Patrol Boat, River

	Preserved PBR 829 in Kenner, Louisiana.
Class overview
Name	PBR (Patrol Boat Riverine)
Operators	See Operators
Cost	$400,000
Completed	718
Preserved	1 operational
General characteristics
Type	Riverine patrol boat
Displacement	8.9 ton for Mk II
Length	31 ft (9.4 m) (Mk I); 32 ft (9.8 m) (Mk II);
Beam	10.5 ft (3.2 m) (MK I); 11.5 ft (3.5 m) (MK II);
Draft	2 ft (0.61 m)
Propulsion	2 × 180 hp (130 kW) Detroit Diesel 6V53N engines each driving a Jacuzzi Brothers 14YJ water pump-jet with thrust buckets for reverse thrust.
Speed	28.5 knots (52.8 km/h; 32.8 mph).
Complement	4 enlisted
Armament	1 × twin .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2HB Browning machine guns (forward in a rotating tub); 1 × single M2HB (rear); 1 or 2 × 7.62 mm M60 machine gun(s) (side-mounted); 1 × 40 mm Mk 18 grenade launcher;
Armor	Ceramic armor shields fitted to guns, bridge. Also crew-applied ballistic blankets to protect the coxswain in the control cockpit.

Patrol Boat, Riverine, or PBR, is the United States Navy designation for a small rigid-hulled 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 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, 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 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)^[3]^[4]

^ Sherwood, John (31 January 2018). "Defending the Mekong Delta: Tet and the Legacy of the Brown-Water Navy". War on the Rocks. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
^ Follansbee, Joe (2 January 2019). "Arsenal: The river patrol boat was the backbone of the Brown Water Navy". Vietnam Magazine – via HistoryNet. 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
^ 458th Sea Tigers. Accessed on 13 August 2009.
^ Sofge, Erik (1 October 2009). "Behind the Scenes With a Special Ops Gunboat Crew". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 11 January 2019.

[1] Sherwood, John (31 January 2018). "Defending the Mekong Delta: Tet and the Legacy of the Brown-Water Navy". War on the Rocks. Retrieved 22 February 2019.

[2] Follansbee, Joe (2 January 2019). "Arsenal: The river patrol boat was the backbone of the Brown Water Navy". Vietnam Magazine – via HistoryNet. 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

[3] 458th Sea Tigers. Accessed on 13 August 2009.

[4] Sofge, Erik (1 October 2009). "Behind the Scenes With a Special Ops Gunboat Crew". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 11 January 2019.

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Patrol Boat, River

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