The action of 1 March 1968 was a co-ordinated attempt by four North Vietnamese trawlers to resupply the
Viet Cong
The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...
and the efforts of
Operation Market Time
Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...
elements to stop them during the Vietnam War. On 28 February 1968,
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
SP-2H Neptune aircraft on routine patrol detected a North Vietnamese
SL class naval trawler
Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. Some, known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers ...
heading towards the South Vietnamese coast from north of the
DMZ. By the next morning, three more trawlers were discovered and units of
Operation Market Time
Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...
were deployed for a surprise interception. The suspect trawlers did not fly flags so it was not until the start of the engagement that their origin was discovered. The trawlers were steel-hulled vessels, 100 feet long and armed with 57-millimeter
recoilless rifles and
machine guns. All four vessels were loaded with weapons and ammunition intended to be delivered to the
Viet Cong
The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...
. American and South Vietnamese forces that engaged in action included the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
cutters , , , , , , , the
swift boats , , , , , and , two
South Vietnamese navy junks and one
patrol boat
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...
. Two
U.S. Army helicopter gunships also participated in combat as well as aircraft used to fire
flare
A flare, also sometimes called a fusée, fusee, or bengala, bengalo in several European countries, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a bright light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for distress signaling, illuminatio ...
s.
Background
The United States Navy, South Vietnamese navy, and the U.S. Coast Guard, operating under the authority of the South Vietnamese government, established a blockade of South Vietnam designated Operation Market Time to prevent infiltrations of personnel, munitions and equipment by the North Vietnamese government. A twelve mile wide restricted zone existed along the entire South Vietnamese coast and ships assigned to Market Time had the authority to stop and search any vessel within the zone for contraband material and check the identity papers of any person on a detained vessel.
[Cutler, p 81][Larzelere, pp 6–7][Scotti, p 18]
Action
Action off Bo De River
The trawler designated in U.S. Navy records as ''An Xuyen Province Trawler'' (map reference #1) was first sighted on 28 February approximately 150 miles east southeast of
Vũng Tàu
Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is an important port city in southern Vietnam. It serves as the maritime port of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. Vũng Tàu covers of area and consists of 16 urban wards and on ...
holding a southeasterly course.
[Kelley, p 5-541] On the evening of the 29th she changed to a westerly course and USCGC ''Winona'' started a covert surveillance. The trawler crossed the 12-mile limit at 0120 1 March and began a run for the beach near the mouth of the
Bo De River at 0200.
A blocking force placed near the mouth of the river consisted of several Navy PCF's and the Coast Guard cutters ''Point Hudson'', ''Point Grace'', and ''Point Marone''.
[Tulich, p 8] ''Winona'' fired warning shots eight miles off the coast which were ignored so she opened up with her
5-inch/38 caliber gun after receiving return fire from the trawler.
[Johnson, p 335][Larzelere, p 130] The trawler exploded in a huge fireball after taking several direct hits and sank approximately seven miles off the beach.
[Cutler, p 131] ''Winona'' was struck by several pieces of debris from the explosion, however only minor injuries were sustained by the crew during the action.
[Scotti, p 77]
Action off Nha Trang
The trawler designated ''Khánh Hòa Province Trawler'' (map reference #2) was first sighted by Market Time aircraft on 29 February approximately 90 miles east northeast of
Nha Trang
Nha Trang ( or ; ) is a coastal city and capital of Khánh Hòa Province, on the South Central Coast of Vietnam. It is bounded on the north by Ninh Hoà town, on the south by Cam Ranh city and on the west by Diên Khánh District. The city had ...
with a southwesterly course.
[Kelley, p 5-359] Surveillance was continued by Market Time vessels until she crossed the 12-mile limit 28 miles northeast of Nha Trang.
Ignoring warning to heave to for boarding, the trawler continued on towards the beach. A
South Vietnamese Navy patrol boat opened fire on the trawler and it quickly changed course and returned fire. Assisted by a
U.S. Air Force AC-47 gunship,
swift boats ''PCF-42'', ''PCF-43'', ''PCF-46'', ''PCF-47'', ''PCF-48'' and two SVN junks sortied to help the patrol craft chase the trawler to a cove where it ran aground in the
Hon Heo Secret Zone[Kelley, p 5-247] At 0230, 1 March, five 81-millimeter mortar rounds from ''PCF-47'' were direct hits and the trawler exploded with a massive explosion due to the munitions aboard. Fourteen dead North Vietnamese sailors were recovered the following morning. Rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers; along with considerable ammunition and explosives were recovered from the sunken trawler. The salvage operations extended over 12 days and included the recovery of a 14.5 millimeter antiaircraft gun and 68 cases of ammunition.
Action off Tha Cau River
Forty miles from Chu Lai
Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Khu Kinh Tế M� ...
and six miles off the coast, (map reference #3) USCGC ''Androscoggin'' intercepted a third trawler designated in U.S. Navy records as the ''Quảng Ngãi Province Trawler''. ''Androscoggin'' signaled the trawler to identify itself at 0112 but there was no response so ''Androscoggin'' shot 5-inch star shells into the air to illuminate the trawler.[Larzelere, p 128] It was then that the trawler was positively identified as an ''SL class'' North Vietnamese trawler so the ''Androscoggin'' opened fire at 0120 with 5-inch high explosive naval gunfire and .50 caliber machine guns.[Larzelere, p 129] The trawler returned fire with a recoilless rifle, laid a smoke screen and turned into ''Androscoggins direction but one of the cutter's shells hit the after starboard side, so the trawler turned reversed course and headed for the shore.[Scotti, p 75] As a result of a civilian junk passing through the battle area the Market Time ships had to cease fire.[Cutler, p 130] Two United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
helicopters were directed to engage the trawler with rockets and miniguns at 0129 and after their attack a reduction in the amount of fire coming from the trawler was noticed.[ At 0140 ''Point Grey'', ''Point Welcome'', ''PCF-18'' and ''PCF-20'' were ordered to take the trawler under fire with mortars and machine guns at close range because the trawler had moved too close to shore for ''Androscoggin'' to maneuver.][Johnson, p 336] ''Point Welcome'' struck the trawler twice with 81-millimeter rounds.[ The trawler then grounded 50 yards off the mouth of the Tha Cau River at 0210.][ At 0220, the North Vietnamese tried to scuttle their ship and failed but a second attempt at 0235 succeeded in destroying the vessel in a 500-foot fireball.][Scotti, p 76] The explosion caused some damage to the pilothouse of ''Point Welcome'' and the deck was littered with debris but no casualties were reported.[
]
Other action on 1 March
shadowed the trawler designated as the ''Bình Định Province Trawler'' (map reference #4) but soon after being detected, the trawler turned around and headed back out to sea without being engaged.[ It was apparently headed for the Lo Dien area 42 miles north of ]Qui Nhơn
Quy Nhon ( ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon was the capital of the former Bình Định province. As of 2022 its population was 481.110. H ...
.[Kelley, p 5-430] The trawler never got any closer to the coast than 30 miles and after she reversed course was monitored by aircraft until she approached the coast of the People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
While on Market Time patrol duties on 1 March, discovered an abandoned junk at anchor 52 miles southeast of Da Nang. After a search of the area failed to locate persons in the water, the junk was boarded and items were found of a Communist Chinese origin including a Communist Chinese flag. The junk was hoisted on board ''Persistent'' and delivered to Da Nang for further inspection.
Aftermath
The destruction of three of the four trawlers and the turning back of the fourth demonstrated that Operation Market Time was an effective net for the interception of supplies destined for resupply of the Viet Cong. Except for the 1 March trawlers and one other instance in the days after Tet 1968 no other trawlers were spotted between July 1967 and August 1969.[Summers, p 100] The North Vietnamese were forced to use the Ho Chi Minh trail
The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...
through Laos
Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...
or the neutral port of Sihanoukville in Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
to ship supplies to the Viet Cong. With the closing of the port at Sihanoukville to Communist shipping in August 1969, attempted North Vietnamese trawler traffic into South Vietnam resumed.[Scotti, p 54] Of 15 trawlers detected by Market Time assets from August 1969 to late 1970, one was sunk, 13 were turned back and only one got through.[ In 1970, ten out of eleven trawlers were either sunk or were turned back.][
]
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References cited
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{{US Coast Guard navbox
United States Coast Guard
Naval battles of the Vietnam War
Naval battles of the Vietnam War involving the United States
Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1968
March 1968 in Asia