What is a Swift Boat?
A Swift Boat is a 22-ton, heavily-armed, 50-foot, shallow-draft aluminum patrol craft similar to the utility boats servicing oil platforms and other offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico today. These boats were known by the U. S. Navy designation PCF, short for Patrol Craft-Fast. A Swift Boat crew usually consisted of five enlisted personnel led by one officer-in-charge. This officer was normally an Ensign or a Lieutenant Junior Grade, 23 to 27 years old. All were volunteers and almost all of them developed a fierce love for their boats.
