On April 19, 1972, the threat of an enemy aerial attack on US Navy ships off the coast of North Vietnam really materialized
US Navy ships operating off the coast of North Vietnam became actively engaged in the air war as combat operations heated up in the spring of 1972.
The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver claims that on April 19, 1972, the threat of an enemy aerial strike on Navy ships off the coast of North Vietnam actually materialized. As part of Operation Sea Dragon fire mission against transportation targets on Highway One ashore, USS Higbee (DD-806) was five miles off the coast near Dong Hoi with USS Lloyd Thomas (DD 764), USS Sterett (DLG-31), and the Commander of the Seventh Fleet (Com7thFlt) flagship USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5), when radar detected two bogeys emerging from the mountains and flying low over the gulf waters.
When the Higbee was attacked by a special force that the Vietnam People’s Air Force (VPAF) had established the year prior to participating in shipping strikes, the crew of the ship had no idea that they were about to become the first US Navy ship bombed by an enemy air force since 1945. North Vietnamese leaders realized that the Seventh Fleet would probably reactivate Sea Dragon, in which surface ships had shelled the North Vietnamese coast throughout the years of Rolling Thunder, and they instructed the VPAF to build a strike force that could counter these operations when preparations for the 1972 offensive began.
A military advisor known as “Ernesto” from the Cuban Air Force, a specialist in anti-shipping attack, had selected and trained ten pilots of the MiG-17-equipped 923rd Fighter Regiment in anti-shipping maneuvers in preparation for an invasion of the island nation by the United States following the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Nguyen Van Bay, a MiG-17 pilot, and ace, served as the special force’s commander. Six pilots were deemed capable of carrying out maritime attack missions by March 1972. The 28th Technical Brigade built a special hidden airfield at Gat in Quang Binh Province that was expertly camouflaged to avoid being discovered by US photo reconnaissance missions. Some MiG-17s were modified so they could deploy a 250-kilogram (550-pound) bomb under each wing instead of the fighters’ usual underwing drop tanks. In front of the port of Nhat Le, the 403rd Radar Unit established its position close to the Dinh River, where it monitored US warships off the coast.
In order to throw off US radar surveillance, VPAF pilots Le Hong Diep and Tu De flew two of the special attack aircraft to Gia Lam and then Vinh before bringing them to the secret airfield at Gat the day before the scheduled attack. Tu De recalled then: “We flew just above the ground after taking off from Vinh, to stay below the enemy radar.” That night, the 403rd Radar Unit picked up four US ships off the coast of Quang Binh Province as they took up station five to seven miles to sea from the villages of Quang Xa and Ly Nhan Nam.
Later, Nguyen Van Bay recalled the attack:
“Le Xuan Di and I were preparing for the attack. At 0930 hours, the 403rd radar unit reported four ships 40 kilometers [25 miles] from Le Thuy and 120 kilometers [75 miles] from Dinh, and three ships 80 kilometers [50 miles] from the Sot River. However, due to the foggy weather, we could not take off. At noon the radar unit reported the ships had moved to the south and only two remained in position. By 1500 hours the first group of four ships was 15 kilometers [nine-and-a-half miles] from Ly Hoa and the second two-ship formation was seven kilometers [two-and-a-half miles] from Quang Trach, while three more warships were 18 kilometers [11 miles] from Ly Hoa. At 1600 hours, a new group of ships was spotted 16 kilometers [nearly four miles] from Nhat Le.
“At 1605 hrs we received our orders to take off. When we were over Ly Hoa, we saw the ships and noted puffs of smoke, that they were firing on the shore. We received the order to attack.”
Le Xuan Di made a left turn toward the fleet, flying over the other ships as he targeted Higbee and picked up speed. The crew of the destroyer had just evacuated to the fantail after one of the two 5-inch guns in her aft mount fired a “hot round,” when a MiG-17 came low overhead and dropped two bombs on the ship before breaking to the left. His bombs both impacted the destroyer:
“While Le Xuan Di was attacking his target I flew on, and upon reaching the Dinh River I spotted two ships to the northeast. I was too close and did not have time for a proper attack, so I overshot them. I had to return for a second pass. Le Xuan Di asked me on the radio: “All right?” I answered “Not really,” since I thought I had missed my target. After returning to base at 1622 hrs, I was told that a 30 meter [99-foot]-high column of smoke was seen out at sea, and later something burst into flames.”
Le Xuan Di severely damaged Higbee’s superstructure and completely destroyed the aft 5-inch mount while injuring four crew members with his two bombs. The attackers were only over the task force for 17 minutes. The fact that Oklahoma City barely suffered modest damage supports Nguyen Van Bay’s critique of his performance. Sterett allegedly used two Terrier missiles to bring down Bay’s MiG after getting a radar lock on it, but Bay was able to land at Gat airfield. Also, the task force claimed to have engaged in a firefight with two North Vietnamese torpedo boats, however, the North Vietnamese ultimately denied sending any of their ships to take part in the incident.
The airfields at Dong Hoi and Vinh were attacked the following day in response. A 30-aircraft Alpha strike was launched a few days later in an attempt to take down the secret airfield at Gat. Despite a damaged rudder, Higbee was still able to sail on her own to Da Nang, where she anchored next to the USS Hector (AR-7). Don Davis, an AP war journalist who had recently completed a mission aboard the similarly-tied-to-Hector USS Buchanan (DDG-14), boarded Higbee. Davis later recalled that the ship’s fantail “looked like a junkyard floating in a pool of dirty oil.”
The photograph Davis took of the damage would be widely published in US newspapers. The local naval authorities weren’t happy that a reporter was there, he recalled as well. The incident was briefly described in the official history of the USS Higbee in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) as late as 2017, however as of 2019, both the DANFS record and the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) record for the ship contain no reference of the incident. NHHC responded that there was no “official record” of such an event when questioned. Aerial Battles in the Skies of Vietnam, the official history of the VPAF, contains a detailed account of the raid.
The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by Bình Giang via Wikipedia, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy