PTF-17 Navy Special Operations Combat Boat Poster

Blueprint of decorated combat boat PTF-17, now a museum vessel in Buffalo, NY. Built in 1968 of double-planked mahogany by John Trumpy and Sons, Annapolis, Maryland. Deployed to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam the same year. Fast and heavily armed, PTF-17 and her sister craft were designed and used to insert Army Special Forces, MACVSOG teams, U.S. Navy SEALs and their Vietnamese counterparts behind enemy lines from coastal areas. PTF-17 patrolled the Mekong Delta and along the coastline around DaNang, operating with her sister PTF's against NVA and Viet-Cong insurgent groups often being involved in covert attacks and vicious firefights. PTF-17s impressive combat service in Vietnam ended in 1972 as operations were turned over to the South Vietnamese, PTF-17 was eventually relocated to Chicago, IL where she began service with Coastal River Division 21 in August 1972.