On 18 December 1968, we got underway from Hong Kong and a few hours later we came upon a ship in distress, the M/V KUO FU flying the international signal meaning "I am in distress and require immediate help."
In my role as Executive Officer along with a Boatswain Mate, we were transported to the KUO FU in a rubber boat. Only one of their crew spoke some English, and he helped translate with the master of the KUO FU. They were carrying a cargo of flour from Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Danang for the US government. Their engines had broken down and they were unable to obtain towing assistance from civilian sources, so they requested SAFEGUARD to tow them to a safe port. The US Navy wasn't in the business of commercial towing, but this appeared to be an emergency since the KUO FU was due east of the Communist Chinese Lema Islands and they were drifting due west. We assured him that we would stay with them and try to get them a commercial tow. When we were leaving their vessel to get in our life raft, one of the crew brought us a big basket of small Chinese melons.
We contacted our operational commander who later indicated that a commercial tug was on the way. We stayed in the vicinity throughout the night, receiving messages of concern from KUO FU as they drifted closer to the Chinese islands. Their concern was that if they drifted into Chinese Communist waters, they would be captured and may be killed.
In the morning as both of our vessels were getting closer to the Chinese islands, and hearing nothing from the tug boat that was supposedly on the way, we made the decision to tow them back toward Hong Kong where we eventually passed them on to a commercial tug boat.
We left Hong Kong and then we enjoyed those small tasty watermelons that we were given :-)
I remember that compared to a shipshape US Navy vessel, their ship was a real mess. But, the officers and crew were very friendly. They were scared for their lives, and they were most grateful for the help we provided them.
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