The base was first established by the US Navy in May 1966 to support Operation Game Warden and particularly patrolling of the Rung Sat Special Zone.[2]:290 Mine Squadron 11, Detachment Alpha equipped with 12 minesweeping boats (MSBs) (57 feet (17m) long, wooden-hulled boats) were the first Navy vessels deployed there[3]:26[4]:153–5
Construction of the base first involved the dredging of 300,000 cubic yards of sand, filling and compacting of the marshland, following which construction included barracks for 400 men, storage for 3,000 barrels of petrol, oil and lubricants (POL), a storage warehouse of 8,000 square feet, a communications and administration building, ammunition storage, two antenna towers, a mess-hall, a pier, and the required road, water, sewerage and power facilities.[2]:291 The overall construction period took 14 months,[4]:115 however the base began operation as construction was ongoing and by late 1966 Nhà Bè was also the base for three platoons from SEAL Team 1[3]:64[4]:29 and was also a Patrol Boat, River (PBR) base.[4]:103 By August 1967, a two-helicopter detachment from HA(L)-3 was located at the base.[4]:126
On 2 January 1968 a Viet Cong (VC) 75mm recoilless-rifle attack against on the base wounded two sailors and scored a direct hit on an MSB which was destroyed.[4]:280
In May 1968 Mine Squadron 11, Detachment Alpha became Mine Division 112.[3]:27 From September 1968 on six medium minesweepers (MSMs, formerly LCM(M)s) and four drone minesweepers (MSDs) of the newly created Mine Division 113 were based at Nhà Bè.[3]:29
The base was transferred to the RVNN in April 1972.[5]
Nhà Bè fuel depot on fire, December 1973
Located on the Lòng Tàu River north of the base, the Nhà Bè fuel depot was the largest fuel storage facility in South Vietnam with approximately 80% of the nation's storage capacity.[6] On the night of 3 December 1973 the VC hit the fuel depot with rocket fire destroying or damaging 30 fuel tanks and igniting over 600,000 barrels of fuel.[7][8]
Early in 1975, the RVNN created Riverine Task Force 99 based at Nhà Bè.[3]:78
↑Kelley, Michael (2002). Where we were in Vietnam. Hellgate Press. p.360. ISBN978-1-55571-625-7.
12Tregaskis, Richard (1975). Southeast Asia: Building the Bases; the History of Construction in Southeast Asia. Washington, DC: Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC952642951. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
