![]() After a flier has been picked up by a helicopter, sometimes under heavy North Vietnamese gunfire, he is returned to the nearest search and rescue ship, where a Navy doctor is ready to handle almost any medical emergency. Operating from the search and rescue ships, helicopters are airborne only minutes after the ship receives a distress call, and they can reach the coast within a few more minutes. When they are needed, a Navy or Air Force plane has been downed–either at sea or in North Vietnam. Although logistics craft are the primary targets of ships on Sea Dragon, military targets such as surface-to-air missile sites and ammunition storage areas in North Vietnam are attacked regularly by cruisers and destroyers.Ī few miles farther out in the gulf, destroyers and larger frigates with a mission of “search and rescue” are on station, their crewmen, hoping their services will never be needed. ![]() The North Vietnamese have also learned to respect the accuracy of naval guns against targets ashore. And because of these patrols, the number of logistics craft sighted along the coast has been cut from an average of more that 50 a day to less than 10. Off North Vietnam, destroyers and cruisers on Operation Sea Dragon continually patrol the coastline in search of waterborne logistics craft. Because of the special nature of Southeast Asia Operations, a destroyer may be called on for anything from firing on targets in North Vietnam to rescuing a downed flier. Throughout the South China Sea and the Tonkin Gulf, cruisers and destroyers are known for their versatility. ![]() Seventh Fleet Cruiser-Destroyer Group number more than 60, virtually all of them operating in the Vietnam Area. ![]() Although it was not until August 1964 that destroyers in the Vietnam area first made headlines, when they were fired on by torpedo boats in the South China Sea, both destroyers and cruisers have been active in the Vietnam War since its very beginning.Īs the conflict began to grow more serious and the United States offered more assistance to the Republic of Vietnam, the jobs assigned to cruisers and destroyers in the area began to grow–both in number and complexity–and more ships began to take part in the war. ![]()
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