Operations

As the battle ashore went, so went Taylor’s operational assignments in Vietnam. Most of the time was spent close ashore, in rivers, harbors or inlets – wherever the ship could go to be best positioned for gunfire support to troops ashore. On the gunline, the mission was to be wherever that support could be delivered whenever it was needed. Our 5” 38 Caliber guns had a range of about 9 miles. Four hours on, four hours off was the order of every day. Constant vigilance was required to defend against enemy attack, whether swimmers with mines, or shore artillery. Occasionally, the ship would be called away from the coast to Yankee Station, a point in the Gulf of Tonkin about 100 miles east of the DMZ from which aircraft carriers launched their aircraft.