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Photo # NH 106463:  Command and relay center of the Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, circa 1970-1971

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PLACES -- ASIA -- VIETNAM

Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam

In its brief history (1967-1972) Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay performed an important function as a link in the worldwide Naval Communication System and the Defense Communication System. It supported all U.S. naval units in and adjacent to the Republic of Vietnam, including major units of the Seventh Fleet. Its complement of approximately 240 enlisted and 12 officers were spread over three separate sites on the eastern and southern sides of the Cam Ranh Bay penninsula. The communication center was a tenant command of the Naval Support Facility on the southern coast. The receiver and transmitter sites were located 3 and 6 miles, respectively, up the eastern coast facing the South China Sea.

Personnel at the communication center assisted Naval Support Facility personnel with security. However, at both the receiver and transmitter sites security was the sole responsibility of site personnel. They built and maintained bunkers and watch towers, trained with small arms (including pistols, rifles, mortars and .50 calibre machine guns) and patrolled their areas with self-assembled dune buggies. Fortunately, the enemy was more interested in targeting ammunition and fuel dumps located on the western side of the penninsula, attacks on which made more newsworthy events. Thus, while security was a constant worry, it was within the capability of site personnel. The self-help program was not limited to security. Extensive use of surplus material was used to improve operational, recreational and liveability conditions. For example, surplus helicopter landing pads were used to prevent erosion in the antenna fields. In addition, recreation facilities and vastly improved barracks resulted from imaginative use of surplus lumber and material.

After approximately 4 years of support to U.S. forces (1967-1972), in early 1971 Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay commenced the process of turning the station over to the Vietnamese Navy. From 1969 to 1971 station personnel had trained approximately 117 Vietnamese Navy communication officers and 68 teletype and microwave repair enlisted men. In March 1971 approximately 60 Vietnamese enlisted men reported aboard to commence the turnover, which was completed in early 1972.

Note: The above text was prepared by Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), who commanded Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay from 3 August, 1970 to 14 June 1971.

This page features views concerning Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam

For more pictures concerning this facility, see:

  • Captain William J. Longhi Collection: Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, photographs and memorabilia, 1970-1971.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 106463

    Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam


    View of the communications and relay center of the Naval Communication Station, a tenant command of the Naval Support Facility Cam Ranh Bay. The building in the foreground houses the commander and staff of TF 115, the Coastal Surveillance Force.
    Photographed circa 1970-1971.

    Collection of Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), 2009.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 135KB; 900 x 745 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106464

    Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam


    View of Naval Support Facility Cam Ranh Bay. Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay communication center is on the extreme left.
    Photographed circa 1970-1971.

    Collection of Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), 2009.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 96KB; 900 x 735 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106465

    Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam


    The receiver site of Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay is in the center of the photo. The larger building to the left houses the U.S. Air Force operated cable head for the underwater communication cable from Nha Trang.
    Photographed circa 1970-1971.

    Collection of Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), 2009.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 92KB; 900 x 650 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106466

    Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam


    View of Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay transmitter site under construction in 1967. Note that the security fence has not yet been installed.

    Collection of Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), 2009.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 123KB; 900 x 750 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106467

    Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam


    View of the transmitter site of Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay in June 1967. The station was commisioned 1 August 1967.

    Collection of Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), 2009.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 155KB; 900 x 750 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106468

    Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam


    View of the transmitter site of Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay on the South China Sea. The transmitter site was located approximately six miles north of the communication center.
    Photographed circa 1970-1971.

    Collection of Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), 2009.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 131KB; 900 x 750 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106469-KN (color)

    Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam

    Commander William J. Longhi, Commanding Officer of Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay, alongside the dune buggy "Bad News". Assembled by the Station's receiver site personnel, the buggy was used to patrol the area around the receiver site.
    Photographed circa 1970-1971.

    Collection of Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), 2009.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command.Photograph

    Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106470

    Naval Communication Station, Cam Ranh Bay, Republic of Vietnam


    RMCS Nicholas at the wheel of the dune buggy "Bad News", armed with an M60 machine gun, patrolling the receiver site of Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay circa 1971.

    Collection of Captain William J. Longhi, USN (Retired), 2009.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command.Photograph

    Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 585 pixels

     


    For more pictures concerning this facility, see:

  • Captain William J. Longhi Collection: Naval Communication Station Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, photographs and memorabilia, 1970-1971.


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 9 April 2009
    Caption updated 5 May 2009