All language subtitles for Combat Ships - S03E08 - River Raiders WEBDL-1080p x265 EAC3 5.1 [EN] [EN] MrPanda_track3_[eng]

[narrator] This time
on Combat Ships.

The cut-throat world
of river warfare.

[Edda] She didn't fear
her own recapture.

She didn't fear her own death.

[gunshot]

[narrator] Small boats
with global impact.

[Dekia] As long as I have their
six and they have my six

and we're communicating
very clear and very loud

and making sure, Hey, he's
coming up on your left,

he's coming up on your right,

he's coming up on your
starboard or your port.

As long as that communication
key piece is still there,

then we're gonna make
it home everyday.

[narrator] And crews,
in the thick of battle.

[gun shooting]

[Robert]
The casualty rate

for a PBR sailor was high.

There's nowhere to hide when
you're out in the open water,

there's only limited armor.

[gun shooting]

[Dave] I look back, and there's
nobody standing back there,

so I figured they're all dead.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] Combat ships.

Fast.

Effective.

His orders were to find the
British and pick a fight.

[narrator] Going right to
the heart of the battle.

The Marines have always
thought of themselves

as the spearpoint of the
United States military power.

Their whole doctrine of combat
was to go fast, hit hard,

get it over with in a hurry.

[gun firing]

[narrator] Combat ships
have changed the world

She gained her freedom, now
she's going down a river

with an army.

She was like,
"We're about to show you

what we're working with."

[narrator] Thanks to clever
design, raw firepower

and the heroism of their crews.

The rule of thumb
on a frigate is,

you can lose two
spaces and stay afloat.

But if you lose a third,

you go to Davy Jones'
locker in a hurry.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] On June 1st,
1863, two Union gunboats

made their way down
the Combahee River

in South Carolina.

They carried soldiers, many
of them freed enslaved men,

on a mission to destroy
Confederate property

and to liberate others.

It was a daring river raid.

[Eric] The principal infantry
unit that conducted the raid

was the second South Carolina
Volunteer Infantry

of African descent.

And they were going
on a raid here

to actually get more
people who would enlist

in the regiment to
capture more people.

[John] Every slave that
leaves his workplace

gives, as Lincoln would
say, more horsepower

for the Union to
achieve victory.

[narrator] Colonel
James Montgomery,

a fierce abolitionist,
was in charge of the raid.

Montgomery was very
intent on causing pain

to Confederate civilians.

Those who had property,
who own slaves,

to change, to affect the
economy and the psychology

of the Southerners to try
to drive them out of the war.

[narrator] Montgomery's plan

was to launch
hit and run attacks

on ports and plantations

all along
South Carolina's rivers.

He relied on intel
from a key Union spy,

former slave, Harriet Tubman.

Already famous for her
work liberating people,

using the so-called
Underground Railroad.

Harriet was so successful
because she was fearless.

She didn't fear
her own recapture,

she didn't fear her own death.

She was willing to risk it
all to help other people.

[Mary] There's an image
of Harriet Tubman,

it's considered the
earliest known image,

but she stares down the camera
with this defiant look.

And I like to think
of her as an iron fist

in a velvet glove.

[narrator] Harriet had a violent
and traumatic childhood.

At age 6, she was taken
away from her parents

and sold to
Maryland slaveowners.

She suffered a lot of
brutality, a lot of violence

at the hands, primarily,
of female slaveholders

as she worked in the house
weaving and watching children.

[Mary] You never knew when you
woke up in the morning,

whether you were
going to live or die,

and that death could come
at the hands of an enslaver

who would not be
punished by law

because they had the
right to kill you,

or it could come as
a result of the labor

that you had to
deal with every day.

[narrator] Tubman escaped
to freedom in 1849.

When the Civil War broke
out 12 years later,

Harriet served with
the Union Army,

working first as a nurse
and then as a spy.

Now, her bravery and contacts

were the key to
Montgomery's Guerrilla war.

[Mary] She was able to talk
to men and women

and get intel on
how the Confederates

were moving about, where
people stored their weaponry

and ammunition.

[Edda] She recruited men to
form her ring of spy scouts

and pilots and some men who
not only knew the rivers

but had personal knowledge
and personal ties

to the plantations that
were gonna be raided.

[narrator] Harriet wanted to
liberate as many as possible.

She gained her freedom,
now she's going down a river

with an army.

She was like,
"You know what? I'm bad,

and we're about to show you
what we're working with."

[narrator] At the
start of the Civil War,

the Union blockaded
the Confederate Coast

and launched campaigns
up the Mississippi

and key coastal rivers,
isolating the South.

The Union Navy
only had 42 ships,

so they embarked on a
massive naval expansion,

building new vessels and
converting merchant steamers

into combat ships.

One of them was a
former Boston Ferry Boat

turned river rider,
the John Adams.

With steam-powered paddle
wheels on its sides,

the John Adams was an
unusual looking combat ship.

But it had become a
formidable gunboat.

[Eric] The guns that were
mounted on the John Adams

would have been very, very
effective against any infantry

and light artillery
that was on shore

that could be moved
around the field guns,

as they were called.

[narrator] The John Adams
had a 10 and 20 pound gun

and was equipped
with large cannons

taken from an artillery unit.

John Adams also was
carrying two howitzers

from the third Rhode
Island, heavy artillery.

And those were
probably 12 pound guns,

about three and
a half inch guns.

So they were highly effective
against infantry as well.

[narrator] In 1863, Tubman,
Montgomery and 250 troops

took the John Adams
and a steam tug,

the Harriet A. Weed,
up the Combahee River

from union held
Beaufort, South Carolina.

The Confederate Navy
had only a few frail

and poorly armed wooden
combat ships on the rivers.

Any opposition the
John Adams encountered

would be from the shore.

Early in the
morning of June 2nd,

the two ships approached
a bank on the Combahee River

known as Fields Point.

They were spotted by
Confederate soldiers.

[Eric] When they first report
gunboats on the river,

their commander,
they send word back

and he tells them to go back

that there had been
several false alarms

and that there couldn't
be going to gunboats

on the river, basically.

So the Confederates fail
to respond immediately

at their first opportunity.

[narrator] As they
approached, the Union boats

let the enslaved people
know they were coming.

They blew the steam whistle,
and the US flag was flying.

The Stars and Stripes
were flying and flapping.

[John] It would be
awe-inspiring

for the enslaved people,

because that ship
meant freedom.

It would be fearful for
those Confederate soldiers

serving on the shore.

[narrator]
On board the John Adams,

the troops checked their
weapons and prepared to land

deep in Confederate territory.

Some of the enslaved workers

were already in the fields.

Many ran towards
their liberators.

[Edda] It's thrilling,
it's freedom,

it's what they've
been waiting for.

[narrator] Meanwhile,
the soldiers targeted

the plantation properties.

[Eric] They were burning barns,
burning the planter's houses,

all the outbuildings
associated with it.

They tried to burn
every structure

except for the houses
of the enslaved people.

[Edda] They confiscate
the livestock.

They confiscate the rice and
they opened the flood gates

to flood the rice
fields with salt water,

and prevent planters
from growing rice there.

[narrator] An 80 year-old
man who escaped enslavement

wrote an account of the raid

[Edda] Throughout his account,
he calls the black soldiers

and I quote "da brack
soldiers, so presumptuous."

He says, "First thing I
know, dere was a barn,

10,000 bushel, rough
rice, all in a blaze.

Den mas'as, great house,
all cracklin up the roof."

And he was unrepentant
about the soldiers' actions.

He proclaimed, "Didn't
care for seeing blaze,

lord, mas'a didn't
care, nothing at all."

He didn't look back at his
former slave holder's property

going up in flames.

He said,
"I was gone to the boat."

[narrator] Over 700 enslaved
people are rescued that day.

[Edda] The people who were
rescued are put

aboard the boats,
the U.S. boats,

and taken to Beaufort.

[Mary] What I can imagine
is that for them,

there was a sense of joy,

a sense of deep appreciation,

a sense of concern,
a sense of confusion,

because you've now
gained your freedom,

but yet the war
still isn't done.

[narrator] Scores of liberated
men joined the Union cause.

It was said that on the
Combahee River Raid,

they took the men out
of the rice fields.

They took the hoes
out of their hands.

They put muskets in them
and they went on to fight

for the freedom of others.

[narrator] The successful
Combahee River Raid

enhanced Harriet Tubman's
reputation as an American icon.

[Edda] You have Harriet Tubman
who risked her life

on the Underground Railroad,

freeing approximately
70 people in 13 trips,

back into bondage
to bring people out.

She comes down to
Beaufort, South Carolina,

risking her freedom,
risking her life

and her personal
safety to free people

she doesn't even know.

She belongs on
the Mount Rushmore

of the nation because
she changed the nation,

she helped bring this nation
out of the bondage of slavery,

she helped define freedom.

[narrator] The Combahee
Raid was possible

because of the Union Navy's
domination of the rivers.

One of their impressive
combat ships survives.

The American Civil War
saw the creation

of a remarkable new
class of combat ship.

One of these gunboats
has been recovered

from the depths of
the Yazoo River,

a tributary of the Mississippi.

This is the heavily
armored, iron-clad leviathan

the USS Cairo.

[upbeat music]

[Ray] Since the USS Cairo
came to rest

the largely
oxygen-free environment

covered with silt and
mud for over 100 years,

the ship was in
remarkable shape.

As you see the hull
behind me here,

that white oak is original.

That's the historic
fabric of this vessel.

[narrator]
The Mississippi River

is America's most
important waterway.

At the outbreak
of the Civil War,

Union forces knew they
had to control it.

[John] Number one, the capture
of the Mississippi

would divide the Confederacy.

In other words, Arkansas,
Texas, part of Louisiana

were isolated from
the East Coast.

Number two, all those
businessmen on the Great Lakes,

on the upper Mississippi,
Illinois, so forth,

they were reliant on
moving their finished goods

and agricultural products
down the Mississippi

and out to sea.

It was a great way
for the Union

to have complete control

of their economic destiny.

[narrator] With only 42
ships in the Union Navy,

they had to get the
boats in the water fast.

[John] You have to realize that
a ship like the Cairo

was laid down
in October of 1861

and was commissioned by
the end of January 1862.

That is fabulous and
it gave the Federals

this tremendous advantage

to work against the static
Confederate defenses.

[narrator] The Cairo was one
of 7 City Class gunboats.

It was steam powered
and propelled by

massive paddle wheels,

protected by two and a
half inches of iron armor.

Naval architect Samuel Pook

designed them specifically
for the rivers of the South.

[Ray] You don't want a deep
hulled or V-shaped ship

operating here in the
inland shallow waterways.

They're vulnerable to
sandbars and snags.

Even with the Cairo's
880-ton displacement,

a ship like this only
drafted six feet of water.

It was euphemistically
said that the Cairo

and her sister ships could
navigate in a heavy dew.

[narrator] Sailors nicknamed
the unusual looking

river raiders 'Pook Turtles.'

Life for the crews was tough.

[Ray] There was nothing
romantic about serving

on a ship like this.

Life below decks was hard.
It was hot, it was chaotic,

it was uncomfortable.

These ships were not designed
for creature comforts.

From the heat, from the
boilers operating 24 hours,

seven days a week, it was
well over 100 degrees.

[narrator]
The ship's sole purpose

was to bring maximum firepower
onto the south's rivers.

[Ray] The Cairo was first and
foremost a gun platform.

With few creature comforts
afforded for the crew,

the Cairo was designed
around 13 heavy cannons.

From 32-pounds smoothbores to
eight-inch smoothbore cannons

to a 30-pound rifled
parrot cannon,

right up to 42-pound
army rifles.

[narrator] The 8-inch guns
were state of the art.

They fired lethal
explosive shells.

They were really deadly
because when they blew up

they created a ragged hole,
and then added to that

they sent wooden splinters,

iron splinters,
and then sparks.

As we all know, sparks
and wooden gunboats

don't work well together.

If you were just some
Confederate troops

and you came across
a City-class gunboat,

you were in trouble
because they had range,

they had speed, and if
you're just infantry

or cavalry formations, then
you would not do very well.

Just off my shoulder here,
you see one of the

six 32-pound cannons.

The relatively early design,

the 32-pounder was
still formidable.

It can fire a 32-pound
projectile just over a mile

or just over 1900 yards.

[narrator]
When the ship's guns fired,

the cramped armored gunboat
was a terrifying place

for the crew.

[Ray] It was not uncommon
after a long battle

for the eardrums to
burst of crew members

and blood to be trickling
down the sides of their head

just because of the concussion,
the pressure in the confines

of the gallery here or
what we call the gun deck

on the city-class boats.

[John] Obviously,
they had no ear protection.

When you fired a gun you
were supposed to cup one ear,

open your mouth, and lean away,

so that's not very effective.

[narrator]
The crew of the USS Cairo

were used to river battles,

but were unprepared
for an unseen enemy.

[narrator]
The City-Class gunboats

quickly became a thorn in
the side of the Confederacy,

disrupting supply lines and
bombarding shore positions.

But it was at
the Battle of Memphis

that the Cairo made her name.

[John] The Confederate River
Defense Fleet is destroyed

during the Battle of
Memphis as all the citizens

of Memphis are
lining the riverbank,

saying, "Huzzah for our
guys," and all of a sudden

our guys get destroyed
and our town is captured.

[narrator] Despite the
impressive design and firepower

of the City Class,
the gunboats had a flaw.

[Ray] The only portion
of the ship that offers

any armored protection is
gonna be above the waterline.

[narrator] Pook's Turtles
had a hard shell.

But under the water, the Cairo

was just like any wooden ship.

On December 12th, 1862,
the Cairo was patrolling

a tributary of the
Mississippi, the Yazoo River.

Unknown to her crew, spies
were lurking on the bank.

Outgunned on the water,
the Confederates developed

new technology to offset
the Union's dominance

of rivers and seas.

They deployed a
new kind of weapon.

[John] The Confederates
come up with the concept

to create mines,

which during the Civil
War we called torpedoes.

Ergo, you have either
generally a wooden cask

that's been sealed
with tar and so forth.

[narrator] The Confederates
submerged the cask,

packed full of gunpowder,

and attached by a copper
wire to the shore.

A battery provided a charge
to ignite the powder.

On December 12th, 1862
the Cairo steamed past

the Confederate spies,
just as they hoped.

The primitive but
effective torpedo exploded.

[John] You would
give the rebel yell,

I'm sure, when
you saw it happen.

[Ray] The crew would have
scrambled to control flooding,

first of all.

They did, in fact,
man the pumps,

but it soon became apparent
it was a losing battle.

The very real hazard,
however, was the cold water

of the Yazoo River coming in
contact with the hot boilers.

These boilers had a
propensity to explode

and the escaping hot gases
would scald and kill the crew.

Soon after realizing
it was a losing battle,

and the water was starting
to inundate the ship and

it was lost, the crew
scrambled off the stricken Cairo

[narrator] Miraculously
there was no loss of life.

All 251 crew members
were rescued.

An eye witness
sketched the scene.

The sinking of the Cairo
that morning set a precedent.

It has the dubious distinction
of the first warship

ever to be sunk by
electronically detonated mine.

[narrator] The defeated Cairo
slid into the murky depths

of the Yazoo, but not quite
deep enough for the US Navy.

She had something the enemy
desperately needed, guns.

[Ray] Since the USS Cairo
came to rest in only

36 feet of water,

the high smokestacks
were still visible.

And Confederates
operating in this area

would investigate a site
like this very quickly.

They were after one thing,

the 13 heavy cannons
on this ship.

[upbeat music]

They were very valuable indeed.

They can be recovered, cleaned
up, mounted on new carriages,

and perched high atop the
bluffs here at Vicksburg,

offering continued
resistance to the US Navy.

So with the stacks sticking
up out of the water,

the USS Pittsburgh, a
sister ship of the Cairo,

steamed forward and
knocked those stacks down,

thereby, concealing the USS
Cairo in her watery grave

for over 100 years.

[narrator] In 1964, a
team of historians lifted

the Cairo from the depths.

It was clear the mud
and silt of the river

had kept her in
remarkably good condition.

Artifacts from the crew
included a pocket watch,

a set of dominoes,
the bosun's whistle,

a Marine's hat
insignia and a food tin

with the sailor's initials
scratched on the side.

She is an historically
important Civil War survivor.

You actually can see
and feel yourself

as you look at that gunboat,

recognize the fear or the
concern that you would have

as a Confederate soldier
facing that type of gunboat.

It would have been fearsome.

[narrator] A 100 years later,
American riverine forces

fought a very different battle,

in a foreign land
at faster speed

and with very
different challenges.

[helicopter rotors]

[narrator]
Vietnam early 1965.

The United States is
struggling to contain

well-armed and well-supplied
North Vietnamese forces

pushing into South Vietnam.

The Communists use two highly
effective supply routes

to the south, on land,
the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

And on water, the many
canals and rivers,

especially in the Mekong Delta.

It soon becomes
clear that the design

of existing American vessels
was not up to the task

of cutting off
this supply line.

They can't navigate
the shallow channels.

The US Riverine Forces known
as the Brown Water Navy

needed something
out of the ordinary.

It required an entirely
new class range of vessels,

because the Navy had not
fought a riverine campaign

in a century.

And that meant, of
course, as usual,

they're caught with
inappropriate equipment

for what the
challenge represented

so they had to
start from scratch.

[narrator]
In a moment of genius,

the Navy took the design
of a civilian pleasure boat

and quickly turned it
into a combat ship.

The Patrol Boat, River,
known as the PBR.

[upbeat music]

A surviving PBR is moored

on Muskegon Lake in Michigan.

[upbeat music]

The boat is revolutionary.

It doesn't have a propeller.

It has engineering more
associated with hot tubs.

Using a technology adapted
by the Jacuzzi brothers,

and I'm not making that up,

they were able to
contract manufacture

of 30 foot-long
fiberglass boats

that had only a two foot draft

that didn't have to rely
on rudders and propellers

that could get snagged on
all kinds of obstructions

in that kind of environment.

It simply used a water
jet to draw in the water

and shoot it out under
pressure out the back

and these were
tremendously maneuverable

and rather swift boats.

Could you think of a
wider range of application

from hot tub jet to
a riverine warship?

[narrator] The water-jet
pumps forced pressurized water

through stern nozzles at
96,000 gallons a minute.

[Robert] So this boat
was truly unique

in the fact that it
gave people the opportunity

to operate in shallow waters

to take the fight to the
enemy because they thought,

"Oh, I can go hide here.

Those big ships
can't come up here."

[narrator] The PBR Mark 1
was first deployed

in Vietnam in March 1966.

It quickly made an impact.

The PBR's ability to
penetrate shallow rivers

helped cut North
Vietnamese supply lines.

But while they
could get upriver,

it soon became clear
the PBR fiberglass hulls

offered little
protection in combat.

The casualty rate for
a PBR sailor was high.

There's nowhere to hide when
you're out in the open water,

there's only limited armor.

[Carl] So it basically
came to alertness, speed,

and the ability to hit
back as fast as you can

with machine guns and mortars.

[narrator] With limited
protection, the PBR crews

relied on their weapons.

At the front were twin
50 caliber machine guns.

Most common weapon in the
back is the AFT 50 Cal,

but often there is a 60
mm naval mortar.

They also had a mark
18 grenade launcher.

Mark 18 is hand cranked,
fired 40 Mike grenade rounds

like you see guys shoulder
fired grenade launchers

fired the same round.

It evolved into the mark 19,

which is a fully automatic
grenade launcher,

which I served behind
and crewed

in Afghanistan a few times.

And was truly, truly
unique piece of equipment

that started out for PBRs.

[narrator] In Vietnam,
Keith Gottschall

was responsible for
his PBR's engines,

but knew the twin 50 cals well.

[Keith] I had to know the
insides and outs.

In fact, that one night
we were in a firefight,

and mine jammed on me.

I took it apart, unjammed it,

put it back together
in the dark,

and got it firing again.

[gun shots]

[narrator]
PBR crews carried out

a variety of combat tasks.

Tours were often stressful.

[Keith] Sometimes you might
insert ground troops.

You might take a
doctor into a village.

Check sampans,
check river traffic.

Night patrols, nobody's
supposed to be on the river,

so you're always on
the lookout for someone

that was there.

So, tense, tense nights.
Yeah.

[narrator] PBRs were one of
Vietnam's toughest duties.

This one was restored by
a charity Robert started,

Operation Black Sheep.

Our goal is to honor,
celebrate, serve veterans

and preserve history
and by giving rides,

allowing people to
experience the actual boat,

not just looking at it as a
static display but go out,

smell it, hear it,
spend some time

besides some replica weapons,

it just gives you a
unique immersion learning.

[narrator] Robert, a veteran
of the war in Afghanistan

who suffers from PTSD
felt he could help

PBR Vietnam vets
with similar issues.

Me and Robert have
a lot of long talks

and it's just nice to get
stuff off your chest.

You know, I don't talk about
the really bad stuff

'cause I just don't want to.

But he'll say something
and I'm thinking,

I've experienced
the same thing.

I get where you're going.

[Robert] They enlisted,
many were drafted

and served our country
in a time

when it wasn't popular to do so

and almost all of
them that I've met

were proud of their service,

were proud of what they did

and came home to a community

that didn't wanna
hear their stories

or didn't wanna hear
all the positive things

that they had done
in another country,

and because of that,
I just always had felt

like I related to them.

[narrator] Keith Gottschall
returned from Vietnam

in civilian clothes and in
the middle of the night.

[Keith] I got home
and I put it behind me.

I remember my dad got
angry with me one time

that I didn't share with
him what I went through

and I feel bad about that.

He probably deserved
to know some things.

Excuse me.

And I had bits and
pieces here and there,

but I feel the
worst for my parents

that I did not share too much.

But that's how
Robert's organization

has helped me so much.

You can share stories and you
don't get into deep detail,

but you can share stories
like with Dave and I,

and John and I and it helps.

It helps a lot.

[narrator] After their
experiences in Vietnam

the first time getting
on board the restored PBR

can be difficult.

[Dave] They cranked up
those engines.

And I don't know
what a nanosecond is,

but I'm telling you,
but it was like.

-[snaps fingers]
-Just like that.

When the vibrations
come up my feet,

I was in Vietnam,
and I started crying.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[narrator] Each veteran has
their harrowing war story.

In 1967, Dave Kelly was
the engineman on a PBR.

One day on a river patrol,

they came under
attack from Viet Cong

armed with automatic
weapons and rockets.

Dave was manning
the forward gun.

[Dave] And as soon as
I turned the gun,

the second rocket hit the bow

and I got wounded in the legs.

And then the radar dome
that's above me here,

the third rocket had
hit the radar dome

and blew me right down
into the gun turret.

And I jumped back up
I tried to shoot again

and my guns wouldn't work.

And I look back, and there's
nobody standing back there,

and there was supposed to be
four guys standing back there.

So I figured
they were all dead.

I didn't really know.

I the boat now is
going full speed ahead

with nobody back there,
just me.

And I started crawling
out of the gun turret

to go back to
the drive the boat,

and then everybody started
popping up out of the thing.

So then we went
to some village,

maybe 15, 20 minutes away.

And as soon as
the bow hit the bank,

helicopter landed with
a big red cross on it.

And that was my first
helicopter ride and last.

It's quiet up there other
than the helicopter blade

and the motor running.

And you're thinking, boy
that's peaceful down there.

And then it was
like thinking well,

half an hour ago somebody
was trying to kill me.

It's how quick it changed.
you know.

[indistinct radio chatter]

[narrator] The injured
and exhausted PBR crews

often depended on a veteran
of World War II and Korea.

The Landing Ship, Tank or
LST took on a new role,

not assisting invasions but
as a mother ship for PBRs.

The LST was a lifeline
for the river crews.

Today, one survivor LST 393,

is moored next to Robert's PBR.

They'd pull up alongside,
tie up, get their fuel going

and get their food,
spend time,

their 12 hours down
or 12 hours up

depending on what
you were running that day.

[Rhett] This type of LST
and the type that was used

in Vietnam would hold about
280,000 gallons of fuel,

so I'm quite sure,
and that was diesel fuel,

and the PBR's were diesel also.

So, there was plenty
of diesel fuel

to go around for everybody.

They were able to put
them in the cargo hold

or in the tank deck and
they lifted them out

of the tank deck
with winches and arms

and swung them around
and dropped them

right into the water.

And they could take them
off the water the same way,

bring it up, turn it and
drop it into the tank deck.

The LST cruise right
up to the river mouth,

drop the PBRs off and
PBRs were right into the river

and doing their job.

[narrator] This single
PBR has changed lives,

all thanks to Robert's vision.

[Dave] He's made people
be aware of PBRs,

and it's brought a
lot of us old farts

out of the closet to
just puff out our chest,

and talk to people
about it, and be proud.

[John] I think he's
a hell of a good guy.

He's dedicated.

If I had to go on
another battle,

I like to have him beside me,

because I trust him
with my life. I really do.

[Keith] It helped me to
explain to my family

this is what I was on.

Robert took us on a
ride and it helped.

"Oh, this is what
you were on, Dad."

"Yes, this is what we did."

[Robert] The veterans that come
here make this what it is.

The people who come
here, make it what it is.

If it wasn't for them,
it's just a boat.

But you get these vets
out, they get a chance

to kind of feel like
they're back somewhere

that they were proud to be

and they start
sharing their story.

It really just makes you
realize it's all about them.

I'm just proud
to be part of it.

Proud to be a misfit,
leading the misfits.

[chuckles]

[narrator] The 21st
century poses new threats.

But riverine forces are
still as important as ever.

At a US Navy base in Virginia,

a hi-tech 21st Century training
session is about to begin.

[upbeat music]

These sailors are part of

the Maritime Expeditionary
Security Force or MESF.

Their job, protecting
ports, river estuaries

and inland waterways
around the world.

[Charles] What you're seeing
on the screens,

it's a lot like your simulator
rides at theme parks,

except for it's 360 degrees

and the environment
around you reacts

to what it gets as input
from the actual boat.

So, however you drive the boat

is what you're gonna
see on the screens.

There's recoil on the
screens, when you fire,

you actually see splashes, you
see reactions in the targets.

[narrator] Training has
changed since the days

of the Brown Water Navy
in Vietnam.

[Charles]
Before there were simulators,

there was a lot
of walking around,

talking through things, pulling
out wood cut-outs of boats

and moving them around
on the tabletop,

to kind of show how you
would interact in a scenario.

This just opens up a
whole new world to us,

where we can actually
plug in things that react

to how you approach them.

[Dekia] This command is
typically all about

train, train, train,
train how you fight.

So, every time you come to
work, this is what we do.

The hardest part is maintaining
your stance, gravity.

Make sure you have a proper
control of the weapon,

making sure that your muzzle
was pointed down range

at the right things.

And just maintaining
that control.

[indistinct chatter]

This is about as
real-world as we can get

without making it rain in here.

[gun firing]

[narrator] But they still
have to get out on the water,

in one of the key vessels
in the MESF Armory.

The 34 Foot Patrol Boat.

[upbeat music]

The 34 Foot Patrol
Boat is a grandchild

of the Vietnam PBRs,
but it's better armed

and tougher.

[Joseph] The hull of those
boats, when they'd get on step

could have a draft
of about three inches

is all they needed.

So those boats were
built for that.

These boats, the
34-foot patrol boats

are made to be a little
bit more durable,

a little bit deeper water, have
the space, weight and power

to ensure that they can
get up on step quickly,

that they can not only utilize

the weapon systems
on the boats,

but they can utilize the
boat as a weapon system

to shoulder threats
away if they need to.

[narrator] The Patrol Boat
is small, but packs a punch.

[Frank] Typically we have two
long range weapons,

which are 50 cal machine guns.

Those are what we use to
reach out further context.

[gun firing]

Those are usually
aft and forward.

Then we have a little
medium machine gun,

it's a 762 weapon, it's on
port and starboard side.

And those are used for
more closer context.

Then every person on the
boat is also equipped

with small arms weapons,
whether that be an M4

or a 9 mm pistol.

[Eric] We have weapons pointing
in all directions basically,

and are able to
maneuver quick enough

and precise enough to put guns

exactly where
I need them to be.

[narrator] One of the
main roles of the MESF

is to protect larger
US combat ships

in harbors and river estuaries.

The point they are
most vulnerable.

[Joseph]
A United States Navy warship

has an incredible
capability to project power

and be lethal.

But when they come into a port,

they're restricted in
their ability to maneuver

and they're unable to
utilize that firepower

to protect themselves.

So the role of the Maritime
Expeditionary Security Force

is to push those threats away
from the skin of the ship.

So that, that first
line of defense

is not right there at
the skin of the ship.

That first line of defense
is some distance away

that allows us to counter
the threats as they come in.

[narrator] The vulnerability
of warships in rivers

and harbors became very
real on October 12th, 2000.

The destroyer USS Cole was
attacked in the port of Aden,

on the coast of Yemen.

Suicide bombers on
a small barge

packed with over 400
pounds of explosives,

tore a massive hole
in the Cole's side.

17 sailors were killed
and 39 were wounded.

[Man] We mourn their loss,
celebrate their lives

all for the love and prayers

of a grateful nation,
to their families.

[Joseph]
Every one of our adversaries,

whether they're a
non-state actor,

whether it's a state sponsored
terrorist organization,

or whether it's a state
asymmetric capability,

like our special
forces would be,

that they have those same
kind of maritime threats,

small boat threats, divers
that can attack that ship.

[indistinct radio chatter]

And without these
sailors on their boats,

ensuring that water is
safe, then they can't rearm,

they can't resupply,
we can't get the ships back

into the fight again.

So that's why MESF is around.

[calm music]

I had an interesting
conversation

with a Marine Corps
General friend of mine,

who said,
"If you sneeze on a globe,

that's where MESF is."

So these ships can be
anywhere in the world

and pull into port
and they will know

that they have a trained
sailor right there

making sure that they
are going to be safe

while they rearm,
resupply, refit

and get back into the fight.

Warning shots.

[Man] Warning shots...

[narrator] MESF crews
are small, but close knit.

-[upbeat music]
-[gun firing]

[Dekia]
You become family.

And so as long as
I have their six

and they have my six, and
we're communicating very clear

and very loud, and making sure,

"Hey, he's coming
up on your left,

he's coming up on your right.

He's coming up on your
stub, or your port."

As long as that communication
key piece is still there,

then we're gonna make
it home every day.

[narrator]
The MESF see themselves

as continuing the traditions
of the PBRs in Vietnam.

For their commanding officer,

the tradition dates back
to the Revolutionary War.

[Joseph] Have you ever
seen the picture

of George Washington
crossing the Delaware?

The boat that he is
on as a Durham boat

that was out of the marble
head regimen in Massachusetts.

Guy named John Glover
that owned a fishing fleet,

owned these Durham
boats and utilized them

at first to do just
what these guys do,

protect the sea lanes
of communication,

protect the
high value unit assets.

[gun firing]

So that battle across
the Delaware River

turned to the tide in the
revolutionary war in many ways.

So the freedoms
that we enjoy today

are in no small part
due to the legacy

of these boats
and these sailors

that are still operating
around the world.

[narrator]
River Raiders have liberated,

fought cat and mouse battles
with an unseen enemy.

And still serve to
protect the combat fleet.

What these raiders
lack in size,

they make up for in speed,
skill and firepower.