MSSC

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Medium SEAL Support Craft - MSSC.

Medium SEAL Support Craft (MSSC) 

Displacement: 17 tons
Length: 36 feet 
Beam: 13.5 feet 
Draft: 2 feet 
Propulsion: 2 Chevrolet 427 gasoline engines, 350 hp, 2 MerCruiser stern drives, fuel - 300 gal. 
Speed: 35 kts 
Range: 
Crew: 1 officer + 4 enlisted + 17 SEALs 
Weapons: 4 7.62mm M-60 mg, 3 .50 BMG or 2 .50 BMG and 1 7.62mm Mini-gun, 1 60mm Mk 4 Mod 0 mortar.

Note: 10 built by Atlantic Research. In service 1969.


Photo: Gerry Hunt 

HISTORY:  A lot of history and stories from the guys that rode them can be found at: MST-2 

06/09/03   After we'd fixed the MSSC at Binh Thuy, we headed back to SEA FLOAT. As it happened, we had to reduce our speed due to the river traffic and at that speed, combined with the channel, water depth, and bank configuration we made a rather spectacular wake. As it happened we went past a small Vietnamese village where the villagers had built outhouses over the river. As we went past, the VNs kept pointing at our wake that was crashing up on the shore, but we couldn't do anything about it. As the wake rolled past this one outhouse the wave broke such that there was a gusher that sprouted out the top of the outhouse. This was followed by an explosion of Vietnamese obscenities and a very mad woman clad in drenched black native garb, jabbering away, and shaking her fist at us. I guess this falls into the how to win friends and influence people NOT department.

Bob Stoner