Operation Sea Dragon 1966-1968 Vietnam

[Salvage Sailor]

National Archives SHORE BATTERY ATTACK ON USS O'BRIEN (DD-725) Off Vietnamese Coast

 

More than twenty vessels carrying enemy war supplies to the Viet Cong were sunk or damaged by O'BRIEN. On 23 December 1966, the ship received three direct hits from coastal batteries north of Đồng Hới. Two crewmen were killed and four wounded.

 

 

Medevac of casualties by HS-8

 

 

 

7th Fleet work jacket, USS O'BRIEN

 

 

KIA

KIA

 

Gunfire Damage

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Medevac

 

 

 

 

 

Back into the fight, Get Some Paypack

 

 

 

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Operation Sea Dragon, October 1966 - USS MANSFIELD (DD-728) & USS HANSON (DD-832)

National Archives Combat Camera footage - SEA DRAGON

 

Operation Sea Dragon - Underway from 25 October 1966 through October 1968. It was conceived to interdict sea lines of communications and supplies going from North to South Vietnam, destroy land targets with gunfire support, and destroy waterborne craft. TF-77 assets were heavily involved in this. Two U.S. ships were hit in 1967 by enemy fire (each with KIA): August, Dupont (DD-941); September, Mansfield (DD-728).  from Naval History and Heritage Command

 

CAPTAIN BROOKS W. SETZER, CO, Destroyer Division 152, aboard USS MANSFIELD (DD-728), CDR. D. P. NELLIS CO USS MANSFIELD

 

 

USS HANSON

 

 

Signalman in M1 helmet and flak jacket on the signal bridge

 

Combat Camerman filming from the bridge wing

 

 

SM3

 

CDR Nellis telling fire control where he wants his shots

 

 

Combat Camermen on the Signal Bridge, Sound Powered phone talker in the background by the flags

 

Policing up the spent shells

 

Cooling the guns - still hot to the touch

 

 

 

Dungarees bloused into socks for GQ

 

Fire Control radar ready, back into action

 

 

OPEN FIRE

 

 

Return fire from the shore batteries, Sorry Charlie, out of range

 

 

 

But we're not, have another salvo

 

 

Charlie's return fire, still short

 

 

Bridge Plot, keeping us on the gunline

 

Bridge team in flak jackets watching the fall of shot

 

Signaling HANSON, your turn

 

 

Keeping an eye on the shore

 

Ready, FIRE!

 

 

Plastering the target area

 

 

Combat Camera gets it all

 

Cease Fire

 

Target Destroyed

 

[Salvage Sailor]

New Year, New Season on the Gunline

 

National Archives Combat Camera footage OPERATION SEA DRAGON

 

Cruiser USS CANBERRA, (CAG-2) firing on targets

April 3rd, 1967

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operation Sea Dragon 1967 USS BARNEY (DDG-6)

In mid February 1967, the warship departed Norfolk bound for the Far East and her only cruise in the combat zone during the Vietnam War. That deployment lasted almost exactly seven months. On the outbound voyage, she stopped at Mayport, Florida; Guantánamo Bay; the Panama Canal Zone; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Midway Island; Guam in the Marianas; and at Subic Bay in the Philippines.

 

 

While off Vietnam, Barney served in various ways. She performed duty as sea air rescue controller, interdicted Viet Cong seaborne logistics, and shelled targets ashore in both North and South Vietnam. On several occasions, the guided missile destroyer came within range of enemy shore batteries. She suffered no hits, but a member of her crew was wounded, lost his leg, by a shell fragment from a near miss. The warship also visited Hong Kong and ports in the Philippine Islands and in Japan.

 

Off Oahu, Hawaii on March 18 1967. USN photo 1121664 by A.R Foss, PH3

 

 

 

[Salvage Sailor]

OPERATION SEA DRAGON - U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy warships steamed along the coast of North Vietnam bombarding targets ashore with their 8-inch, 6-inch, and 5-inch guns. The cruisers and destroyers shelled truck columns, bridges, and logistics craft shuttling along the shore. The enemy fought back hard. North Vietnamese coastal guns damaged 29 U.S. ships and killed or wounded 31 American Sailors.

 

From Pacific Stars and Stripes, 1968

 

 

USS BLUE leading her squadron above the DMZ

 

USS BLUE (DD-744) Operation Sea Dragon

 

 

.....During his tour of duty, USS Blue sunk ten boatloads of supplies and damaged eight, but came under fire seventeen times from enemy shore batteries. We never took a direct hit, but in the engine room you could hear shrapnel hitting the side of the ship, and what scared me more than a direct hit was the fact a piece of shrapnel could pierce the side of the destroyer and rupture a steam line,” said Neal.....  ‘It’s not just a job, it’s an adventure’: Serving as a Tin Can Sailor

 

 

[Salvage Sailor]

Dragon Breathes Fiery Farewell
Source - Stars and Stripes, Pacific Edition

 

This article first appeared in the Vietnam edition of Pacific Stars and Stripes, Nov. 10, 1968. It is republished unedited in its original form. The images were all taken by Stars and Stripes photographer Kim Ki Sam July 15, 1968, but did not accompany the article when it was originally published. Operation Sea Dragon ran from Oct. 25, 1966, to Oct. 31, 1968.

 

Gas cylinders are hoisted aboard the USS Buchanan destroyer during refeuling operations. The tanker USS Tappahannock can be seen in the background. (Kim Ki Sam/Stars and Stripes)

 

SAIGON — The Navy’s “Sea Dragon” breathed a fiery farewell to the North Vietnamese coast last week. Sea Dragon is the nickname given to the navy’s operation aimed at cutting off enemy supply traffic in the Gulf of Tonkin. It ended last Friday night when the U.S. halted bombardment of North Vietnam. Destroyers and cruisers of the 7th Fleet had patrolled waters off the North Vietnamese coast continuously since Oct. 1966, in search of boats, barges and sampans moving south. In Feb. 1967, the ships began firing on inland targets, including storage areas, base camps and traffic routes. The destroyers Mansfield and Hanson — the first ships ordered to Sea Dragon duty — were fired on twice by enemy shore batteries during the first day of the operation. They returned the fire — gun sites were their only targets in North Vietnam at the time — to begin a two-year duel with enemy shore gunners.

 

Transfer of personnel by high-lines onto the USS Buchanan from the tanker USS Tappahannock. The U.S naval ships were taking part in Operation Sea Dragon, conducting naval bombardments at targets north of Dong Hoi, North Vietnam. (Kim Ki Sam/Stars and Stripes)

One U.S. destroyer was reported hit in her forward gun mount by enemy shells in March, 1967. Six sailors were injured, and the mount knocked out of use. Sea Dragon ships hit at least 90 gun sites in the north this year. Hundreds of other targets — bridges, trucks, ferries, piers, roads, wharves, military structures and troop concentration among them — were blasted by the force’s five, six and eight-inch shells. Navy spokesmen point to the first three months of Sea Dragon to indicate the operation’s effectiveness. In that period, 1,378 supply craft were sighted and 664 were reported hit. During the Christmas 1966 standdown, spokesmen said more than 500 enemy supply boats were spotted moving along the coast. There has been no official indication as to whether the Reds have again stepped up traffic now that the destroyers, cruisers and the battleship New Jersey have moved south along with the aircraft carriers.
 

Last Friday — the final day for Sea Dragon — the destroyers Purvis and Isbell came under enemy fire, but were not hit. The ships pumped shells back at the gun sites and called in jet strikes. One site was reportedly destroyed. The Sea Dragon had won the last duel.
 

[sigsaye]

14 hours ago, Salvage Sailor said:

National Archives SHORE BATTERY ATTACK ON USS O'BRIEN (DD-725) Off Vietnamese Coast

 

More than twenty vessels carrying enemy war supplies to the Viet Cong were sunk or damaged by O'BRIEN. On 23 December 1966, the ship received three direct hits from coastal batteries north of Đồng Hới. Two crewmen were killed and four wounded.

 

 

Medevac of casualties by HS-8

 

 

 

7th Fleet work jacket, USS O'BRIEN

 

 

KIA

KIA

 

Gunfire Damage

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Medevac

 

 

 

 

 

Back into the fight, Get Some Paypack

 

 

 

 

I served with a guy who was SM2 on OB, when this happened 

[Salvage Sailor]

2 hours ago, sigsaye said:

I served with a guy who was SM2 on OB, when this happened 

 

USS O'BRIEN

Men loading shells and powder into the breech of a 5" gun inside the mount.  Breech end of 5" gun after firing a salvo; gun is reloaded, fired, reloaded again and fired; these rounds are being fired at the beach batteries of the No. Vietnamese.  Two men loading shell and powder into breech of 5" gun; projectile and powder are rammed into the gun then fired.  Officer on wing of bridge looking thru binoculars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Man being lowered from SH-3A to deck of ship, believed to be a Corpsman.  Corpsman"s bag being received by the crewmen on deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kurt Barickman]

5 inch 38s.

 

Kurt

[12thengr]

A good reminder that the 'Blue Water Navy', not just the birdmen, had a part in that war.

[Justin]

Great post. Thanks for taking the time to upload the photos. Very high qaulity. Very cool to see all the WWII shells and especially the early 50s Marine M52 vest being used. 

[Salvage Sailor]

Destroyer Squadron Nine

DESRON 9

 

USS MANSFIELD (DD-728) Ships' History during Operation Sea Dragon

 

Operation Sea Dragon  page 1

Operation Sea Dragon  page 2