USS MULLINNIX DD-944

The Battle of Loc Ninh - 1972

Introduction

The Easter Offensive was a massive conventional attack. The north committed 14 regular divisions, 26 regiments, and a massive amount of supporting armor – more than 600 T-54, T-55, and the amphibious PT-76 tanks. The North Vietnamese ground forces also were fully equipment with artillery, including the dangerous and effective 130-mm and 152 mm artillery pieces and huge 160-mm mortars.

Even so, the key element of Giap’s (North Vietnam's Defense Minister Vo Nguyen Giap), arsenal was a vastly expanded anti-aircraft system that traveled along with invading forces. The flak weapons included 23, 37, 57, 85, and 100-mm guns. Supplementing the familiar SA-2 surface-to-air missiles were deadly man-portable SA-7 Strela heat-seeking missiles, for which totally new tactics had to be devised.

When the spring offensive began, there was a shortage of ships to meet the demand for fire support. The arrival of the USS Newport News CA-148 on 9 May with her 8" guns provided an increase in capabilities, if not in numbers, from the available destroyers and their 5" 54 and 5" 38 guns. Demands for support multiplied as targets south of the DMZ increased and were further expanded as restrictions against targets in North Vietnam were removed.

The American Generals Metzger and Miller believed that any amphibious landing required six to eight destroyers and a cruiser for support.



Unknown Date & Location
Courtesy of Dale Schultz





   

Stars & Stripes

Higbee Docks For Repairs

April 3, 1972

Manila (UPI) - The U.S. Navy destroyer Higbee, which was damaged by Communist MIG fighter planes in the first air-sea battle in the Vietnam war, arrived at the Subic Bay Naval Base Wednesday night for repairs, a Navy spokesman said Thursday.

The spokesman said the Higbee docked at Subic, 90 miles northwest of Manila, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

There was no immediate word on how long the repairs would take and how soon the ship would be back on station at the Tonkin Gulf.

The Higbee suffered considerable damage on topside and four of its crewmen were injured by attacking MIGs off Vietnam last April 19.


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The Battle of Loc Ninh


n the months before Easter 1972, the Communist buildup had been noted, but Washington and Saigon underestimated the scope, magnitude, and character of the coming attack. Thus, the North Vietnamese achieved considerable tactical surprise. Hanoi’s invading forces thrust into three of South Vietnam’s four military regions.

In Military Region III, one regular North Vietnamese division and two Viet Cong divisions - some 30,000 men combined - sallied from their Cambodian salient to attack An Loc and Loc Ninh in hopes that a quick victory would lead to a drive down Highway 13 to Saigon itself.



The Battle of Loc Ninh, was a major battle fought during the Easter Offensive, which took place in Běnh Long Province between 4–7 April 1972. Towards the end of 1971, North Vietnamese leaders decided to launch a major offensive against South Vietnam, with the objective of destroying Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) units and capturing as much territory as possible, in order to strengthen their bargaining position in the Paris Peace Accords.

On 30 March 1972, two People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) divisions smashed through the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone, marking the commencement of the Easter Offensive. They quickly overwhelmed South Vietnamese units in the I Corps Tactical Zone. With the rapid collapse of South Vietnamese forces in the northern provinces of South Vietnam, PAVN and Viet Cong (VC) forces began preparing for their next offensive, targeting Binh Long Province in the rubber plantation region north of Saigon.

Loc Ninh, a village of about 3,000 people, was the administrative center for the district of the same name and barely more than a speck on the map. Located at the edge of a small valley along the Rung Cam River and at the northern limit of national Route 13, only a few miles from the Cambodian border. The troops were fresh as the 9th ARVN Regiment had just replaced the 7th ARVN Regiment on 11 March - and the position was strong. Considering the small contingent of South Vietnamese troops in Loc Ninh, the American advisory component was large. Five advisers were assigned to the regiment, and two to the district pacification team.

By 3 April it was obvious that Loc Ninh was to be the first major enemy target in Binh Long Province.

On 4 April very late in the afternoon, the 9th Reconnaissance Company operating west of Loc Ninh came under attack from the VC 5th Division. Though well supported by American air power, they were nearly wiped out. This proved to be the opening shots of the battle for Binh Long Province.

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North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces quickly overran Loc Ninh. One week later, three NVA divisions, supported by tanks and massive amounts of artillery, launched an all-out attack on An Loc, the capital of Binh Long Province, 60 miles north of Saigon.

The inevitable shelling began three hours past midnight on5 April. At around 0650, the VC 5th Division moved across the Cambodian border to stage the main attack on Loc Ninh. The VC assault opened with a heavy barrage of artillery, rocket and mortar fire targeting the headquarters of the ARVN 9th Infantry Regiment and the Loc Ninh district compound. The VC simultaneously mounted other attacks throughout the ARVN 5th Infantry Division's areas of operations in Lai Khe and Quan Loi. Following the artillery barrage, VC infantry, supported by about 25 tanks, attacked Loc Ninh from the west. In the initial assault, they tried to overrun the ARVN regimental compound located at the south end of the airstrip. Despite the ferocity of the onslaught, ARVN soldiers held their ground and fought desperately to hold the enemy at bay; ARVN artillerymen lowered the muzzles of their 105mm howitzers and fired directly at enemy infantry formations moving through the rubber trees.

On the afternoon of 5 April, the VC 5th Division launched another major ground assault on Loc Ninh from the west to try to break through the defenses of the southern compound. American AC-130 and AH-1 Cobra gunships stopped the VC formations in their tracks, as supporting PAVN tanks were either destroyed or forced to pull back. Despite having suffered many casualties as a result of U.S. air strikes, the VC continued their assaults well into the evening. Throughout the night, the PAVN 69th Artillery Command continued bombarding ARVN positions around Loc Ninh, as the VC massed for another assault.

When the 5th Viet Cong Division struck Loc Ninh, the magnitude of the artillery barrage that preceded the attack was unprecedented in MR III. In addition, the VC were using the massive Soviet-made T-54 tanks. American pilots were up against more tanks than they could shoot. The battle was not going to be won with air power alone. The South Vietnamese had to get out of their foxholes and fight back.

Enemy artillery pounded Loc Ninh into the evening. Two companies of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Regiment managed to close to within supporting distance of the 9th Regiment command post, but were pounced on and shredded by a North Vietnamese blocking force before they could reach the perimeter. Only 20 soldiers made it inside the wire.

Just before first light on 6 April the North Vietnamese turned up the pressure. The enemy continued to probe Loc Ninh, mostly from the west, but also from the southeast where the 174th NVA Regiment presumably had reinforced positions in preparation for a new assault. It came during the afternoon.

A battalion backed by tanks raced to the wire. Air fire power concentrated fire on the tanks, forcing them to turn and run for the forest. Alone at the edge of the perimeter, the infantry struggled through the wire. American advisors detonated claymore mines and white phosphorous grenades wired along the perimeter earlier, with a blinding explosion of dirt and debris. It was brutal. As if coming out of a daze the ARVN soldiers began firing. The NVA battalion was decimated.

From the southeast, a company from the E-6 NVA Regiment stormed the front gate, running amok inside the wire before being driven off. But both attacks left groups of North Vietnamese soldiers inside the regimental base.

Unbeknown to the allies, the VC had driven a battery of 240mm rocket launchers within point-blank range of the base. Notoriously inaccurate most of the time, they found their mark this time. One struck the hospital bunker killing every wounded soldier inside, and the other flew straight into the ammunition dump in the artillery compound, obliterating guns, crews, and artillery rounds.

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By 6 April, US Lockwood DE-1064, USS Lloyd Thomas DD-764, USS Waddell DDG-24, and USS Everett F. Larson DD-830 were providing NGFS south of the DMZ, and USS Joseph Strauss DDG-16, USS Richard B. Anderson DD-786, USS Buchanan DDG-14, and USS Hammer DD-718 began striking targets in North Vietnam south of the 20th parallel as part of a combined air and naval operation called Freedom Train. On the first day of "Freedom Train", USS Chicago CG-11 (converted heavy cruiser CA-136), on her 5th Vietnam deployment, fired a missile at a North Vietnamese radar site for a probably kill. On the same day, USS Waddell fired on a previously engaged coastal defense site at 18,000 yards and immediately received extremely accurate counterfire. Shrapnel was later found on her weather decks.

On the morning of 6 April, ARVN forces reported hearing the sound of tanks moving toward the southern end of the district airfield. At about 05:30, the VC launched another attack from southern Loc Ninh, with the support of about 25 T-54 and PT-76 tanks. VC infantry initially managed to breach the ARVN lines, but the attack soon stalled, and neither side gained a clear advantage.

By the afternoon, the ARVN inside Loc Ninh were slightly reinforced by the 3rd Battalion, ARVN 9th Infantry Regiment, along with the men of the 1st Cavalry Squadron at FSB Alpha who had refused to surrender. Furthermore, wounded ARVN soldiers who were still able to fight made their way back to the defensive perimeter to await the next wave of attacks. During the night, the compound descended into chaos when PAVN artillery scored a direct hit on the hospital bunker, killing a large number of wounded men. Later on, another round of rockets struck the artillery compound, striking the ammunition storage bunker, which exploded. From the eastern side of the district, the VC tried to penetrate the defense line at Loc Ninh, but were beaten off. Realizing that the situation had become hopeless, the South Vietnamese Commander, Colonel Vinh told his troops to surrender.

At 07:00 on 7 April, the VC massed for another ground assault from the north and west of Loc Ninh, with support from heavy artillery, tanks and armored personnel carriers. By 08:00 the ARVN 9th Infantry Regiment was completely overwhelmed when the VC overran the southern compound. At around 10:00, all tactical air support was called off in order to clear the way for B-52 strikes against VC formations west of Loc Ninh. However, by 16:30, the VC were in complete control of Loc Ninh District.

Two days after Loc Ninh fell, intelligence reports from the rubber plantations north of An Loc noted large numbers of NVA tanks already in place as the fall of Loc Ninh, opened up a direct route down Highway QL-13 to Saigon through An Loc.

When Loc Ninh fell, it became the provisional capital for the commnists' revolutionary government in South Vietnam.

With the enemy forces arrayed in and around Loc Ninh, they began moving south toward An Loc. Under cover of darkness and moving stealthily through the jungle and rubber plantations, the NVA forces took up positions encircling the provincial capital. Late on 7 April, the VC 9th Division attacked Quan Loi Base Camp, just 3 kilometers north of An Loc. Elements of the ARVN 7th Infantry Regiment defending the area were unable to hold off the VC, so they were ordered to destroy their equipment and join other ARVN units in the provincial capital. The next step in the offensive was the Battle of An Loc.

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On 8 April, the call was put out for four CRUDESLANT ships to deploy for extended operations in Vietnam. One of these units was the Norfolk based destroyer USS Mullinnix DD-944.

Mullinnix left Norfolk on 12 April.

On 13 April, The heavy cruiser USS Newport News CA-148 left Norfolk. According to their website: "Admiral Charles K. Duncan, CINCLANTFLT, visited from 1355 to 1415 on 13 April. COMSECONDFLT hauled down his flag and departed ship at 1420. NEWPORT NEWS was underway at 1552."


USS Newport News providing supporting fire in 1972

From the Newport News website: "USS Newport News arrived in Subic Bay on 6 May having transited the 11,400 mile in 22 days, 10 hours at an average speed of 23.2 knots. She departed Subic Bay on 8 MAY at 0530 and sped at 30 knots to Vietnam. The following day NEWPORT NEWS met up with TU 77.1.2 at 1830, being the first Atlantic Fleet ship to enter the combat zone directly from the East Coast following the North Vietnamese invasion of South Viet Nam. CO NEWPORT NEWS assumed tactical command of the group, comprised of NEWPORT NEWS, two guided missile cruisers and two destroyers at 2200. Vice Admiral William P. Mack was SOPA aboard the SEVENTH FLEET flagship USS OKLAHOMA CITY (CLG 5). TU 77.1.2 proceeded to Haiphong Harbor for the first multi-cruiser-destroyer surface strike since World War II, Operation CUSTOM TAILOR. At 0200 10MAY NEWPORT NEWS went to General Quarters. Firing commenced at 0247 in the first surface action against the Haiphong Harbor complex. The targets in the operation were four miles south of Haiphong and along the Do Son Peninsula. At 0252 NEWPORT NEWS received hostile fire that totaled 100 rounds, but sustained no damage. During the action NEWPORT NEWS fired 77 8-inch and 40 5-inch rounds and cause one secondary explosion."

Interesting Observation: USS Newport News and Mullinnix both crossed the international date line on the same day, both ships "missing" 1 May as the clocks jumped a day. However, Newport News arrived in Vietnam on 9 May compared to Mullinnix's arrival on 16 May. The urgency for "gunships" was that severe due to the enemy's advance.

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