Glen said "These little ships did sterling service transporting Engineer equipment... they also saw a lot of service up and down the river from Vung Tau to Saigon."
I see Tippers..
From the AWM caption:
"Saigon River, Vietnam. Army Vessel (AV) 1355 Vernon Sturdee at full speed through the Saigon River delta with a full load of heavy equipment including vehicles which can be seen on deck. Note the 50 calibre gun crews are closed up.
"AV Vernon Sturdee was the first Landing Ship Medium (LSM) of 32nd Small Ship Squadron, Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) to serve in South Vietnam.
"She sailed from Sydney to Vietnam via the Philippines on 11 April 1966, carrying equipment and troops of 17th Construction Squadron RAE and escorting the Army Ship (AS) John Monash which was similarly loaded.
"AV Vernon Sturdee returned to Australia via Singapore, Manus Island and Rabaul at the end of June 1966, and was the only LSM to sail to Vietnam and back with the same crew."
