USS MULLINNIX DD-944

The Defense of Hue

Mullinnix, Vietnam Gunline 1972
Note Low Elevation of Gun - Straight At The Beach!
Introduction

After the capture of Quang Tri, the NVA consolidated its gains and repositioned its forces for an attack on Hue. The enemy goal was to seize this key city and, in the process, to annihilate as many RVNAF main forces and reserves as possible.

President Thieu appointed LtGen Khanh to the Joint General Staff as assistant for operations. This marked the first time a Vietnamese Marine officer had ever held such a high military office. Col Bui The Lan, Gen Khanh's deputy, was appointed as the new Commandant of VIetnamese Marines.

For the first time since the Easter Invasion began the Marines were assigned their own division area of operations. Their battle line was the northern front, extending from the Gulf of Tonkin on the East, 18 kilometers westward, across Highway 1 and into the foothills. Five infantry battalions were initially positioned along the My Chanh Line.

__________

The Defense of Hue

On 28 April, PAVN Regiments seized Firebase Bastogne, the strongest anchor on Hue's western flank. This made Firebase Checkmate undefendable, and it too was evacuated that night. This exposed Hue to a direct thrust along Route 547.

At noon on 30 April, the decision was made to withdraw the Marines from Ai Tu Combat Base and to bring VNMC Brigade 147 to Quang Tri City to provide a defensive force and to concentrate on securing lines of communication to the south. As VNMC Brigade moved south from Ai Tu, a requested for fire missions was relayed to the US ships. At that time there were 16 naval gunfire ships responding to the request. These ships included the 8-inch USS Newport News CA-148, three 6-inch cruisers, and 12 5-inch destroyers. The attempt was to keep gunfire between the brigade and the NVA, and to provide some form of continuing fire support.


                                                         South Vietnamese Northern Defense Line

__________

MAY

__________

On 1 May, the decision was made that further defense of Quang Tri City would be fruitless, and all units pulled back to a defensive line at My Chanh. No orderly withdrawal plan was promulgated or even suggested. It was every battalion for itself. Any identifiable sense of unity crumbled. A frightened mob poured out as a 'tidal wave onto Highway 1' and fled southward toward Hue. Only Marine Brigade 147 remained under control.

Efforts were now directed at keeping the bridges over the O Khe and My Chanh open to the withdrawing troops and civilians. With Quang Tri City lost, the feeling was that VNMC Brigade 369 would be hit by the NVA the next day at first light. In planning for the defense of the O Khe and My Chanh River lines, antitank mines wee emplaced immediately along Highway 1, and naval gunfire and artillery was to be used. At dawn on 2 May, the VNMC positions were subject to massive artillery fire. The allied forces dug deeper into their holes and called NGF on the suspected routes of advance.

After a desperate march south, most of VNMC Brigade 147 eventually straggled into the lines of VNMC Brigrade 369. Once across the My Chanh River, they reassembled at the Hue Citadel to regroup once more. by 2 May, the entire province of Quang Tri, including Quang Tri City, had fallen to the NVA.

The North Vietnamese advance was halted on 5 May.

__________

On 8 and 9 May, allied forces laid a coordinated barrage of TACAIR, ground artillery, and NGF along a 25 km front extending from the coast along the My Chanh River. The target was an enemy build-up. As a result, a possible major NVA assault was prevented.

__________

Song Than 5-72 (The First Thrust)

__________

On 13 May the first South Vietnamese counteroffensive Operation Song Than 5-72 just south of the DMZ began in order to retake the areas lost in the NVA Easter Offensive 6 weeks before. An earlier attempt by 5000 ARVN soldiers airlifted in to retake the areas lost had been largely decimated. It was give and take over the next couple of weeks.

During darkness on 12 May, the first Marines to go north since the NVA invasion clandestinely crossed the My Chanh River. 1,138 Vietnamese Marines were lifted into attack positions. A single wave of helicopters was used for each of two landing zones, reducing the exposure time to NVA antiaircraft fire. The USS Okinawa LPH-3 made the aircraft ready for launch and began their long wait for recovery. The first helicopter launch from the offshore amphibious ready group went at 0800, 13 May, and within 40 minutes all helicopters were in the air and enroute to Fire Support Base Sally to load the 3rd and 8th VNMC Battalions. The two landing zones received devastating fire from the air and sea. As a result, touchdown in Landing Zone Tango occured at 0930 without opposition in a cloud of dust and smoke. The Marine helicopters returned to the ships for fuel then flew back to Fire Support Base Sally for the second wave at 1055. The landing zone this time, at 1136, was 'hot'. One helicopter was downed and had to be destroyed.

The 9th MAB's naval gunfire spot element of Detachment Bravo, HML-367, flew support for the landing from the USS Denver LPD-9. By 1250, the assault was complete and 9th MAB Marines were back on ship. Once on the ground, the two VNMC battalions swept south and attacked toward the My Chanh River. Thereafter, the 9th VNMC Battalion crossed the My Chanh and attacked north toward its two sister battalions. The 66th NVA Regiment was caught completely by surprise but responded with heavy automatic weapons fire. The Marines assaulted across 400 meters of open rice paddies and drove the NVA from their positions while experiencing heavy enemy mortar, automatic weapons, and small arms fire. The allies immediately called for supporting artillery fire. In the face of this fire the enemy broke as the Marines attacked. Then command called for air strikes and naval gunfire, inflicting severe casualties on the withdrawing force - up to 240 NVA KIA.

Although the operation lasted only one day, Song Than 5-72 worked. The Marines owed much of this success to the element of surprise and to the heavy fire support.

__________

On 13 and 14 May and again on 24-27 May, Vietnamese Marine Corps Battalions conducted spoiling operations behind enemy lines. Naval gunfire assets employed in support of this operation fired missions ranging from close support of troops in contact to harrassment and interdiction fires. More than 12,000 rounds were expended in support of these operations.

On 13 May, the main operation began at first light with helicopters form U.S. Marine squardron HHM-164 flying ashore from USS Okinawa LPH–3, and picking up the 3rd and 8th Battalions of the 369th VNMC Brigade for an assault on Hai Lang, about 6 miles southeast of Quang Tri City. As the Marines loaded up, tactical airstrikes and Naval gunfire pounded Hai Lang in preparation for the attack.

On 14 May, regiments of the 1st ARVN Division, and elements of the Airborne Divisioin and Ranger Command, launched a major search operation (looking for the North's 130mm guns, etc.) in the areas west and soutwest of Hue. The operation, nicknamed Lam Son 72, became an extended campaign against the NVA forces. The standard plan of attack called for Arc Light missions to strike a suspected NVA area, with RVNAF units moving in to assess BDA and eliminate any resistance. FACs flew overhead to direct artillery fire and call in TACAIR as required. USAF gunships supported night encounters by providing direct fire and flares, and also suppressed enemy artillery fire, often merely by being in the area. One specific ARVN attack, following B-52 strikes, located the forward headquarters of the NVA 29th Regiment. The running engagement with the 29th also led to the retaking of FSB Bastogne on 15 May.

Although Operation Song Than 5-72 lasted only one day, it gave General Troung the breathing room he sought.

Mullinnix arrived off the coast of Vietnam on 16 May.

Enemy shell burst 50 Yards Off Mullinnix's Stern!

Radioman 3rd Class Steve Haight also remembers that first day on the gun line. He was on the torpedo deck ‘sightseeing’ when the shell hit next to the Mullinnix. Being the macho man he was, he beat feet to the nearest hatch, and didn’t venture outside for the next 3 days. LOL!

Reporters on Board Mullinnix, 18 May

__________

On 18 May, the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga joined the 7th Fleet, bringing to six the number of carriers operating off the shores of Vietnam for the firs time in the war. The total number of Navy personnel offshore rose to approximately 46,000 in some 60 ships.

On 19 May, at approximately 1600, CWO-2 William E. Thomas, USMC, and the pilot of an OV-10 ejected from their aircraft afer being hit by enemy fire. SAR operations met wo no success, and CWO-2 Thomas was listed as missing in action.

__________


Stars & Stripes

Decisive Square-Off Seen Near For Hue

May 19, 1972

By Edward K. Delong

Washington (UPI) - U.S. defense officials believe that four North Vietnamese Army divisions may now be in position to attack the old imperial city of Hue any day. They say it "could be the decisive battle of the campaign."

Officials in Washington believe a decisive South Vietnamese victory could break the back of the entire three-prong invasion launched Easter weekend by North Vietnam. A Communist victory, they say, would be a serious military and psychological blow to the South.

"As to how it will come out, no none knows," one highly placed official said. "I'm optimistic (the South Vietnamese can win), but it could be very bloody, very brutal. I think it will last for days, perhaps weeks, but there will be lulls in there.

"It could be the decisive battle of this campaign -for either side."

Officials also said the ferocity of the North Vietnamese push and the willingness of the Communists to take "terrible" losses came as surprises. They said "we must never underestimate the resolve our enemy shows -he really has determination."

Hue lies 55 miles south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Vietnams. The troops and tanks that now threaten it punched across the DMZ, shattered South Vietnam's northern defense line and then -on May 3 -captured the provincial capital of Quang Tri about mid-way between Hue and the DMZ.

The other two prongs of the offensive are aimed at a pair of other provincial capitals -Kontum City in the central highlands and An Loc about 60 miles north of Saigon.

Since the fall of Quang Tri, major action on all three fronts has died into an uneasy lull punctuated by shellings and short attacks by both sides while the opposing armies regroup into position for the next round, which U.S. officials believe will start at Hue.

"From the last that we could put together, they were several days away from being in a position to start the attack," one official said. "But that information could have been several days old when we got it.

"My guess is we are in the period now when they could launch their attack any day," he added.

"Some people are using the "by-guess-and-by-God" method and saying the 19th (Friday) is Ho Chi Minh's birthday and that's when they will attack. But there's no intelligence to support that."

There is no way for the Communists to replace now much of what they lost in the first round of the invasion fighting, particularly tanks and organized army units, U.S. officials say. Hanoi stripped North Vietnam of all but one division of regular army troops, about 15,000 men, to mount the attack.

South Vietnamese troops and U.S. planes and naval artillery destroyed at least 250 tanks and other heavy tracked vehicles, intelligence officials say. This was half the number on hand to launch the invasion, and one-third of North Vietnam's total inventory.

The Communists also suffered an estimated more than 25,000 killed -the equivalent of almost two divisions. Many of these were regimental headquarters troops and officers, captured prisoners have reported.

The northernmost Communist divisions, reinforced by some fresh troops sent down over the DMZ, are poised to the north and the southwest of Hue. Defending the city are the remainder of the South Vietnamese 3rd Division, the crack 1st Division, and elements of South Vietnamese marine and airborne troops.

The official said that if the North Vietnamese overrun the defenders of Hue, mauling them badly, "then they will have delivered a very serious blow to South Vietnamese combat capability -and a serious psychological blow, too, because of the symbolic importance of Hue."

"On the other hand, should they launch this attack and be thrown back with heavy casualties, it could be the last major attack on Hue for some time -for months at least," he added.

__________

On 20 May at 0855 hours, the NVA launched a major armor thrust along the My Chanh River. On the east end, tanks crossed the river and headed south against VNMC and PF positions at Huong Dien village on the coast. In the center, northeast of FSB Nancy, the enemy forded the My Chanh River and pushed the VNMC back 1 km. To the west end, tanks and infantry crossed south of the Thac Ma River. In all instances, TACAIR struck the enemy positions, inflicting heavy casualties and destroying, damaging, or driving off the enemy tanks. Enemy losses along the Thac Ma front were reported to be 300 KBA and 18 tanks destroyed. The battle see-sawed for several days but eventually the combat activity decreased and the VNMC restored the defensive line. The northern defense had survived its first crucial test.

On On 20 May through 26 May, USS Glennon DD-840 supported ARVN ops which resulted in the recapture of LZ Salem and LZ Olive. Gun damage assessment included 6 secondary explosions, 3 secondary fires, 8 structures destroyed, 16 structures damaged, and 2 bunkers damaged.

On 21 May the enemy launched a 3-pronged armor attack against the My Chanh line. The Marines had expected some sort of retaliation, but this time the North Vietnamese did not follow the usual pattern. There was no pre-assault artillery barrage, and instead of going cross-country, the enemy thrust straight south along the coastal highway. Regional Forces set up along the front herd the tanks coming and quickly broke ranks, allowing the North Vietnamese to almost encircle the 3rd and 9th VNMC Battalions. Both units were forced to withdraw and the enemy penetrated nearly 3 miles into the Marines' positions. But with the aid of heavy air strikes and a South Vietnamese Army armor cavalry unit, the Marines managed to push the attackers back over the river by nightfall.

USS Mullinnix, Vietnam 1972 - Unknown Location

At 0100, 22 May, the NVA launched a tank-infantry attack against the 3rd VNMC Battalion with 22-25 tanks. They had the initiative and could "smell blood," one American advisor reported. The VNA overrran the forward battalion, but lost eight tanks. By first light the enemy, leveraging numerically superior forces, had hit VNMC Brigrade 369's command post. The 8th VNMC Battalion then counterattacked. The NVA retreated, leaving their dead and wounded. The cost had been extremely high and the NVA had gained nothing. The South Vietnamese defense of the My Chanh Line held.

Even as this attack was under way, another counter-offensive operation was being planned...

275 rounds fired by Mullinnix on 22 May

__________

On the morning of 23 May, the Seventh Fleet staff (aboard USS Oklahoma City), began coordinating - with the Mrine Corps 9th MAB commander, Brigadier General Miller, Vietnamese Colonel Lan, and Lt. Col. Do Ky of the VNMC - a plan for an attack called Song Than 6-72. While working out the details, USS Oklahoma City was firing her 6-inch guns at several 133mm Russian-built coastal defense guns that the North Vietnamese had mounted on rairoad tracks. These guns were well concelated inside caves and game out only to fire at our navy ships.

The USS Oklahoma City ceased firing at 0900 and moved out a safe distance for a change of command of the Seventh Fleet (Vice Adm. James L. Holloway III replaced Vice Adm. William Paden Mack, taking command of 91,000 and 130 ships). Just seconds before the ceremony, Oklahoma City wa bracketed by incoming NVA shore bombardment. GQ was sounded as the ship moved farther out from shore. During the ceremony on USS Oklahoma City, the other cruisers continued to exchange gunfire with North Vietnamese coastal defense sites. After the brief pause for the COC, it was back to finalizing the plans for Song Than 6-72. Marine amphibious ready groups (ARGs) were readied, B-52 strikes coordinated, and naval gunfire ships off Wunder Beach, the famous Street Without Joy area, located a few miles southeast of Quang Tri City - the planned attack area.

Operation Song Than 6-72 (24 May, 1972)
NOTE: "Operation Song Than 6-72" covers actual dates from 23-25 May, 1972

MT 51's gas injection system had failed (the system that blows the smoke out of the barrel after each round), filling the gun mount with smoke. Having both gun mount doors open and a red devil blower wasn't enough. GMGSN John Carrano stayed inside mount during fire mission and was overcome by the smoke to the point of passing out.

__________

27 May (Saturday), 1972 (South Vietnam gunline)

Dear Mom, Dad, Sue
Not much has changed. We’re getting close to the 3,000 round mark that we have fired. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re top gun right now. There’s a rumor we might be extended until 30 June. I hope not, I’ll go crazy. I’m half way there right now. Still no word on when we’ll get back. Anywhere from September to November. I better get home for Christmas or else. We’re still supposed to go to the Med next summer. That will be the last one for the old kid. Only 630 days left. That’s 63,432,000 seconds (not bad – they go fast).

I’ve got myself conditioned for 5 ½ hours sleep in a 24-hour period. Surprisingly enough that’s plenty. Please write to me often! Love, Frank

667 Rounds Fired By Mullinnix on 28 May

__________

By noon, 29 May, no enemy forces remained south of the My Chanh River. Although the battle was not over, the NVA forces had been humbled and forced back.

120 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 29 May
Then, Go Get More Ammo. Then fuel

Within a span of 10 days, the allied forces had withstood two major enemy thrusts on the northern defense line. Clearly, with the availability of TACAIR and effetively-employed ARVN and NGF artillery support, resolute ground troops were fully capable of defeating the NVA.

__________


Stars & Stripes

Bloody Fighting In S. Viet

Tuesday, May 30, 1972

Saigon (AP) – Fighting blazed across the northern and southeastern sectors of Kontum City Sunday. U.S. warplanes retaliated with new air blows deep inside North Vietnam, and pilots reported wrecking the big Son Tay Army Barracks near the former American prisoner of war camp.

U.S. bombers ranged to the west and north of Hanoi to hit major targets. The Son Tay Barracks are 20 miles west of Hanoi. A second military compound was attacked 25 miles northeast of Hanoi.

U.S. Air Force pilots who attacked the Son Tay Barracks and an adjoining supply depot Saturday said they left the area in flames and "large fires, heavy smoke, and major damage to the facility."

The raids were among 240 strikes carried out across North Vietnam Saturday, but not disclosed by the U.S. command until Sunday.

It was at Son Tay that U.S. commandos, lifted in by helicopter, made a daring raid on Nov. 22, 1970, in an effort to free American prisoners of war. They found that the American captives, shot down during missions over the north, had been moved to another camp.

In another major air strike over the north, Navy pilots flying off the carrier Coral Sea attacked the Phu Lang Military Compound 25 miles northeast of Hanoi. Pilots reported they destroyed or damaged 35 to 50 railroad box and gondola cars, triggered six big secondary explosions and one large fuel fire and cut two sets of rails.

Coral Sea pilots also said they dropped the northern span and damaged the southern end of the Thi Long Railroad Bridge, 18 miles south of Thanh Hoa, or about 100 miles south of Hanoi.

The U.S. command said a Navy A4 Skyhawk was downed from unknown causes during Saturday's raids, about 10 miles south of Vinh. The pilot was listed as missing.

Inside Kontum, heavy fighting was continuing for the fourth successive day in the southeastern sector of the city between a battalion-sized North Vietnamese force of up to 300 troops and South Vietnamese defenders.

At the same time, the North Vietnamese clung to three strategically-placed positions on the northern rim of the city. Reports said that the outer northern defenses of the city had been pulled back up to a mile in a consolidation of government forces.

But American and South Vietnamese military sources claimed, however, that the North Vietnamese had failed in an apparent attempt to split Kontum in half by having the northern column link with the force that is entrenched south of the city's airstrip.

Before dawn Sunday, North Vietnamese forces advanced through the compound of a South Vietnamese armored cavalry unit on the northern edge of the city and drove south to within 500 yards of the airstrip, which lies in the center of the town on the eastern side. The other two strategic positions held by the North Vietnamese on the northern rim of the city are on Highway 14 and in the old 22nd Div. headquarters.

South Vietnamese A37 attack planes bombed a flat, open strip of land north of the western end of the runway. This indicated that Communist forces were still in the area, despite claims by South Vietnamese and American sources that they had been cleared out.

South Vietnamese bombers and rocket-firing U.S. helicopters raked Communist positions in the residential area south of the airstrip, around Highway 14 and on the eastern edges of the town.

North Vietnamese gunners continued to rain shells into the city. Some fell two or three blocks from the center of town.

The city was being resupplied with ammunition and other materials by air drops made by four-engine U.S. C130 transports and CH47 Chinook helicopters. The airfield remained closed.

Meanwhile, delayed field reports disclosed that South Vietnamese forces suffered a major defeat last Friday on the southern front at An Loc, 60 miles north of Saigon.

North Vietnamese troops firing from ambush and using mines destroyed 23 of 47 South Vietnamese armored personnel carriers trying to evacuate wounded soldiers from bloody fighting along Highway 13 south of An Loc. The field reports said 42 South Vietnamese soldiers were killed and 159 wounded in the ambush.

The Saigon command said Sunday that a relief column trying to break through to the besieged provincial capital of An Loc and Clear Highway 13 had made no significant progress.

Viet Cong troops, meanwhile, maintained heavy pressure in the resort province of Phuoc Tuy, 45 miles southeast of Saigon. Two district capitals were heavily assaulted, and one of them was hit with 500 mortar shells.


Lincoln Journal Star

Shelling Belies Thieu Word on Siege

Tuesday, May 30, 1972

Saigon (UPI) – South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu flew Tuesday to the embattle cities of Kontum and Hue to show his confidence in the South Vietnamese defenders. He declared the siege of Kontum broken, but the thunder of artillery crashing down nearby belied his words.

The Thieu visit came as the U.S. Command reported U.S. Navy strikes against a railway yard at Haiphong had left it engulfed in flames. The Uong Bi railyards, 10 miles north of Haiphong, handle most of the rail traffic from China into the Hanoi area.

Rear Adm. Hoard E. Greer, commander of Carrier Division 3 of the U.S. 7th Fleet, told UPI correspondent Arthur Higbee Tuesday that continuation of the air offensive would make it impossible for North Vietnam to keep up its offensive in the south. He said the North Vietnamese probably had enough supplies in the pipeline to continue for a few weeks.

The raids on the Uong Bi complex were the first since President Nixon ordered the resumption of air strikes against North Vietnam April 6. They came as the command also reported damaging or destroying 16 more key bridges in North Vietnam and as 7th Fleet ships pounded a 260-mile stretch of coastal areas from the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to just south of Haiphong. Most supplies to the south go through a coastal highway network here.

Thieu, dapper in a safari suit and blue peaked cap, flew into Kontum aboard an American-supplied T39 sabreliner executive jet. He ordered the city held at all costs, pinned a general’s star on Col. Ly Tong Ba, commander of the 23rd Infantry Division at Kontum, and credited him with ‘breaking the Communist attack’ on the city.

His confidence appeared premature. North Vietnamese shells landed inside the city half a mile from 23rd Division headquarters and there was fighting with Communist snipers at three points inside the city.

Spokesman said South Vietnamese forces killed 176 of the snipers Monday in fights north and south of Kontum’s airfield and inside part of a military camp they overran Sunday. ARVN losses were put at 20 dead and 108 wounded.

Before Thieu visited Kontum U.S. B52s, attacking in 19 waves, dumped 1,500 tons of high explosives on Communist troops ringing the city, the second such raid in two days and raids equaling the record strikes flown around besieged Khe Sanh in early 1968.

Elsewhere in Vietnam: Heavy fighting was reported between Kontum and Pleiku, 25 miles to the south with the Communists once again closing Highway 14 linking the two cities.

North Vietnamese launched another extremely heavy shelling attack on a South Vietnamese convoy trying to break through to An Loc, 60 miles north of Saigon. Allied military sources said the increased tempo of the attacks clearly showed the Communists could not be withdrawing from the An Loc area.

B52s hit the Mekong Delta, birthplace of the Viet Cong, for the first time in four years and struck targets around Hue as well as Kontum.

690 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 31 May
(Counting 6 minutes into 1 June, Total Fired = 730 Rounds!)

__________

The naval gunfire role in Military Region IV took on a new look in May as the 9th ARVN Division relocated the larger part of its 14th and 16th Regiments further inland to counter threats posed by NVA foreces massing in Choung Thien Province.

That naval gunfire and other US supporting arms are making times diffuclt for the NVA is evidenced by the lack of any successful large scale enemy operations throughout most of May. With new leadership the South Vietnamese forces have recovered from the initial shock of the offensive and have established order and stability throughout their commands. The situation is one conducive to guarded optimism.

May had been a bad month for the NVA along the My Chanh River. The Communists had failed to capture Hue. Practically every able-bodied Marine was now in the northern provinces.

__________

JUNE

__________

During the month of June 1972 NVA activity continued on several fronts. However, of particular note was the fact that allied foreces had mounted offensives to retake those areas of South Vietnam occupied by VNA and VC units. Responding to the allied initiatives, naval gunfire usage increased markedly over the previous month. The number of ship days provided by CTG 70.8 (Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group, Seventh Fleet) rose to 533 with the number of rounds fired per ship day rising significantly from 144 in May to 183 in June with 97,535 rounds of all types and calibers being fired in support of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the Vietnamese Marine Corps, and Vietnamese provincial forces. Naval gunfire ships continued to recieve heavy counterbattery fire in northern MR I underscoring the NVA's concern over the destructive fires being delivered by the US Navy's destroyers and cruisers.


Lincoln Journal Star

Seaman Frank A. Wood

Actual Date Unknown

Seaman Frank A. Wood, son of Mr. And Mrs. William A. Wood, 3128 Alden, is off the South Vietnamese coast aboard the USS Mullinnix, a destroyer homeported at Norfolk, VA.

__________

FTG Frank A Wood - aka "Woody"

FTG Frank A Wood - aka "Woody"

Mullinnix in Action

__________

For Military Region II the month of June brought a forth flurries of enemy activities and this greater utilization of naval gunfire assets. On 1 June LZ Crystal found itself beseiged by NVA forces and receiving rocket, mortar, and artillery fire. The ARVN commander requested two US Navy destroyers with 5"/54 caliber guns be made available for continuous long range coverage. From 4-14 June the gunline commander provided two such destroyers which fired in support of friendly troops.

Note: These 40 Rounds Are Counted Towards 31 May's Total (See Above)

Additional 340 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 1 June


Saigon (UPI)

So. Viets Drive to Blunt Hue Danger

Thursday, June 1, 1972

Saigon (UPI) – South Vietnamese paratroopers and rangers backed by tanks drove almost to the border of Quang Tri Province Thursday in an effort to knock out a North Vietnamese regiment and blunted an expected attack on Hue. They moved with virtually no air support and came under heavy artillery fire.

Bad weather settled on North Vietnam and the northeastern quarter of South Vietnam but the U.S. command said its planes knocked out two more of Hanoi’s power plants Wednesday with 50 130mm artillery shells and that U.S. Air Force Phantom jets shot down two of four attaching MIG 21 jets over a 30-minute period near Hanoi.

The Hanoi official army newspaper Quan Doi Nhan Dan admitted in an issue reaching Saigon that the U.S. air offensive was hurting North Vietnam’s war effort. It said the fight to maintain communications and supplies to the south was becoming more strenuous.

Field officers along the My Chanh River defense line 22 miles north of Hue said the northward striking South Vietnamese armored force of 2,000 men was hit by a barrage of week – and that there were ‘quite a few’ casualties.

UPI correspondent Donald Davis reported from Hue that the 3 battalions of government troops reinforced by armor were seeking to capture or destroy a battalion of 650 North Vietnamese troops in the hills just southwest of My Chanh, or drive it back north.

The U.S. command said Thursday 10 Americans were killed and 35 wounded in the Indochina war last week. Eleven others were listed as missing in action and 10 dead from non-hostile causes. The casualties compared with 8 killed and 22 wounded the previous week.

The Saigon command said 5,218 Communist troops were killed on Vietnam battlefields last week. The spokesmen reported South Vietnamese losses last week of 750 men killed and 2,781 wounded.

The situation on other fronts:

- Heavy house-to-house fighting was reported in Kontum and government spokesmen said 234 Communists were killed Tuesday and government troops found the bodies of 125 others – a total of 359 at a loss of 13 government troops killed. They said the Communists faked a surrender move Wednesday and poured reinforcements into the northern part of Kontum during a lull in the fighting.

- Fighting at An Loc tapered off but the city was hit Wednesday by 50 mortar and rocket rounds and fighting was reported along three Saigon relief columns strung out from 2 to 15 miles to the south.

- Fighting flared up in normally calm Bin Than Province along the South China Sea coast about 100 miles southeast of Saigon. A Communist battalion of 400 men attacked a government force 20 miles north of the provincial capital of Han Theta and was beaten back.

- Southwest of Hue South Vietnamese troops said they killed 38 Communists in a skirmish 7 miles from Hue. B52s struck heavily in that area as well as in the Kontum region.

__________

409 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 2 June
THEN, Headed East With Other Ships to Avoiding Latest Storm!


Saigon (UPI)

Guided U.S. Bombs Smash Big No. Viet Power Plant

Friday, June 2, 1972

Saigon (UPI) – U.S. warplanes smashed North Vietnam’s second biggest power plant with electronically guided bombs and bombed a major railroad bridge on the line to China military spokesmen said Friday.

Navy pilots in 220 raids Thursday also destroyed two 450-foot supply ships about a mile off the North Vietnamese coast. Many of the raids were night strikes, the U.S. Command said.

Intelligence sources said Communist troops were being re-supplied for a possible major drive in the far northern quarter.

Only scattered contacts were reported Friday along the northern defense line 20 miles above the old imperial capital of Hue, 400 miles north of Saigon, but heavy fighting continued in and around the central highlands province capital of Kontum, 260 miles north of Saigon.

An U.S. Army UH1 helicopter was shot down Friday south of Kontum, killing one American and wounding four others aboard spokesmen said. The spokesmen also said an Air Force F4 Phantom jet fighterbomber that crashed Thursday in Thailand and been hit by a surface-to-air (SAM) missile over North Vietnam. The two-man crew parachuted and was rescued uninjured.

Striking with 2,000-pound ‘smart’ bombs, Phantom crews heavily damaged the thermal power plant at Bac Giang, 25 miles northeast of Hanoi. The U.S. Command described the plant as ‘a major source of electrical power to war-related industries in the area’.

Other Thailand-based Phantoms wiped out the two center spans of the five-span Cap Nung railroad bridge 52 miles northeast of Hanoi and 30 miles from the China border, spokesmen said. The bridge is a major link in Hanoi’s rail system.

__________

Fire & Smoke Result of Mullinnix Shelling
3 Unknown Shipmates in the Center
Far Right: My Buddy, RM3 Neil "Jewels" Apple

__________

Riders On The Storm...

MT52 Goes Silent...

Light Day: ONLY 91 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 4 June


Compiled from News Wires

Heavy Rains Bring Low-Level Air Activity to a Standstill

Sunday, June 4, 1972

Saigon – Heavy monsoon drenched much of South Vietnam Saturday, miring the North and South Vietnamese troops in mud.

Rain hampered rapid movement and tactical air strikes especially in the vicinity of An Loc 60 miles north of Saigon and in the Central Highlands, where the city of Kontum remains under siege.

Bad weather also slowed activity in the north, where South Vietnamese troops began on operation Thursday intended to seal a gap in defenses about 25 miles northwest of Hue, where enemy infiltration had been expected.

There have been indications in the past few days that North Vietnamese trucks, troops and tanks may be preparing an offensive somewhere between the town of Mychanh and the mountains to the west, where the defense line protecting Hue is especially thin.

Although foul weather and heavy overcast have no effect on raids by B-52 bombers, low visibility reduces helicopter and tactical air support. Worst of all, aerial surveillance of suspected infiltration routes is blocked, and it is assumed the enemy is making optimum use of cloud cover to move troops and supplies.

An Air Force crewman who had been missing for 23 days after his plane was downed north of Hanoi has been rescued by a team of American helicopters and planes, it was learned today. The missing man, Capt. Roger C. Locher of Sabetha, Kan., reportedly had lost 15 pounds when he was rescued and returned to the American base at Udora, Thailand. Locher, a weapons system operator, had been flying in the rear seat of an F-4 Phantom jet when it was shot down by a MIG 21 on May 10.

Thailand-based American Phantom pilots downed a North Vietnamese MIG 19 fighter that challenged U.S. bombers 40 miles north of Hanoi on Friday, military spokesmen said Saturday.

It was the 146th MIG shot down by U.S. aircraft since President Johnson ordered the bombing of the North in 1964 and the 35th downed this year.

It was hit by a Phantom piloted by Maj. Phillip Handley, 37 of Arlington, TX.

__________

FTG Chief Robert Walters and FTG1 Tom Demko @ Radar in Main Battery Plot, 1972
Courtesy Dennis Wenske

From 4-6 June, units of the Vietnamese Airborne Division made probing thrusts through and behind enemy lines under the protective umbrella of naval gunfire units stationed just off the coast.

__________


Saigon (AP)

250 U.S. Strikes Reported on Reds

Sunday, June 4, 1972

Saigon (AP) – American planes struck more than 250 times in North Vietnam and gunned down their 35th MIG interceptor this year, the U.S. Command reported Saturday.

As the air attacks continued, North Vietnamese troops increased pressure on Binh Dinh, South Vietnam’s central coast province with more than a million inhabitants and a vital rice crop. Four artillery rounds landed on a South Vietnamese ammunition dump at Phu My, a district capital, sparking thunderous explosions for 3 ½ hours.

Two U.S. advisers had already evacuated Phu My, 32 miles north of the Binh Dinh capital, Qui Nhon. Field reports noted fighting there and also 80 miles south in Quang Ngai Province. Officials said scores of U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine aircraft blasted targets in an area in North Vietnam stretching from Hanoi south to the key port of Vinh, destroying 9 bridges, 43 supply buildings, 21 storage areas, 41 trucks and 36 boats.

In South Vietnam, defenders at the Central Highlands provincial capital of Kontum reported the quietest day since North Vietnamese troops seized parts of the town 10 days ago. 7 enemy soldiers were killed. There were no South Vietnamese casualties despite sporadic attempts to clears some areas remaining under enemy control, spokesmen said.

There was shelling and some fighting along Highway 14 to Pleiku and North Vietnamese units mined and temporarily blocked Highway 19 linking Pleiku to Qui Nhon on the coast, field reports said.

__________

175 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 5 June

198 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 6 June

First Mention of "Gig" Since it Departed Ship for Tan My Vietnan on 5 June
Did Gig Spent 2 Nights in Tan My to Pick-up COMDESRON-36 is an Unanswered Question???

__________

SONG THAN 8-72 (8 June)

With its battalions up to combat strength and fire support agencies consolidated, the Vietnamese Marines took the initiative on 8 June and launched a spoiling attack named Song Than 8-72. All three VNMC brigades were committed in a four-battalion attack across the river. The Marines moved forward under the cover of a closely coordinated and well-executed fire support plan which included B-52 strikes, tactical air, artillery, and naval gunfire.

In these three operations, naval gunfire units fired missions ranged from landing zone / beach preps, direct support missions, and harassment and interdiction missions. The value of the naval gunfire supporting arm was donsistently lauded by Vietnamese commanders and American advisors in the field.

As the battalions crossed the My Chanh River, the heaviest resistance was encountered along the coastal areas, particularly along Route 555, known to the Americans as the "Triple Nickel".

The NVA took a heavy beating - 230 killed, 7 tanks destroyed, and 102 weapons, including several SA-7 surface-to-air missiles, captured or destroyed. At the conclusion the Marines were north of the My Chanh River, once again in Quang Tri Province, and anxious to continue north. The operation ended successfully with all brigades having a foothold in southern Quang Tri Province. The Marines lost only 9 men.

On 9 June, the ASW carrier USS Ticonderoga CV-14 joined the 7th Fleet off North Vietnam, raising the number to 7 carriers.

On 16 June the ARVN conducted an amphibious assault in the vicinity of the Phu Cat Mountains, a VC stronghold since the time of the Japanese occupation. The Vietnamese swept ashore following a beach prep by 9 June by a Mullinnix sister ship, USS Edwards DD-950

150 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 10 June

Mullinnix Heads towards Da Nang Harbor

Counter Battery!!! Counter Battery!!!

306 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 13 June

250 Rounds Fired by Mullinnix on 15 June

Mullinnix Leaves First Gunline Period and Heads to Subic Bay for Upkeep AND Liberty!!!

A Mullinnix Sister Ship

SONG THAN 8A-72 (18 June)
(Mullinnix Arrived in Subic Bay, P.I. on 18 June)

Operation Song Than 8A-72 was another spoiling attack which began on 18 June. Once again all three VNMC brigades were involved. The NVA forces were defending in depth along QL-1 and Route 555, reinforced by armor, artillery, antiaircraft units, networks of interlaced trenches with fortified positions, and further to the west, 130mm guns. The NVA's 130mm artillery guns in the rolling hills to the west fired throughout the battle as they were miles beyond the reach of the Seventh Fleet's naval gunfire ships.

As the 6th VNMC Battalion with VNMC Brigade 147 moved along Route 555, it was met by an enemy counterattack. During darkness on 20 June, a reinforced enemy infantry battalion supported by tanks and artillery hit the 6th Battalion's defensive postions. The NVA tanks were not coordinated with the infantry and VNMC artillery quickly responded to each tank sighting with massed fire. Both Chinese armored personnel carriers and Russian tanks were manufactured with their gasoline tanks on the outside of the vehicle; therefore it was not necessary to achieve a direct hit on diable or set them on fire. Marine artillery learned to mass its fires on enemy armor and to exploit this basic weakness.

Despite the heavy artillery fire, at least 40 NVA soldiers were able to break through the 6h Battalion's perimeter and attack the battalion command post, fragmenting the command group.

The call for supporting fire was made. For the next eight horus the battle raged. Both tactical aircraft and naval gunfire supported the battalion. The 6th VNMC Battalion pushed the enemy from the penetrated position. The enemy responded with heavy artillery and mortar fire throughout the entire zone of action. While the 6th VNMC Battalion was fighting for its life, the 1st and 5th VNMC Battalions also repulsed large armored counterattacks.

__________

During the 3rd week of June naval gunfire operations shifted to the vicinities of Hoai An, Hoai Nhon, and Tam Quan in northern Binh Dinh Province, in an effort to disrupt lines of enemy communications, locate and destroy enemy strongpoints and to generally reconnoiter the area in preparation for a possible assault by friendly troops into this area.

Something new was added in the way of sea-based tactical air on 20 June when a detachment from HMA-369 began operating its AH-1J Sea Cobras from the decks of the USS Denver LPD-9 off the North Vietnamese coast. Prime targets for the Sea Cobras were the lighters being used to ferry cargo ashore from the ships anchored outside the minefields.

By 27 June, the VNMC had successfully established a new defensive line four kilometers north of the My Chanh River. The operation had netted 761 enemy killed, eight tanks destroyed, and freed hundreds of captive villagers. It was during the Lam Son Counter-Offensive on 27 June, that USS Blue Ridge LCC-19 had a fire-fight with coastal artillery on Tiger Island and earned the Combat Action Ribbon.

Mutliple plans were drawn up for amphibious landing attacks directly into North Vietnam to take the pressure off of South Vietnam. In-country leadership all felt that President Nixon and Henry Kissinger would never authorize these invasion plans. History will show that the combat commanders were not allowed to run the war. They were never authorized to fully exhibit the true U.S. military skills they had ... skills that once made the United States so great.

Checking Out Stereo Equipment @ PX in Subic Bay, 1972

Brown Water Navy Comes Alongside Mullinnix, 1972
Courtesy Dennis Wenske

Brown Water Navy Comes Alongside Mullinnix, 1972
Courtesy Dennis Wenske

June ended with the Vietnamese Marine Corps at its peak combat strength. The infantry battalions were at their highest level ever. In addition, the VNMC recruit training center was operating at maximum capacity, and Marine recruiters had men waiting to enter the Corps. The division's logistical posture was also excellent; almost all the earlier combat losses had been replaced.

Mullinnix left Subic Bay, P.I. enroute back to Gunline on 1 July, arriving on Gunline 3 July. Mullinnix was ready for action with ALL three 5" Mounts ready to go!

By early August, with the focus on the recapture of Quang Tri City, the Da Nang and Hue areas were only subjected to sporadic enemy attacks, but these were infrequent and short-lived, not connected to any large scale enemy action. Naval gunfie activity in these areas was therefore limited.

__________

In August, Newport News, destroyer Rowan (DD 782), and naval air units sank two of the PT boats that attacked the American ships off Haiphong.

The North Vietnamese fought back hard. Earlier in the year USS Higbee DD-806 became the first U.S. naval vessel attacked by enemy MiGs, one of which dropped a bomb on the destroyer's stern, wounding four sailors. In addition, while Communist coastal batteries hit 16 ships offshore in 1972, no ship was sunk then or at any time in the Southeast Asian conflict. In July, USS Warrington DD-843 struck what was determined to be a wayward U.S. mine that caused extensive damage to the ship. Naval leaders later decided to scrap the already obsolete destroyer rather than spend money on her repair. These few human and material casualties suffered by the Seventh Fleet contrasted with the great punishment absorbed by the North Vietnamese.

From May through December 1972, no large merchant vessels entered or left North Vietnamese harbors. An attempt by the Communist to lighter cargo to shore from ships in international waters was foiled when fleet ships and aircraft, including Marine helicopter gunships, intercepted and destroyed the shuttling craft. The deployed American fleet even curtailed the enemy's intra-coastal movement.

By the end of September 1972, the North Vietnamese diplomats in Paris were much more amenable to serious negotiation than they were at the end of March. Allied air, naval, and ground forces had repulsed the Communist offensive in South Vietnam and in I Corps even regained much lost ground. After drastically reducing the enemy's reinforcements and munitions infiltrated into the South, the U.S. air and naval campaign in the North gradually destroyed Hanoi's ability to prosecute the war.

Several months later, on 1 Oct 1972, 20 sailors aboard the USS Newport News were killed and 37 injured in an explosion caused by a malfunctioning 8-inch gun turret during a fire support mission.

From April through September 1972, the cruiser-destroyer group fired over 111,000 rounds. Besides destroying vehicles, artillery, tanks, coastal logistical craft and PT boats, the barrage killed an estimated 2,000 NVA.

Perhaps the last sailors of the war killed in action were the two who died from NVA fire while serving aboard the USS Goldsborough on 20 December 1972.

By mid-1972, Navy personnel in Vietnam numbered only 2,340 – after peaking at 39,265 in October 1968. Naval Forces Vietnam/Naval Advisory Group ceased activities 29 March 1973.

__________

In Vietnam, the Mullinnix participated in a campaign to retake Quang Tri and a campaign to defend Hue. These campaigns involved the largest assembly of gunfire support ships in the Vietnam War and the largest amphibious landing since Inchon and Wonsan in the Korean War. In support of Vietnamese Marines, U.S. ships fired 289,963 rounds, at the highest monthly rate since 1968.

Go to "Quang Tri City Regained"
Go to "Liberty Call - Olongapo City"

Back to Operation Song Than 6-72
Back to 1972 Major Battles
Back to 1972 Vietnam Gunline - Page 1
Home

© 2001 by Frank Wood, All Rights Reserved