HAI PHONG HARBOR

The wrath of US air power was no match for the air defenses of Hanoi. Their only hope to maintain an existence was by relying on its supplies coming from foreign aid. Nixon's onslaught was two pronged as the US Navy simultaneously with bombing missions shut down operations in Hai Phong Harbor and severed their only source of war materials. The move crippled Hanoi.

Operation Linebacker II was on the drawing board in late 1972 in preparations for peace talks and another bargaining chip as Hanoi, anticipating a bombing campaign, emptied areas of the city and stockpiled its defenses. Focussing on a defensive posture their flank was left unguarded with Hai Phong Harbor in full operation. For the remainder of 1972 until the signing of the Peace Accords 27 Soviet merchant ships remained idle in the harbor in fear of impending doom.

Naval aircraft laid strings of mines in the approaches to Hai Phong Harbor through which all of Haoi's war material and fuel passed. These strings of 36 1,000 pound Mark 52 mines sown in the harbor approaches were backed by 500 pond Mark 36 Destrutors in inland waterways. Hanoi was isolated and forced to negotiate. On January 27, 1973 a proclamation to the Peace Accords was signed by both sides to remove the Navy mines. Thousands of mines had to be neutralized and would take months.

Navy LST mining Hai Phong Harbor.

On January 28, 1973 Task Force 78 of the US Seventh Fleet was sent from the Phillipines to Hai Phong Harbor to begin the arduous task of neutralizing the harbor and the supporting waterways. Rear Admiral McCauley, the commander in charge, met with Vietnamese counterparts to discuss tactics. Operation END SWEEP began the following day. 

The Navy sent their Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron and the Marines sent helicopter squadrons HMM-165 and HMH-463. Between these two units that were carried aboard ships there were 31 CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters. Sea Stallions were capable of towing mine sweeping sleds and other devices. Between February and March of 1973 they cleared Hai Phong Harbor's main shipping channel freeing the 27 Soviet Merchant ships. A decommissioned US WWII LST filled with insulating buffer material to absorb bomb blasts and crewed by all volunteers sailed through Hai Phong Harbor's main shipping lane eight times as a precautionary measure. Upon completion Task Force 78 was deployed to secondary waterways to continue work. Simultaneously US C-130 transports delivered mine sweeping gear to airfields in and around Hanoi.

Operations stopped on April 17 and resumed on June 18 due to a breakdown in communications and negotiations between North and South Vietnam. On July 18,1973 Rear Admiral McCauley led his flotilla out to sea. Operation END SWEEP had officially ended.

Helicopters drag mine detecting equipment through Hai Phong Harbor.

Powerful Sea Stallion helicopters drag mine detecting sleds.

England's London, France's Paris, Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and now Vietnam's Hanoi all suffered under the relentless siege of an onslaught of continuous destruction of human life. The twentieth century outnumber all other centuries combined in sheer devastation with new and improved ways to kill people. The mindset of simply waiting and knowing it's coming is a helpless feeling.

I passed the same tree twice so I was almost sure we were walking in circles. I marked it and on the third time I was sure. Tripple canopy jungle can be tricky if you don't know what your doing and our captain didn't know what he was doing. We were lost and out of position for an operation in a heavily concentrated Vietcong area. Our orders, backed by intelligence, gave us coordinates and specific areas to contend with and we were not there, but where were we? Waisting time walking in circles and being out of position was not half as bad as letting the Vietcong know where we were. It was dusk and to late to move so we bedded down for the night. 

After setting up a perimeter we each found a tree to lean on hoping there were no red ants to contend with. Heavy jungle always has creepy crawly things to avoid adding to the discomfort of the hard ground and of course people trying to kill you. It all adds up to a sleepless night as I laid there trying to rest knowing we had alerted every Vietcong in area.

Faintly I heard the first thud followed by a boom and a few minutes later, a thud, a boom. It was so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face so there was no place to hide. The place you picked to sleep is the place you stayed and no one moved. A thud, a boom, the Vietcong were walking in morters on us. They knew we were in their backyard somewhere but didn't know exactly where. They set their morters for a very short distance then with each discharged round they'd change the trajectory one degree and fire another round. Each round would land 50 meters  loser to us and eventually they would hit their target. 

The thud of the round going off and the boom of the blast continued, each time getting just a little closer and a little louder. It was going to be a long night, not that the day was any easier but the night was different. Nighttime in the jungle had a life all it's own. A thud a boom, a thud  a boom, I lied there waiting for the inevitable. Waiting for a bomb to drop was waiting for eternity, a thud a boom. I wanted to jump out of my skin and charge and fight. I wasn't afraid of fighting but there was no one to fight, there was only waiting in total darkness. This was as psychologically traumatic as it was a physically challenging war and the grueling waiting game continued.

Now they were getting closer as the sounds became louder, the next one could be it. A thud a boom just meters away, a thud a boom just meters away on the other side of us. We were between booms, we had survived. We had escaped the relentless bombing patterns of an enemy that knows all to well about the waiting game.

Five hours by bus brought me to the busy seaport of Ha Long Bay just north of Hai Phong Hatbor and the entrancece to Tonkin Gulf and The South China Sea. Once the U.S's 7th Fleet patrolled these waters but now it's a Mecca for tourists and adventure seekers exploring the hundreds of limestone islands for monkeys and sea eagles. Fishing is secondary to the tourist industry with warm shark free waters and endless sunshine to entice the vacationer. The fiercest animal here is the jellyfish which may grow as large as a meter in width.

Beaten by weather and age the Chinese Junks lined the docks three deep waiting for fares or a party booking for the night. After careful scrutiny my guide chose a suitable vessal with the least amount of holes and broken railings. The smell of diesel fuel permiated the air as engines as old as me belched clouds of black smoke. We cut through the oil slicked water to a larger vessal and moored along side. My home for the night was a converted larger Junk with a dozen bedrooms and a dining area, stocked bar, and sun deck viewing. China and linens accompanied a serving staff, cook, and a Captain dressed in a white uniform a la The Love Boat. This was the only way to see the harbor from offshore and appreciate the enormity and raw beauty of Hai Phong Harbor and the Tonkin Gulf. 

There were hundreds of islands and even more Chinese Junks jockeying for position amongst the Limestone Kiosks. Each boat filled with fun seekers had echoing music bouncing off the rock face cliffs. Kayakers in single file followed their guide like ducklings in and out of the canyons. I was amazed at the variety and sheer number of countries represented in this watershed vacation paradise. There was no sign of a struggling economy or recession for Vietnam in these waters. East meets west or Communism meets Capitalism was the mantra for the new Vietnam and it's working for this 39 year old country. If only we had known this fifty years ago we could have saved a lot of heartache and pain. I came to Sourheast Asia to see it for myself and so far I believe they are moving forward let's hope I can as well. 

Hai Long Bay dock.

My water taxi ride to take me to my boat.

A flotilla of Chinese Junks waiting for their customers. 

Hundreds of Limestone Kiosks litter the bay.

Selfie from the Junk.

From one island you can see many more.

Floating markets offer everything from candy to wine.

Kyackers follow the leader.

From what I can see I feel that Vietnam will take its place in the world with authority and a respect for life. Energy, ego, and pride are the key traits of this budding country and yet at the same time it wears its history on its sleeve and rightfully so. If not in my lifetime then in the foreseeable future they will stabilize and remain peaceful as the younger generations remember yet forget the longest struggle in the twentieth century.

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