Operation Sea Dragon was a series of American-led naval operations during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by 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 Vietnam a ...

They began in October 1966 to interdict sea lines of communications and supply going south from

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

to South Vietnam, and to destroy land targets with naval gunfire. Sea Dragon assets were a part of Task Force 70.8, whose mission was naval shore bombardment.Kelley, p 5495 The destroyers and of the

U.S Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, 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 worl ...

Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of ...

commenced operations on 25 October 1966 off the coast of Quang Tri Province to intercept and destroy waterborne supply craft which were attempting to carry supplies and personnel from North Vietnam to areas south of the

Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam from July 1954 to 1976 as a result of the First Indochina War. During the Vietnam War (1955-1975) it became important as t ...

(DMZ) in South Vietnam.Tucker, p 368 Although the initial sweep by the two destroyers was unproductive, by February 1967 raids had been conducted as far as north of the DMZ to the

20th parallel north The 20th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 20 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, North America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. The parallel defines ...

. At the height of the operation in May 1967, two cruisers and 12 destroyers were assigned Sea Dragon missions.Tucker, p 368 Targets included radar stations, boat repair facilities, bridges, and surface-to-air missile sites. Seventh Fleet calculated that after one year of operations that Sea Dragon had sunk or damaged 2,000 logistics craft. During the operation lifetime 29 Sea Dragon ships damaged by shore battery fire with five sailors killed and 26 wounded. In April 1968, the area of operations was reduced to that below the

19th parallel north The 19th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 19 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, North America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. At this latitude the ...

, only north of the DMZ. The operation ended on 31 October 1968 when

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

ordered a halt to all attacks on North Vietnam and the Seventh Fleet assets withdrew to south of the DMZTucker, p 368

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* * Campaigns of the Vietnam War 1966 in Vietnam Military operations involving the United States Military operations involving Vietnam Military operations of the Vietnam War {{vietnam-war-stub

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