U.S. Naval Intermediate Support Base Rach Soi (1969-1971)

This town, on the western coast of South Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, was the site of a naval logistic base during the Vietnam War. U.S. naval leaders selected Rach Soi during 1969 as a base from which to support a new strategy, called Operation SEALORDS, to interdict the flow of communist supplies and troops from Cambodia. Located at the western end of two major canals, which American and Vietnamese river forces patrolled as a key part of the overall plan, Rach Soi was well placed to provide the area’s river patrol boat (PBR) operating bases with supplies and boat repair.

After U.S. forces withdraw from the region, in keeping with the Vietnamization of the war, the base continued to support the Vietnamese Navy. In June 1971, once it was clear that the Vietnamese were ready to assume the logistic task, the intermediate base at Rach Soi was disestablished.