Vietnam war

[Dennis Billaney]

#78 our friend .... Saw him last Thursday at the Happy hour ..... think if he is here much longer will be getting too addicted to the beer for going back. Just joking.

Mate, here, the best bar in my book and probably the first expat run venue by a compatriot mate of mine (not to advertise it too much), is Nr5 Bar.

They have daily happy hour (Mo-Su) from 3.00-7.30PM

Happy Hour at Nr5 means, free flow tap beer, incl Heineken, Tiger, San Mig and Saigon beer, regardless how long you're there, Happy Hour is charged at a flat rate for 170'000 VND (around 10 Aussie $) and needless to say, there's quite a few Aussies among the Happy Hour regulars!

[gordon kent]

It was the Hyria which had the two gas tanks on the foredeck, I was on the Hyria tice, also the Hemisinus and Haminea all on the Singapore Vketnam run durkng the 60's and eatly 70's

[john walker]

The Hyria because of her gas tanks was a very distinctive site in Pulau Bukom. I often wondered what was in them and where you discharged them as I can not remember seeing gas storage tanks in Nha Be ??

[john evanson]

"mate, forgive me for asking, but are you saying while others went out and about town, you scrubbed decks for up to 2 weeks? (just wondering…)" seems a strange comment - cargo work was working 33 cargo tanks, (plus one for'd cargo hold), ring main cargo lines, and one cargo pumproom with 4 centrifugal pumps and 2 reciprocating pumps (all steam driven of course). For us then in Vietnam that's discharging cargo (mainly aviation spirit) and if in DaNang or Nha Trang, via a submarine pipeline for up to 4 days a go, while EVERYBODY including all the catering dept, is on watch (security and cargo)the ARVN security team chuck stun grenades over the side from time to time to discourage divers (remember the AMORIA)... So nothing to do with scrubbing decks....
the point of the cargo work comment was just to indicate a close knowledge of the ship and its tank arrangements...

[john walker]

#85 My apologies John which post are you refering to? This old scroat without a reference can't follow the thread .

[John Pruden]

i remember the big yanky fighter planes flying alongside during johnsons rolling thunder 68,jp

[Stephen Lee]

I was an Engineer App. on the Hyria for 7 months from Jan 1970 doingthe Palau Bukom/Na Bhe run. We were also the first civilian ship to dry dock at Sembewang - the old Naval Dockyard.

[Tony Taylor]

I was an Engineer App. on the Hyria for 7 months from Jan 1970 doingthe Palau Bukom/Na Bhe run. We were also the first civilian ship to dry dock at Sembewang - the old Naval Dockyard.

HMS Terror - if I remember correctly. Sembawang village was a nice quiet run ashore.

[Colin Wood]

Hi Stephen Lee, was that after her kissing the wharf in Wyndham??

[Dennis Billaney]

Quick update with a bit of otherwise irrelevant news from Saigon:


Thanks to merchant-navy.net making it possible, what started here as just another interesting thread, resulted in two blokes and new friends meeting up to enjoy a memorable eve!

We, me and John managed to catch up for a toast in this place called Nr.5, and so we thought, fair enough to share this news and celebrate this special event with all of you!

Perhaps John can share here what he told me about the now and then regarding the Nha Be muddy waterway and the mission ahead, when things are to be continued.

@ John, was a real pleasure, looking forward to round 2!

Cheers

Dennis & John @ Nr.5.jpg

Nr.5 Happy Hour.jpg