The Dinassaut (, ''Division Navale d'Assaut'', "Naval Assault Division") was a type of riverine military unit employed by the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

during the first

Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam) began in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 to 20 July 1954 between France and Việt Minh (Democratic Republic of Vi ...

. It's an example of

Riverine artillery Riverine artillery refers to artillery employment on a river, generally on floating barges. Transport of field artillery is difficult through the moist ground and riparian forest adjacent to low-gradient rivers. Traditional naval artillery is mou ...

. The 'Dinassaut' were created by

General Leclerc Philippe François Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (22 November 1902 – 28 November 1947) was a Free-French general during the Second World War. He became Marshal of France posthumously in 1952, and is known in France simply as le maréchal ...

in 1947 in order to replace the ''flottilles fluviales'' created by Jaubert in 1945–1946. Ten groups were created.

Organization

Each Dinassaut consisted of approximately 12 craft, often American landing craft modified with armour and using tank turrets as weapons. Other craft carried 81mm mortars to be employed as

riverine artillery Riverine artillery refers to artillery employment on a river, generally on floating barges. Transport of field artillery is difficult through the moist ground and riparian forest adjacent to low-gradient rivers. Traditional naval artillery is mou ...

. The ships were converted LCVP &&

Armored Troop Carrier (LCM) Armored Troop Carriers (ATC), often called ''Tangos'' from the phonetic alphabet for ''T'', were LCM-6 landing craft modified for riverine patrol missions. They were used by the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) of the United States Army and Navy in t ...

: *

Landing Craft Infantry The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during the Second World War. They were developed in response to a British request for seagoing amphibious assault s ...

(LCI) ; *

Landing Craft Tank The Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) (or Tank Landing Craft TLC) was an amphibious assault craft for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of ver ...

(LCT) ; *

Landing Craft Mechanized The landing craft mechanized (LCM) is a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults. Variants There was no ...

(LCM) ; * Landing Craft Vehicle & Personnel (LCVP) ; *

Landing Craft Support The Landing Craft, Support (Large) were two distinct classes of amphibious warfare vessels were used by the United States Navy (USN) in the Pacific and the Royal Navy in World War II. The USN versions which were later reclassified Landing Ship S ...

(LCS) ; *

Landing Craft Assault Landing Craft Assault (LCA) was a landing craft used extensively in World War II. Its primary purpose was to ferry troops from transport ships to attack enemy-held shores. The craft derived from a prototype designed by John I. Thornycroft Ltd ...

(LCA) ; * Landing Ship Supply Large (LSSL) for fire power The ten naval assault divisions were located in the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( vi, Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long, lit=Nine Dragon River Delta or simply vi, Đồng Bằng Sông Mê Kông, lit=Mekong River Delta, label=none), also known as the Western Region ( vi, Miền Tây, links=no) or South-weste ...

(Cochinchina) and the

Red River Delta The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...

(Tonkin) as follows: * Dinassaut 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10, in Cochinchine; * Dinassaut 1, 3, 5, 12 and Haiphong Dinassaut in

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...

. Each one has a company of

Commandos Marine The Commandos Marine are the special operation forces, Special Operation Forces (SOF) of the French Navy. The Commandos Marine are nicknamed ''Bérets Verts'' (Green beret, Green Berets). They operate under the FORFUSCO, Sailor Riflemen and S ...

(created off Fusiliers Marins) attached to it.

Operations

They were notably involved in: *

Operation Léa Operation Léa was a French Union military operation between 7 October and 8 November 1947 during the First Indochina War. It is also known as the Việt Bắc Campaign (''Chiến Dịch Việt Bắc'') by the Viet Minh. It was an attempt by the ...

Operation Ceinture Operation Ceinture was a late 1947 military endeavour by the French Far East Expeditionary Corps against the Viet Minh during the First Indochina War. A month-long effort that commenced on 20 November following the cessation of Operation Léa, '' ...

Battle of the Day River The Battle of the Day River (French: ''bataille du Day'') took place between late May and early June 1951, around the Day River Delta in the Gulf of Tonkin. Part of the First Indochina War, the battle was the first conventional campaign of Võ ...

Operation Lorraine Operation Lorraine was a French military operation of the First Indochina War. Background On 15 October 1952, a regiment of the Việt Minh 312th Division surrounded the French garrison at Gia Hoi 25 miles southeast of Nghĩa Lộ. In response on ...

Operation Brochet Operation Brochet took place during the French Indochina War, between August and October, 1953. A combined arms operation, ''Brochet'' involved 18 battalions of the French Expeditionary Corps, French Expeditionary and Vietnamese National Army, Viet ...

Operation Mouette Operation Mouette was an operation in 1953 by the French Army in Northern Vietnam during the First Indochina War.Wiest, p. 43. It was launched on October 15 in an attempt to locate and destroy Viet-Minh Chu Luc troops operating under the comman ...

Notable people who served in Dinassaut

The following people have served there: * :fr:François Gabriel Pierre Jaubert who created the initial unit and whose name was given one French Special Unit, the

Commando Jaubert The Commandos Marine are the Special Operation Forces (SOF) of the French Navy. The Commandos Marine are nicknamed ''Bérets Verts'' ( Green Berets). They operate under the Sailor Riflemen and Special Operations Forces Command (FORFUSCO) an ...

Pierre Guillaume (French Navy officer) Pierre Guillaume (11 August 1925 – 3 December 2002, also known as "'Commandant' Pierre Guillaume") was an officer of the French Navy. He took part in the Algiers putsch of 1961 and in the ''Organisation armée secrète'', which opposed what it ...

(which was the source for

Le Crabe-tambour ''Le Crabe-tambour'' (''Drummer-Crab'') is a 1977 film directed by Pierre Schoendoerffer based on the novel he published in 1976. The title character played by Jacques Perrin is based on the famous French Navy officer Pierre Guillaume. Cast * Je ...

movie) * :fr:Maurice-Raymond de Brossard, a French naval officer, historian and painter. * :fr:Jean-Louis Delayen, a French general * :fr:Philippe Ausseur, a French naval officer who served in the General Staff of General de Gaulle, then as Major General of the Navy, then vice-admiral of the wing, member of the Superior Council of the Navy.

Second Indochina War

Dinassaut 6 & 8 had been transferred to the

Republic of Vietnam Navy The Republic of Vietnam Navy (RVNN; ; ''HQVNCH'') was the naval branch of the South Vietnamese military, the official armed forces of the former Republic of Vietnam (or South Vietnam) from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats fro ...

(VNN) in 1953. The concept was reused by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. This leads to the creation of the Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force later named

Mobile Riverine Force In the Vietnam War, the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) (after May 1967), initially designated Mekong Delta Mobile Afloat Force, and later the Riverines, were a joint US Army and US Navy force that comprised a substantial part of the brown-water n ...

(MRF) after May 1967.

References

External links