Operation Custom Tailor was an American cruiser and destroyer strike force that conducted a raid on

Haiphong Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta. Haiphong w ...

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 ...

, in 10 May 1972. It was a history-making strike that involved the most formidable cruiser/destroyer fleet in the Western Pacific since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. During the strike, military targets within four miles of Haiphong were hit and enemy opposition was heavy.

Operation

The ships participating were , , , and . During the raid, USS ''Hanson'' entered Haiphong Harbor to suppress North Vietnamese

shore batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...

while enabling other

United States 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 ...

forces to

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

the Haiphong Harbor entrance. This made USS ''Hanson'' the last American warship to enter Haiphong Harbor 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 ...

and the last one out.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Custom Tailor, Operation Conflicts in 1972 Campaigns of the Vietnam War 1972 in Vietnam Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1972 Naval battles of the Vietnam War involving the United States Naval battles of the Vietnam War May 1972 events in Asia History of Haiphong