Editing Patrol Craft Fast (section)

==== Controversy over loss of ''PCF-19'' ====
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Sinking of PCF-19
| width       = 370px
| partof      = [[Operation Market Time]], [[Vietnam War]]
| date        = June 16, 1968<br />~0030 - 0400 hours ([[UTC+07:00]])
| place       = [[Bến Hải River|Bến Hải]] & Cửa Việt Rivers, [[South Vietnam]]
| territory   = 
| result      = Determined to be a [[friendly fire]] incident due to an unrelated incident in the same area the next day
| combatants_header = 
| combatant1  = {{flagicon|Vietnam}} [[North Vietnam]]
| combatant2  = {{flag|United States}}
| commander1  = Unknown
| commander2  = [[Lieutenant (junior grade)|LTJG]] John Davis<br />LTJG Peter Snyder<br />LTJG Ronald Fritz<br />[[Colonel (United States)|Col]] Dominic Damico
| strength1   = 2-4 [[Mil Mi-4|Mi-4 helicopters]]<br />1 unknown [[fixed-wing aircraft]]
| strength2   = 2 PCFs<br />1 [[USCGC Point Dume (WPB-82325)|point-class cutter]]<br />1 [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II|F-4 Phantom II]]
| strength3   = 
| casualties1 = 1 helicopter allegedly damaged	
| casualties2 = 1 PCF destroyed<br />5 killed<br />2 wounded
| campaignbox = 
}}
On the night of 15/16 June 1968, U.S. marine aircraft spotters on the ground began reporting unidentified helicopters near the DMZ. The first report stated that four helicopters had been detected and were proceeding toward [[Cồn Cỏ District|Tiger Island]], just off the North Vietnamese coast at an altitude of {{convert|700–1,000|ft}}. These spotters observed the aircraft visually, using [[Starlight Scope]]s and by radar. Over the course of the night, Air Force pilots reported 19 additional helicopter sightings. On this same evening the guided missile heavy cruiser {{USS|Boston|CAG-1|6}}, operating near the
DMZ, also began reporting helicopter activity in the vicinity of [[Bến Hải River|Bến Hải]], Cap Lay and Tiger Island. At 00:10 on the 16th, an unidentified aircraft fired three rockets or missiles at ''Boston'', but none hit the vessel.<ref name=Sherwood>{{cite book|last=Sherwood|first=John|title=War in the Shallows: U.S. Navy and Coastal and Riverine Warfare in Vietnam 1965-8|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command|year=2015|isbn=9780945274773|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/publications/publications-by-subject/war-in-the-shallows.html}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>{{rp|240}}

At 01:00 on 16 June 1968 in the same area, ''PCF-19'' was struck by two missiles, one struck the cabin just below the pilothouse on the port side, the other hit the engine room. The boat sank in four minutes. Four of its crewmen were killed, and two others badly injured.<ref>Steffes, p.68-71, official U.S. Navy OinC (Officer In Charge) PCF-12 After Action Report</ref><ref name=Sherwood/>{{rp|240}} The remaining crew managed to swim free from the sinking craft and cling to a life raft until {{USCGC|Point Dume|WPB-82325|6}} arrived on scene at 01:30. As soon as the survivors were on board, ''Point Dume'' departed the scene to drop them off at the [[Cua Viet Base]] for a medevac to Danang. In the meantime, the crew of ''PCF-12'', which had arrived on the scene at 01:50 to continue the search for survivors, noticed illumination rounds being fired that were not their own. Opting to investigate, the officer in charge ordered the boat to speed to the Cua Viet River. When ''PCF-12'' was {{convert|3|mi}} from the river mouth, crewmembers observed two sets of aircraft lights off the port and starboard beam, about {{convert|300|yd}} away and {{convert|100|ft}} above the water. The boat commander immediately got on the radio and requested permission to engage the aircraft. At 02:25, ''PCF-12'' received a single rocket from seaward at a low trajectory. The rocket passed a couple of feet over the main cabin and exploded in the water ten feet from the boat. ''PCF-12'' came about, increased speed and moved away from the kill zone while bringing its .50-caliber guns to bear against an aerial target hovering at {{convert|1,000|ft}} with lights blinking. The aircraft decreased altitude and turned off its lights. After a short time, ''PCF-12'' stopped to observe the scene and saw two aircraft appeared off its beams again with lights on. The boat commander contacted the marine observer and inquired about their status. The marines told him that they could not identify the aircraft because they did not have their identification, friend or foe (IFF) transponders turned on. At 02:35, the aircraft near the beach fired 40–50 rounds of .50-caliber tracer fire at the PCF. All rounds landed astern. ''PCF-12'' responded with machine-gun and mortar fire.<ref name=Sherwood/>{{rp|241}}

At 02:40, ''Point Dume'', now back on the scene was attacked by a fixed-wing aircraft, which made two attack runs against the vessel. Both the commanding officer of ''Point Dume'' and the commander of ''PCF-12'' positively identified the aircraft as a "jet." The crews of ''Point Dume'' and ''PCF-12'' then observed numerous lighted aircraft that appeared to be helicopters in the northern part of the area. These aircraft approached the U.S. vessels and made firing runs with their lights off. ''Point Dume'' received heavy caliber automatic weapons fire from these aircraft and returned fire. ''PCF-12'' also returned fire intermittently for approximately 75 minutes. Neither vessel was damaged in the engagement; there were no personnel injured.<ref name=Sherwood/>{{rp|241}}

On the afternoon of 16 June, Task Unit 77.1.0 ordered {{USS|Edson|DD-946|6}}, {{USS|Theodore E. Chandler|DD-717|6}} and the [[Royal Australian Navy]] guided-missile destroyer Hobart {{HMAS|Hobart|D 39|6}} to conduct a surveillance mission in the vicinity of Tiger Island in attempt to flush out any enemy helicopters or waterborne craft operating from there. At 01:18 on the 17th, ''Boston'', which was engaged in a naval gunfire support mission in the same general area, came under attack from an unidentified jet aircraft. The jet fired two missiles at the ship: one exploded {{convert|200|yd}} off the port beam; and the other close aboard to port, showering the ship with fragments. No sailors were injured, and the missiles caused only minor structural damage to the ship. At 03:09, while ''Hobart'' was searching a 5-mile radius area between the coast and Tiger Island with its radar, it detected a single aircraft tracking east. The aircraft was not squawking IFF. An attempt was made to identify the aircraft by visual gun direction personnel on the bridge. Five minutes later a missile slammed into the chief petty officers' mess and nearby spaces, killing one sailor and wounding two others. The ship took evasive action but temporarily lost radar contact with the aircraft. At 03:16, two more missiles hit the ship, destroying the gunners' store and damaging other spaces, including the engineers' workshop, the seamen's mess, the missile director room, the [[RIM-24 Tartar]] checkout room, and the chiefs' mess (again). This second attack killed an officer and wounded other sailors. As the aircraft turned to make a third pass, one of the ship's gun turrets fired five rounds and the aircraft turned and retreated. Fourteen minutes later ''Edson'', now at general quarters due to reports from ''Hobart'' about hostile aircraft in the area, came under attack by an unidentified aircraft. Lookouts and sonar confirmed a near miss astern by a missile.<ref name=Sherwood/>{{rp|242}}

The next day Vice Admiral [[William F. Bringle]], Commander Seventh Fleet, appointed Rear Admiral S. H. Moore, Commander Task Group 77.1/70.8, to conduct an informal investigation into the various firing incidents occurring between 15 and 17 June. The board determined that Air Force [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II|F-4s]] launched two [[AIM-7 Sparrow|AIM-7E Sparrow]] missiles on 17 June at 01:15 and one at 03:15 that same day. Fragments of Sparrow missiles complete with serial numbers found on ''Boston'' and ''Hobart'' confirmed these findings. The case was therefore quite clear with regard to these two attacks on 17 June — ''Hobart'' and ''Boston'' had been the victims of friendly fire. The board also investigated the 16 June attacks on ''Boston'' and ''PCF-19'' and the attack on ''Edson'' on the 17th. From the positions of American vessels and attacking aircraft, the board concluded that Air Force aircraft attacked ''Boston'' and ''PCF-19'' on the 16th and that American aircraft also attacked ''Edson'' on the 17th. Unlike the ''Boston'' and ''Hobart'' attacks on the 17th, however, no physical evidence supported these findings. Later research of the incident with surviving veterans and a review of salvage reports from {{USS|Acme|MSO-508|6}}, the ship that recovered the bodies and codebooks from ''PCF-19'' shortly after the attack, found that the rocket entry holes in the hull of ''PCF-19'' were 76.2mm in size—the size of a standard helicopter rocket carried by a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-manufactured [[Mil Mi-4|Mi-4 Hound]] helicopter and not Sparrow or [[AIM-9 Sidewinder|Sidewinder]] holes, which would have been larger.<ref name=Sherwood/>{{rp|242}}<ref>{{citation|last = Steffes|first = James|title = Swift Boat Down: The real story of the sinking of ''PCF-19''|year = 2005|isbn = 1-59926-612-1|publisher = [[Xlibris]]}}</ref>