H059.2 - U.S. Navy in Vietnam – Late 1970 to December 1971

By Director of Naval History, Rear Admiral Sam Cox, U.S. Navy (Retired)

50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War

Of note, National Vietnam War Veteran's Day is observed annually on 29 March.

U.S. Navy Operations in the Vietnam War from November 1970 to December 1971

The largest night carrier operation of the Vietnam War occurred 20-21 November 1970 when carriers RANGER (CVA-61) and ORISKANY (CVA-34) launched over 50 aircraft over North Vietnam and along the coast in order to provide a diversion for the daring U.S. Army/U.S. Air Force attempt to rescue U.S. Prisoners of War from the Son Tay POW Camp, only 23 miles from Hanoi. Due to the Rules of Engagement at the time, almost all the Navy aircraft were unarmed, dropping flares to simulate bomb strikes and dropping chaff to simulate a minelaying mission near Haiphong. The twenty North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles fired at the Navy aircraft were fully armed however, but all of them missed. The Navy diversion was a success and the Son Tay raid force got in and out of the target without significant casualties. The dangerous mission was almost flawlessly executed, but the North Vietnamese had moved all 65 POWs at Son Tay to a camp closer to Hanoi in July 1970, resulting in extensive recriminations regarding the "failed" mission. Although unknown at the time, the "failed" mission resulted in a huge boost in morale for the POWs (tangible proof they had not been forgotten) as well as significantly better treatment of the POWs by the North Vietnamese.

In 1971, the Nixon Administration's policy of "Vietnamization" of the war was in full stride, with the number of U.S. troops in the country and number of U.S. casualties rapidly decreasing as Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) troops were trained and took on more combat roles. Despite this, opposition to the Vietnam War continued to intensify in the United States, and groups such as Vietnam Veterans Against the War greatly increased in size and became increasingly vocal. A major test of the Vietnamization policy came in February 1971 when a 20,000-strong South Vietnamese force launched an offensive (Operation Lam Son 719) into Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the North Vietnamese supply route through Laoa and Cambodia and into South Vietnam.) Despite rosy pronouncements in Saigon and Washington DC, the South Vietnamese force got chewed up by intense North Vietnamese resistance and thrown back out of Laos with very heavy casualties (including 107 U.S. helicopters lost and 253 U.S. military personnel killed while trying to support the South Vietnamese.)

The Vietnamization of the naval war went much better, and by mid-1971, almost all riverine and coastal patrol missions and craft had been turned over to the South Vietnamese Navy, although air support from the U.S. Navy's light attack helicopter squadron (HA(L)-3) "Seawolves" and light attack squadron (VA(L)-4) "Black Ponies" continued unabated. Naval gunfire missions along the South Vietnamese coast continued to dramatically decrease and U.S. Navy amphibious forces were withdrawn from Vietnamese waters, although some remained in Subic Bay, Philippines on alert. The previous successes of Operation Market Time (interdiction of seaborne infiltration of South Vietnam) resulted in the lowest number of infiltration attempts by North Vietnamese trawlers in 1971 (one trawler reached South Vietnam, nine aborted their missions when detected, and one was caught by U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and Vietnamese Navy vessels and blew up with the loss of all hands.)

With the moratorium on bombing in North Vietnam still in effect (with some very limited exceptions) while interminable "Peace Talks" were ongoing in Paris, U.S. carrier strike operations were focused almost exclusively on interdicting the northern end of the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos, a very challenging mission resulting in significant losses with little strategic effect. At the start of 1971, the USN maintained a three attack carrier (CVA)-rotation, with two CVAs on Yankee Station (day/night) and one CVA in Subic for R&R and resupply, plus one ASW carrier (CVS) in the Gulf of Tonkin. The number of carriers on station and number of strike sorties steadily decreased throughout 1971 due in part to the weather (three typhoons) but mostly due to fiscal cutbacks necessitating conservation of fuel, ammunition and aircraft flight hours. By the end of 1971, combat sorties were at the lowest level since Operation Rolling Thunder started in 1964. However, there were ominous signs at the end of the year that the situation was about to change. While talking peace in Paris, the North Vietnamese were actually preparing for a massive conventional invasion of South Vietnam in 1972, which would result in some of the most intense U.S. naval combat since WWII.

As always, you are welcome and encouraged to disseminate H-grams further to spread these stories of U.S. Navy valor and sacrifice. "Back Issues" of H-grams (enhanced with photos) can be found at https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams.html And more interesting material at Naval History and Heritage Command website https://www.history.navy.mil/