This boat is one of a very small number that was made by an individual James Desimone and either given away or sold at the G. I. Joe Show/Sale at the Gateway Centre in Saint Louis, MO. on July 25th, 1999. This is not a Hasbro Toy.
Measures: 40" Long X 17" Wide X 10" Tall
The boat is called PBR for Patrol Boat River or as the crew called them Proud, Brave, Reliable and or "PIBBERS". As in war, an important mission was to stop the flow of enemy arms & supplies. In Vietnam General Moreland initiated operation Market-time to prevent the flow from the sea, but the supplies kept coming by means of the Mekong River Delta.
Willis Slaine, a builder of personal watercraft went to the Navy meeting and told of a plan to build a 33' long by 10' wide, all fiberglass boat that extended only 9" below water, could travel 180 miles on one tank of gas, driven by twin jet propulsion engines that top speed of 333 knots, could stop on a dime withing 3 lengths of its hull, and again at top speed do a 180 degree turn within the length of its hull. When the Navy asked to see these plans, Willis replied, " why heck, I aint't got no time to do paper work plans, I'll build the darn thing this wee and next week yo can ride on it" The Navy bought it an in 1966 it was ready for combat. The boats would have a 4 man crew.
Brown Water Navy Initially, the brown-water navy patrolled the inland waterways of the Mekong River, primarily with South Vietnamese river craft (RAG—River Assault Groups) boats, which were mostly inherited from the French Navy during the previous war and in turn, had been received from the U.S., as military aid, in the French fight ...