While conducting routine training operations to seeward of Bodega Bay at about 2200, Thursday, 18 December 1969, a training incident occured resulting in the sinking of PCF 8 and the grounding of PCF 1. There were no serious personnel casualties. (1969 Classified Command History entry of the Naval Inshore Operations Training Center, Mare Island, CA) story
Advertisement
- At 10am, 18 April 1998, PCF-1 was moved to its new permanent location, on a set of concrete pedestals at the far end of the seawall, along the Anacostia River, forward of where the USS Barry is berthed. Her bow faces towards the river.....within a few feet of the water's edge. The forward pedestal gives the boat a slight upward tilt. The space itself, where the boat rests, is surfaced in a pattern of bricks, in a semi-circle, interspersed with a pattern of white concrete. It gives the area a sense of permanence, focus, and dignity.
- At a ceremony held at 9am, 23 April 1998, PCF-1 was rededicated with a plaque placed on the forward pedestal of her stand. She is still "Coronado" gray, but a check from the Swift Boat Sailors Association was presented to William L. Ball III, former Secretary of the Navy, to ensure that she gets painted in her battle-gray colors. It is curious that she is one of the few swifts that never wore those colors, as she never saw the sun set over Vietnam.