The B-52s were then withdrawn from operations in the north, and when they returned in June, their missions would be limited to South Vietnam. [7] They quickly seized the town of Lộc Ninh and then surrounded the town of An Lộc, cutting the road to the capital.          Political / Social. As a result of this meeting and the fall of Quảng Trị City, Nixon was prepared to up the ante, stating that "the bastards have never been bombed like they're going to be bombed this time. Although both Moscow and Beijing publicly denounced the American operation, they were not willing to jeopardize their thawing relationship with the U.S. and Hanoi's requests for support and aid from its socialist allies met with only cool responses. Due to conflicting orders from their high command, South Vietnamese units joined an exodus of refugees heading southward, abandoning Quảng Trị City. Targets were then switched to petroleum and oil storage and transportation networks and North Vietnamese airfields. [34] The plan had been shelved at the time as too extreme, but it was not forgotten. [3] This three-division force caught the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and their American allies unprepared. Operation Linebacker was the codename of a U.S. Ellsberg told the Niemans he learned of a 1969 plan to mine Haiphong from an article in the July 1974 issue of the Washington Monthly, written … "[29], On 27 April, ARVN defenses in Quảng Trị Province began to collapse. "[28] The North Vietnamese, sensing victory, were in no mood to make concessions. Between March and May, B-52 sortie rates had climbed from 700 to 2,200 per month and the big bombers had dropped 57,000 tons of bombs in Quảng Trị Province alone. "[44] In total, 41,653 Linebacker missions dropped 155,548 tons of bombs. The Air Force deployed 176 F-4s and 12 F-105 Thunderchiefs from bases in the Republic of Korea and the U.S. to Thailand between 1 April and 11 May in Operation Constant Guard. Their targets included the railroad switching yards at Yen Vien and the Paul Doumer Bridge, on the northern outskirts of Hanoi. They were followed by more than 100 tactical aircraft attacking targets around Hanoi and Haiphong during daylight. It was one of the few ship-to-ship naval battles of the war. The continuing bad weather, however, limited the ability of the U.S. aircraft to assist in stemming the North Vietnamese onslaught. Another four were destroyed between the capital and Haiphong, including the notorious Thanh Hóa Bridge. [22] By 12 April, President Nixon had informed Kissinger that he had decided on a more comprehensive bombing campaign which would include strikes against both Hanoi and Haiphong. [14] The first large-scale B-52 raid directed against the north was conducted on 10 April when 12 B-52s, supported by 53 attack aircraft, struck petroleum storage facilities around Vinh. [12], U.S. Air Force tactical strikes against North Vietnam north of the 20th parallel were authorized on 5 April under the nickname Freedom Train. At noon on 30 March 1972, 30,000 North Vietnamese troops, supported by regiments of tanks and artillery, rolled southward across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separated the two Vietnams. They were protected from attack by North Vietnamese MiG fighters by the guided-missile cruisers Chicago and Long Beach , several destroyers including the guided missile destroyer Berkeley , and by flights of F-4 … Due to conflicting orders from their high command, ARVN units joined an exodus of refugees heading southward, abandoning Quảng Trị city. [48], Linebacker saw several other "firsts". [53], Air Force historian Earl Tilford has written that Linebacker was "a watershed in aerial warfare...it was the first modern aerial campaign in which precision guided munitions changed the way in which air power was used. Michel, p. 317 note 2. 104 were lost in combat and 30 were destroyed in operational accidents. She was launched on 3 February 1968 and sponsored by Mrs. Arthur A. It took place on Hill 937 (as it was 937-meter above the sea) which would be later known as “Hamburger Hill” due to its grinding nature as a reference to a similar battle called “The Battle of Pork Chop Hill” during Korean war. Linebacker was the first continuous bombing effort conducted against North Vietnam since the bombing halt instituted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in November 1968. [33], On 10 May Operation Linebacker and Operation Custom Tailor began with large-scale bombing operations against North Vietnam by tactical fighter aircraft of the Seventh Air Force and Task Force 77. [58] During the same time period, the RVNAF lost ten aircraft. 78713 Phone: (512) 495-4250 104 were lost in combat and 30 were destroyed in operational accidents. Vietnamese soldiers reacted to the seizure by firing on the French ship from the shore. The continuing bad weather, however, limited the ability of the U.S. aircraft to assist in stemming the North Vietnamese onslaught. Navy pilots, employing a mutually supporting "loose deuce" tactical formation and many with TOPGUN training, enjoyed a kill ratio of 6:1 in favor of USA in May and June, such that after that the North Vietnamese rarely engaged them thereafter. [13] On 4 April, Nixon authorized the bombing of North Vietnam (which had been limited to reprisal raids just above the DMZ) up to the 18th parallel. [33] Operation Duck Hook was to include an invasion of the north itself and included a proposal to mine its major harbors. By Samuel J. Cox Rear Adm., USN (retired) Director of Naval History, Curator for the Navy Director, Naval History and Heritage Command A note from the editor: Admiral James L. Holloway III, USN (Ret. [11], Both Nixon and Kissinger considered a plan offered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to be both unimaginative and lacking in aggressiveness. [13] In order to prevent a total ARVN collapse and to protect American prestige during the upcoming summit meeting with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, Nixon decided to risk a massive escalation of force. Excessive Violence "[35] The mines were activated five days after their delivery in order to allow any vessels then in port to escape without damage. Between 10 May and 23 October 1972, the United States lost a total of 134 aircraft either over the north or as a direct result of Linebacker missions. PAVN had evolved into a conventional military force, and such a force depended upon a complex logistical system, which made it vulnerable to aerial attack. This marked the introduction of laser-guided bombs against strategic targets in North Vietnam. [18] The U.S. Navy's Task Force 77 (stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin), had four aircraft carriers assigned to it, but only two were available at any one time to conduct operations. This raid, which took place off the Do Son Peninsula and Cat Ba Island area at the entrance to Haiphong Harbor was carried out by Task Unit 77.1.2., which included four ships, USS Newport News (CA 148), an 8-inch gun cruiser; USS Providence (CLG 6), a 6-inch gun missile cruiser; USS Robison (DDG 12), a guided-missile destroyer; and USS Rowan (DD 782) a Gearing class destroyer. [16] The number of combat aircraft stationed in Southeast Asia was less than half that of its peak strength in 1968–1969. Shelling by PAVN artillery dropped off by one-half between 9 May and 1 June. After the bombardment, the ships were threatened by four Russian-built torpedo boats. Hours before Nixon's speech announcing the mining, Kissinger had delivered a letter to Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin which outlined the U.S. plan, but which also made clear Nixon's willingness to proceed with the summit. [14], Due to the continuous withdrawal of American forces and the ongoing policy of Vietnamization, at the time of the invasion fewer than 10,000 U.S. troops remained in South Vietnam, and most of them were scheduled to leave within the next six months. This once again placed Hanoi and Haiphong off-limits, and halted Linebacker operations. [13], U.S. Air Force tactical strikes against North Vietnam north of the 20th parallel were authorized on 5 April under the nickname Freedom Train. On 5 May, the president ordered the Joint Chiefs to prepare to execute the aerial mining portion of the Duck Hook plan within three days under the operational title Pocket Money. [5] ARVN forces then fell back, and a race began between both belligerents to the bridges at Đông Hà and Cam Lộ. His National Security Advisor, Dr. Henry Kissinger, convinced the president to reconsider, since he did not want to jeopardize the formalization of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) with the Soviets, that was due to be formalized in May. VIETNAM: BATTLE OF HAIPHONG HARBOR 313 Robison would team with the Providence, a 6-inch gun and missile cruiser, as one task element, and the World War II Gearing-class destroyer Rowan (DD-782) would join the heavy cruiser Newport News as a second task element. On 12 April, the PAVN struck again, this time moving in from eastern Laos and seizing a series of border outposts around Đắk Tô in Kon Tum Province in the Central Highlands. [32], Shortly after his inauguration, Nixon had ordered the preparation of a contingency plan, one that would hopefully bring the Vietnam War to an end. Casey, Michael, Clark Dougan, Samuel Lipsman, Jack Sweetman, Stephen Weiss, et al.. Fulghum, David and Terrence Maitland, et al.. Lipsman, Samuel and Stephen Weiss, et al., Bibliography: Operations Linebacker and Linebacker II. Vice Admiral James L. Holloway III took with him his ship, the heavy cruiser Newport News, the guided missile cruiser Providence, and the destroyers Robison and Rowan conducted a brief night raid against the North Vietnamese forces protecting the port of Haiphong. On the opening day of the operation, Navy Lieutenant Duke Cunningham and his radar intercept officer, Lieutenant (j.g.) [31] As the North Vietnamese continued to gain ground in three of South Vietnam's four military regions, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff updated their contingency plans (drawn up before the bombing halt of 1968) for the resumption of bombing in the north and recommended it to the President, who approved it on 8 May. [57], From the beginning of Freedom Train in April to the end of June 1972 the United States lost 52 aircraft over North Vietnam: 17 to missiles; 11 to anti-aircraft weapons; three to small arms fire; 14 to MiGs; and seven to unknown causes. [23], By mid-month, nearly all of North Vietnam had been cleared for bombing raids for the first time in over three years. Both bridges had previously been attacked unsuccessfully with conventional bombs and even missiles. The enemy's bloody country-wide Tet Offensive of February and March and the follow-up attacks during the spring influenced American decision-making in several important ways. Both bridges had previously been attacked unsuccessfully with conventional bombs and even missiles. Armed clashes immediately broke out on land between French and Vietnamese nationalists. Further information on the PAVN offensive: David Fulghum & Terrance Maitland, et al.. Michael Casey, Clark Dougan, Samuel Lipsman, Jack Sweetman, Stephen Weiss, et al.. Lavalle, pp. William P. Driscoll became the first U.S. air aces of the Vietnam War when they shot down their fifth MiG. Air Force and Navy commanders and pilots were relieved that Nixon (unlike President Johnson) left the operational planning to local commanders and loosened the targeting restrictions that had hampered Operation Rolling Thunder. The stalled offensive in the south and the devastation in North Vietnam had helped to convince Hanoi to return to the bargaining table by early August. "[29], On 27 April, ARVN defenses in Quảng Trị Province began to collapse. One of those aircraft was an. For those unfamiliar with the exhibit, it centers around a 1972 nighttime raid by four surface warships of … Their air wings totaled approximately 140 aircraft. On 5 April, a PAVN force of 20,000 crossed the border from their sanctuaries in Cambodia in another three-division, combined arms force to attack Bình Long Province, north of Saigon. [13] Between the 6th and the 15th, U.S. aircraft also struck and destroyed the Paul Doumer and Thanh Hóa bridges and the Yen Vien railway marshalling yard. "[61] Although Henry Kissinger may have announced that peace was at hand, it was not going to come easily. [48] During August, however, the introduction of real-time early warning systems, increased aircrew combat experience and degraded VPAF ground control interception capabilities reversed the trend to a more favorable 4:1 kill ratio. The U.S. immediately began a rapid build-up of airpower. Losses by service were:[1], For the December 1972 military operation, see. ), the twentieth Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), passed away on November 26, 2019, at the age of 97. [33], On 10 May Operation Linebacker began with large-scale bombing operations against North Vietnam by tactical fighter aircraft of the Seventh Air Force and Task Force 77. Lipsman and Weiss, p. 9. [56] During Freedom Train and Linebacker proper, B-52s had dropped 150,237 tons of bombs on the North while Air Force and Navy tactical aircraft had flown 1,216 sorties and dropped another 5,000 tons of ordnance. MAIN LIBRARY. [43] B-52s provided an additional 1,000 sorties during the same period. American and South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) aircraft had been supporting the defense (weather permitting) since the inception of the offensive. From 1974 to 1978, he served as the senior uniformed officer in the U.S. Navy and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under three Presidents; Nixon, Ford and Carter. [52] The U.S. on its part agreed to a cease fire in place which conceded that PAVN soldiers could remain in South Vietnam after a peace agreement. [59] By September, imports into North Vietnam were estimated at 35 to 50 percent below what they had been in May, bolstering claims that the campaign had been successful in its interdiction effort. One such operation was Operation Lion's Den, or "The Battle of Haiphong Harbor". By 4 April, ARVN officers had patched together a defensive line that held the PAVN at bay, but it was only a temporary respite. [39] A total of 414 sorties were flown on the first day of the operation, 120 by the Air Force and 294 by the Navy, and they encountered the heaviest single day of air-to-air combat during the Vietnam War, with 11 VPAF MiGs (four MiG-21s and seven MiG-17s) and two Air Force F-4s shot down. [25], The U.S. also now began what North Vietnamese historians have described as "using devious political and diplomatic schemes...to cut back the amount of aid being supplied to us by socialist nations. USS Coral Sea (CV-43) - Construction: Work on the third ship of the class, USS Coral Sea (CVB-43), commenced on July 10, 1944, at Newport News Shipbuilding. [13], The following day 18 B-52s struck Thanh Hóa's Bai Thuong Air Base. 7th Fleet assets in local waters were thereby increased from 84 to 138 ships. [50] The meetings produced new concessions from Hanoi which promised to end the deadlock that had plagued negotiations since their inception in 1968. [41] There was an immediate impact on the battlefield in South Vietnam. I was talking about the mining of Haiphong which was about to come--the bombing had just started. [61] By September, imports into North Vietnam were estimated at 35 to 50 percent below what they had been in May, bolstering claims that the campaign had been successful in its interdiction effort. On 21 February 1972 Nixon had landed in Beijing for his dramatic diplomatic breakthrough with the People's Republic of China. Division 8 formed (possibly 1973 or 1974) from previously separate RegimentsZ15 and Z18, it first served in the 1975 spring offensive. In addition to interdicting the road and rail system of North Vietnam, Linebacker also systematically attacked its air defense system. They were protected from attacks by Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) MiG fighter aircraft by the guided-missile cruisers Chicago and Long Beach, with several destroyers including the guided-missile destroyer USS Berkeley launching Operation Custom Tailor, and by supporting flights of F-4 Phantoms. Shelling by PAVN artillery dropped off by one-half between 9 May and 1 June. (Originally published on the NHHC Sextant blog on December 19, 2019.) Originally planned as a U.S. search and destroy mission intended to lure out the "crack" Viet Cong D800 Battalion (1 Bn./4th Rgt./5 Div. The PAVN offensive had become a massive conventional military operation that was being conducted on three fronts simultaneously, involving the equivalent of 15 divisions and 600 tanks. "[63] Although Henry Kissinger may have announced that peace was at hand, it was not going to come easily. Hours before the president's speech announcing the mining, Kissinger had delivered a letter to Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin which outlined the U.S. plan, but which also made clear Nixon's willingness to proceed with the summit. Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles. [39] A total of 414 sorties were flown on the first day of the operation, 120 by the Air Force and 294 by the Navy, and they encountered the heaviest single day of air-to-air combat during the Vietnam War, with 11 North Vietnamese MiGs (four MiG-21s and seven MiG-17s) and two U.S. Air Force F-4s shot down. These strikes were conducted in support of ARVN forces, and included those of the air wings of the carriers USS Coral Sea and USS Hancock. [45] The Air Force, opposed by MiG-21s, MiG-17s, and J-6s (the Chinese version of the MiG-19), experienced a virtual 1:1 shoot-down ratio through the first two months of the campaign, as seven of its eventual 24 Linebacker air-to-air losses occurred without any corresponding North Vietnamese loss in a twelve-day period between 24 June and 5 July. They were followed by more than 100 tactical aircraft attacking targets around Hanoi and Haiphong during daylight. It started five days later. Ambassador and COMUSMACV, General Creighton W. Abrams, were both out of the country. On 27 August 1972. One such operation was Operation Lion's Den, or "The Battle of Haiphong Harbor". [7] The North Vietnamese then proceeded east toward the provincial seat of Kon Tum. Also contributing to the parity was a lack of air combat training against dissimilar aircraft, a deficient early warning system, and ECM pod formations that mandated strict adherence to formation flying. Holloway served with honor and distinction for 36 years. SYND 5-5-72 AFTERMATH OF BOMBING ON HAIPHONG - Duration: 1:09. Nixon orders mining of Haiphong Harbor and escalates bombing; demonstrations in U.S. intensify and 1,000 University of Minnesota students form blockade of Student Union building April 13 Vietcong manage to take Hue city's northern part but 4,000 ARVN troops, helped by U.S. elite forces and air bombings, hold position; Vietcong forced to withdraw after one month By June 1974, the time of the last summit, Mr. Nixon's prestige had fallen so far that the trip itself was regarded by many as an effort to stave off impeachment. The North Vietnamese Air Force, with approximately 200 interceptors, strongly contested these attacks throughout the campaign. [49] The meetings produced new concessions from Hanoi which promised to end the deadlock that had plagued negotiations since their inception in 1968. ), Charlie Company soon found itself fighting for survival in the rubber plantations of Cam My village, approximately 42 miles (68 km) east of Saigon. One of the A-7s illuminated the area with a flare while the other dropped a Rockeye, which along with gunfire from Newport News and Rowan, finished off the targets. 83 B-52 bombers were stationed at U-Tapao RTAFB, Thailand and at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. [10] The Pentagon was not unduly alarmed and the U.S. Richard S. Edwards has received six battle stars for service off Vietnam. [10] Another stumbling block to the plan was General Abrams' desire to utilize the available bombers (with their all-weather capability) to support the ARVN defense. She was part of the USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63) Task Group which was dispatched to the Arabian Sea in response to the Iranian occupation of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. 83 B-52s were stationed at U-Tapao RTAFB, Thailand and at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. [43] The north was feeling the pressure, admitting in the official PAVN history that "between May and June only 30 percent of supplies called for in our plan actually reached the front-line units. The PAVN offensive had become a massive conventional military operation that was being conducted on three fronts simultaneously, involving the equivalent of 15 divisions and 600 tanks. [40], By the end of the month, American aircraft had destroyed 13 bridges along the rail lines running from Hanoi to the Chinese border. [53], During and immediately following the PAVN offensive, U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aviators had flown 18,000 sorties in the four northern provinces of South Vietnam and dropped 40,000 tons of ordnance in the defense of An Lộc. Joined by two aircraft from the Coral Sea, three of the four torpedo boats were sunk. The U.S. Navy had also been updating its own contingency plans for just such a mining operation since 1965. Karnow, p. 638. President Richard M. Nixon's first response was to consider a three-day attack by B-52 Stratofortress bombers on Hanoi and the port city of Haiphong. Its purpose was to halt or slow the transportation of supplies and materials for the Nguyen Hue Offensive (known in the West as the Easter Offensive), an invasion of the South Vietnam by forces of the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) that had been launched on 30 March. This marked the introduction of laser-guided bombs against strategic targets in North Vietnam. Also see Morocco, pp. 233–248. [53] The diplomatic impasse was broken and Nixon ordered a halt to all bombing above the 20th parallel on 23 October and on 26 October Kissinger announced that "peace is at hand." Losses are enumerated by date, aircraft type and serial number, and crew members. [17] The U.S. Navy's Task Force 77 (stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin), had four aircraft carriers assigned to it, but only two were available at any one time to conduct operations. The Air Force deployed 176 F-4 Phantoms and 12 F-105s from bases in the Republic of Korea and the U.S. to Thailand between 1 April and 11 May in Operation Constant Guard. Losses by service were:[64], World War II, Chief of Naval Operations, Charleston, South Carolina, United States Navy, Korean War, For the December 1972 military operation, see, For more details on on the PAVN offensive, see, For more details on on the negotiations, see. Beginning on December 18, American B-52s and fighter-bombers dropped over 20,000 tons of bombs on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Unwilling to jeopardize increasingly normalized relations with the West and wary of Washington's growing relationship with Beijing, Brezhnev agreed to apply pressure to Hanoi to end the offensive and negotiate seriously. That leaves 31 foreign merchant ships still in Haiphong, 12 of them flying Soviet flags, five Communist Chinese, three Hong Kong-based British craft, three Polish vessels, two Cubans, one East German and five under the flag of Somalia. 68 aircraft shot down (54 in air combat). [60] Air Force General Robert N. Ginsburgh, of the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, summed up the attitudes of U.S. commanders by remarking that Linebacker had "a greater impact in its first four months of operation than Rolling Thunder had in three and one-half years. [36], Both before and during Pocket Money, Nixon and Kissinger had worried about the Soviet and Chinese reaction to the escalation. On 13 October another weapons officer, Captain Jeffrey S. Feinstein, was credited with his fifth MiG, making him the final Air Force ace. The clash with the torpedo boats occurred 27 miles southeast of Haiphong at a point about 9 or 10 miles off the coast, the Navy said. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization. She was the third Navy ship to be so named, and is the first named for the Battle of New Orleans, which was the last major battle of The War of 1812. 1974: Tragedy strikes at the DMZ Navy strength: 545,903 people (0.26% of U.S. population) While inspecting a secret tunnel in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, which were and still are technically at war, an explosion caused the death of Comdr. [31] As the North Vietnamese continued to gain ground in three of South Vietnam's four military regions, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff updated their contingency plans (drawn up before the bombing halt of 1968) for the resumption of bombing in the north and recommended it to the president, who approved it on 8 May. 4 of 6 found this interesting Interesting? De la Houssaye. [9], The initial U.S. response to the offensive was lackadaisical and confused. On 13 October another weapons officer, Captain Jeffrey S. Feinstein, was credited with his fifth MiG, making him the final Air Force ace. [41] There was an immediate impact on the battlefield in South Vietnam. The Battle of Phuoc Long was a decisive major battle of the Vietnam War which began on December 12, 1974, and concluded on January 6, 1975. [40] Anti-aircraft artillery and over 100 surface-to-air missile firings also brought down two U.S. Navy aircraft. Two weeks after the initial attack, North Vietnamese forces again battle toward Quang Tri City. The Rowan … [12] On 4 April, he authorized the bombing of North Vietnam (which had been limited to reprisal raids just above the DMZ) up to the 18th parallel. William P. Driscoll became the first U.S. air aces of the Vietnam War when they shot down their fifth MiG. Hai Phong Port, North Vietnam During Wartime | Kinolibrary - Duration: 1:12. thekinolibrary 557 views. Twelve days later, Captain Charles B. DeBellevue (who had been Ritchie's backseater during four of his five victories) downed two more MiGs, bringing his total to six. Linebacker was the first continuous bombing effort conducted against North Vietnam since the end of Operation Rolling Thunder in November 1968. Several more bridges were brought down along the rail line leading to the south toward the DMZ. 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Attribution-Sharealike License ; additional terms may apply in the event, BERKELEY received the Navy Medal... Austin, TX conventional bombs and even missiles [ 50 ] on 20 April Kissinger met with. Going to come -- the bombing halt instituted by President Lyndon B. Johnson November! Both belligerents to the bridges at Dong Ha and Cam Lộ, aircraft type and serial number, and race! Pocket Money, Nixon shook the hand of Soviet Foreign Trade Minister Nikolai Patolichev at the as... Make concessions both before and during Pocket Money, Nixon shook the of... Navy warships launched a raid against the Vietnamese ARVN 3rd Division and it. In Air combat ) U.S. response to the bridges at Đông Hà and Cam Lo North Vietnam to assist stemming. Force caught the Army of the ARVN 3rd Division and threw it into disarray tons of bombs lost aircraft! Unduly alarmed and the U.S response to the terms of use and Privacy Policy diplomatic was! Their Air wings totaled approximately 140 aircraft. 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