that day, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
[[USS Ford (FFG-54)#Namesake|Patrick Osborne Ford]] was a United States Navy sailor serving on a PBR patrol boat who was killed in South Vietnam after he saved the lives of two of his shipmates. The U.S. Navy posthumously awarded him the [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]] and later named a [[frigate]], [[USS Ford (FFG-54)|USS ''Ford'']] (FFG-54), after him.
== In popular culture ==
A major part of the action in the 1979 movie ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' takes place on a fictional United States Navy PBR that used the radio call-sign ''PBR Street Gang''.
An unarmed PBR Mk. II replica called "Boat Machine" or "Du Ma" was used in the "Seamen" special of the television show ''[[The Grand Tour]]'' by [[Jeremy Clarkson]], who claimed that as there were no surviving PBRs the replica had to be built completely from scratch in New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brandt |first=Bill |date=2020-01-11 |title=James E. Williams |url=https://thelexicans.wordpress.com/2020/01/11/james-e-williams/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=The Lexicans |language=en}}</ref><ref>"The Grand Tour Presents: Seamen", Expectation Entertainment, Television Interactive Network Agency, W. Chump & sons, 2019, 00:45:42.00</ref> The total cost of building Clarkson's PBR was £100,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Boats Behind The Grand Tour Presents: Seamen |url=https://www.grandtournation.com/thegrandtour/the-boats-behind-the-grand-tour-presents-seamen/ |website=Grand Tour Nation |access-date=22 December 2019 |date=12 December 2019}}</ref>
''[[Gunboat_(video_game)|Gunboat]]'' is a PBR [[vehicle simulation game|simulation]] [[video game]] developed and released by [[Accolade, Inc.|Accolade]] in 1990 for [[MS-DOS]].
Appears in 2010's ''[[Call of Duty Black Ops]]'' during the mission Crash Site. The player boards a PBR and makes their way to a crashed Soviet plane.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/call-of-duty-black-ops/Crash_Site_Walkthrough|title=Crash Site Walkthrough|date=November 4, 2015|access-date=July 19, 2025|publisher=[[IGN]]|website=ign.com|last=Madrigal|first=Hector}}</ref>
The patrol boat appears in ''[[Grand Theft Auto V]]'', being added in the Cayo Perico Heist Update from November 2020. The boat is featured as a heist approach.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gamerant.com/gta-grand-theft-auto-online-best-boats-cost/|title=GTA Online: 5 Best Boats & How Much They Cost|publisher=[[Valnet]]|website=gamerant.com|last=Malik|first=Raza|date=March 19, 2022|access-date=July 19, 2025}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[Fast Patrol Craft]]: An all-aluminum, {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}}, riverine boat commonly referred to as the Swift Boat by the U.S. Navy's Brown Water Navy during the Vietnam War.
* [[List of patrol vessels of the United States Navy]]
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* Friedman, Norman. ''U.S. Small Combatants, Including PT-Boats, Subchasers, and the Brown-Water Navy: An Illustrated Design History''. Annapolis, Md.: [[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]], 1987. {{ISBN|0-87021-713-5}}.
== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.memorialmuseum.org/displays/watercrafts/item/pbr-patrol-boat-river PBR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815145845/http://www.memorialmuseum.org/displays/watercrafts/item/pbr-patrol-boat-river |date=15 August 2016 }} at U.S. Veterans Memorial Museum
* [http://www.pbr-fva.org PBR Forces Veterans Association]
* [http://www.pbr6927.com/index.html PBR6927]
* [http://www.rivervet.com/pbrs.htm Rivervet website]
* [http://www.tf116.org/ Gamewardens of Vietnam Association, Inc.]—The oldest continuously operating Vietnam Veterans Organization in the United States, organized in 1968 by the Veterans of the Vietnam River Patrol Force, primary war boat, the PBR, River Patrol Boat.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101123184016/http://hnsa.org/class.htm#PT HNSA Ship Page: PBRs as museums to visit.]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUS4CnQgTAs South Vietnamese Navy PBRs in operation during 1970]
[[Category:Military boats]]
[[Category:Patrol boat classes]]
[[Category:Patrol vessels of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Riverine warfare]]
[[Category:Vietnam War ships]]
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