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THE GULF of TONKIN INCIDENT Walter D ~ifi~~s e:f~~gi611is article are those of the author(s) and do not represent the official opinion t't·Yc-,~ t.--¥00 1 1 ~0n1v00 . THE GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT Walter D. Abbot, Jr. BU .. :;i''.c:LAS SlETEb EXEM PT · .. ;:· In late 1961--early 1962 a series of U.S. of the patrol vesseJ.s was n6~~if~ /and serious Navy patrols off the east coast of Communist warnings wereissti.ed to iilm0st all the patrols China was proposed. The purpose of these patrols by the Chinese Government"~ ..· but unique informa- was to be three-fold. In the first place they t_ion was virtually nil( .· would establish and maintain the presence of thE). ./ .• .·· h · · ·· In DE:)ceinber 1962./ with DESOTO patrol num- U. S. Seventh Fleet in t e internationa1 ~!!.ters her IX_,. the USS. / AGE.RHOLM conducted the first off the China coast; second, they w0uld serve as · a minor Cold War irritant to );he r;C::hicoms"; and pr9.be into South China waters and the Gulf of third, they would collect as much intelligence / . Tonkin around Hainan Island. This pattern was as possible co11c___ .e__. 1Jling . I/ · repeat_ed in A_pril 1963 when the USS EDWARDS I I. - traversed the same path around Hainan Island I and ·· then .extended its mission down the coast The initial phasing called for,........_ ..........,...___, .ci"f the .Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). destro er to conduct each mission. No DRV··· reflections were recorded at this time, and... ·Chicom reaction was again limited to sha­ d_olliing and issuance of serious warnings. Since ... serious warnings were not reserved for DESOTO · missions (at that time the U.S. had received over 350 of these warnings for both air and sea violations), no particular significance could be attached to them. These patrols were given t e cover name The first DRV reaction to a DESOTO patrol From 14 to 20 April 1962 the first DESOTO came in late February--early March 1964 on the patrol was conducted, with the destroyer USS third venture into the Gulf of Tonkin, this -DE HAVEN as the_participating vessel. The area time by the USS CRAIG. DRV radar stations per­ of responsibility encompassed by the mission formed extensive tracking of the CRAIG on her · focused aroUJ1d the Tsingtao area of the Yellow first run up the coast, and DRV naval communi­ Sea, and the ship was instructed not to approach cations referred to the CRAIG by hull number any Chicom-held territory, including the off­ on one occasion. Although intelligence collec­ shore islands, closer than 10 miles . ted from this missi.on was not voluminous, it did contribute new insight into the placement Major intelligence targets for this mission and capability of DRY tracking stations and fell into five categories: Chicom naval units, equipment. particularly submarines; ELINT of Chicom elec­ trical installations; Chicom air activity; hydro­ graphic and weather information; and merchant C H I N A shipping (particularly Chicom) in the area. This first DESOTO patrol was singularly effec­ tive in evoking Chicom reaction. Such things as shadowing of the DE HAVEN by three or more Chicom vessels at one time, jamming of the DE HAVEN communications facilities, and the use of deceptive pennant numbers on the shadowing ves­ sels all contributed to the success of the intel­ ligence effort on this mission. In addition, the Chicoms issued three "serious warnings" to the DE HAVEN for violation of territorial rights during the 7 days the mission was in progress. For the remainder of 1962, eight more DE­ SOTO patrols were run, and prior to Dece1J!ber of that year, these patrols were all conducted in the East and North China areas as well as up the Korean coast to the Soviet Gulf of Tartary. After the first mission, intelligence derived from the patrols was quite sparse. Shadowing Feb-Mar * CRYPTOLOG * Page 8 TO:f SECRE~ UMBRA pproved for Release by NSA on 11-01-2005 pursuant to E .O. 2958 as amended DOCID: 3969096 'FOP Sl3€Rl3'f UMBRA Prelude to Violence was "going on a course of S2 degrees ... 9 nauti­ cal miles from Hon Me ... " The fourth DESOTO patrol into the inter­ national waters of the Gulf of Tonkin was pro­ Shortly after placement of the MADDOX grammed in July 1964. Concerned more with the near Hon Me Island by ORV tracking authorities, Vietnamese problem than the Chicom problem of . a message was passed to an unidentified DRV its predecessors, this mission was to observe 1 j:i,ghting vessel stating that it had been "decided the junk fleet vessels believed to be a constant to fight the enemy tonight." The MADDOX was source of resupply to the guerrillas in the apprised accordingly in a warning which preceded south, obtain navigational and hydrographic the actual attack by more than 12 hours. information, and procure any available intelli­ gence on the DRV navy. Since the 19S4 Geneva DRV naval tracking stations were observed in continual surveillance from that time on. agreements specifically prohibited the DRV from ~everal establishing a navy, the emergence of this In addition, messages were intercepted, force had been, until late 1963--early 1964, apparently pre-positioning warships in prepara­ extremely covert. During late 1957 the first tion for the attack. DRV naval communications facilities were iso­ Between approximately 1130 and 121S (Sai­ lated with an estimated 30 ships involved in gon local time) on 2 August, the MADDOX report­ the transmissions. Then in 19S9 the first evi­ ed sighting three PT's and two probable SWATOW­ dence of the emergence of a modern ORV navy class PGM's (motor gunboats) about 10 miles was noted during a probable joint DRV/Chicom north of Hon Me Island. During the same time naval exercise in the Pearl River estuary. frame the MADDOX reached the northernmost point Some of the vessels involved in this exercise of its mission and observed a large junk fleet were believed to be the same 10 motor gunboats (approximately 7S craft), which it intended to later noted passing through the Hainan Strait, avoid on its return route. There were no mili­ and probably represented the DRV's initial ac­ tary ships intermingled with the junks, and quisition of modern naval craft. Augmentation there was still no apparent hostility. of this force was continual after 19S9, and as of late 1964 the ORV navy had a total complement It is not possible to ascertain exactly of nearly 100 vessels. which element of the ORV naval command ordered .the attack, but shortly after the MADDOX reached Armed with this background, and clear on the apex of its mission, a message was passed the purpose of the mission, the USS MADDOX stating that it was time to close with the reached a point on the 17th parallel about 12 "enemy" and use torpedoes. The MADDOX received miles off the coast of the DRV on 31 July 1964 this information some SO minutes before the at 1300 hours local time. From that point the aggressive actions commenced. MADDOX turned northward on a tack that was to take her up the coast for three days in what At 1S30, some 30 miles from shore, the was believed to be another routine running of MADDOX altered her course to the southeast, a DESOTO patrol. heading for the mouth of the Tonkin Gulf, and increased her speed to 2S knots, attempting to Confrontation avoid the three ORV torpedo boats reflected on radar as closing at about SO knots, within 20 Apparently the MADDOX was not the only miles of the DESOTO ship. At that time the vessel active off the North Vietnamese coast on · MADDOX requested air support and posted all the night of 31 July. DRV naval communications )hands at their battle stations. reflected that on that date the "enemy" had fired upon the island of Hon Me, and had been By 1600 the DRV boats were within S miles pursued by DRV warships to no avail. The MAD­ of the MADDOX, still traveling at about SO DOX reported sighting vessels being pursued by , knots, and had moved into column formation, an ;ORV patrol craft, but had made no attempt to ' accepted procedure for torpedo assault. The ' investi~ate the action. !MADDOX fired three warning rounds across the bow of the lead ship, but for naught; and at Whether or not an association between the 7 minutes past the hour, the MADDOX r1~ported above-mentioned attack and the presence' of the that she was under attack. MADDOX was drawn by the DRV is impossible to say. They did protest to the International The PT boats broke into two formations as Control Commission that "American imperialists" ~hey qlosed on the _ste:rn of the MADDOX, with had shelled their fortifications, but that was two of them approaching from the right side and a constant complaint of the ORV and could not one from the left. At a range of 2700 yards be directly attributed to the presence of the the two PT's on the right each launched one MADDOX. However, as the MADDOX resumed the torpedo. The MADDOX then turned to the left prescribed patrol route on 1 August, a route to:avoid the torpedoes, keeping the attacking which required her to pass HOn Me Island, ORV craft under fire, and scored a direct hit on naval authorities reflected their awareness of the PT approaching from the left, just as that the MADDOX when they mentioned that the "enemy" craft placed a torpedo in the water. The tor- Feb-Mar * CRYPTOLOG * Page 9 TOP seeRtiT UMBR:l..
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