In October of 1968 while operating out of Danang Harbor as the standby salvage ship, USS Safeguard (ARS 25) conducted a salvage operation of LCU 1576 which had lost an engine and was aground about 40 miles north of Danang and south of Tan My.
The primary purpose of an LCU (Landing Craft Utility) is to transport heavy equipment, vehicles, cargo, and troops from amphibious assault ships directly to shore or piers, especially in areas without established ports.
We arrived at the location shortly after 1400 on October 14. The LCU was broached starboard side to the beach with the bow lively and the stern in about a foot of sand. The cargo consisted of armored vehicles to support some Army troops. The Army had surrounded the beach location protecting it from Viet Cong who were in the area. The seas were quite rough. We put our workboat in the water with a survey party with the Commanding Officer, Lcdr Charles Billings, embarked. They went in close to the surfline to get a better look at the situation. Out of nowhere, a strong storm came up, and the CO was thrown against the boat ramp resulting in a fractured pelvis. Visibility had gone to near zero, so we sounded the ship's whistle to help guide the workboat back to the ship. We hoisted the workboat aboard and got the CO in his bunk in his stateroom. Since I was the Executive Officer, I assumed command since the CO was incapacitated, and we returned to Danang and went up the Hàn River and transferred the CO to the Station Hospital around 2230 that evening.
The next morning, Rear Admiral James B. Osborn, Commander Naval Support Activity Danang, sent his barge out to bring me ashore for a brief meeting. He knew I was new to salvage operations, having been aboard Safeguard for only a few months, and that we had a very experienced and talented crew and officers. He acknowledged the rough seas and strong currents at the salvage site, and based on the importance of the mission, directed us to return to the location and begin the operation.
We got underway and arrived at the SALVOPS area around 1600 on October 15. SAFEGUARD laid one set of beach gear with two anchors in tandem. The first anchor was 1500 yards from the beach in 50 feet of water. Several attempts were made to pass a messenger to the beach but
On October 16 we tried to transfer a messenger from the beach to the ship via a helicopter, by using flotation cells, and by other means with no success. We later used our workboat and two divers to get close to the surfline, then swim it in but the line was lost on the way in. Now two of our crew were at the LCU on the beach and they supervised at that end. Later we got another helicopter that was able to pass a messenger from the beach to our workboat, and the workboat carried the messenger back to the ship. We worked through the night until finally by 0300 on October 17, we completed the rigging with a 2" diameter wire rope from our winch on the stern of the ship to a rigging which attached to the LCU. The ship was in position facing away from the beach, with anchors out on port and starboard with the wire rope streaming from the stern, ready for the pull. We had worked a very long day and through most of the night and the crew was tired. For their safety, I decided to have the crew get a couple hours of sleep and we would start the pull at 0615. As we were going to our stations, we heard a load noise at 0555. A link in the starboard anchor chain had broken, and we were drifting backwards toward the beach toward shallow water. I initiated emergency destruction of classified documents since if the port anchor gave way, we could broach and could lose the ship. Fortunately the port anchor held, but we continued to drift back. Attempts to prevent the ship from grounding failed and Safeguard's stern went aground at 0643, ending SAFEGUARD's participation in salvage of LCU 2576.
You may read details in the Post Salvage Report on LCU 1576 - dated 26 October 1968.
