Trying to keep afloat its illegitimate puppet regime in South Vietnam, the United States in 1961 was forced to dramatically increase the volume of military assistance to the Saigon regime. By that time, the United States still had a lot of mothballed ships and vessels from the Second World War. As more and more airplanes and helicopters for the South Vietnamese regime were included in the military assistance, the United States rationally decided to use its old escort aircraft carriers, or, as they were called, "jeep carriers", as transport ships. Now, however, they did not have to fight. Therefore, the ships were transferred from the Navy to the Pentagon's Transport Command, changing the "combat" designation USS to USNS, under which ships of the US auxiliary fleet navigate the seas.
One of the first such ships were two Bogue-class escorts. The first was "Core" and the second was the same type "Card". These ships, once hunting German submarines in the Atlantic, were no longer of combat value. But on the other hand, their large flat decks made it possible to place a large number of combat aircraft and helicopters on them, and the hangar allowed loading a lot of military equipment - from trucks to armored personnel carriers. However, they also carried containers.
Soon, Jeep Carrier flights became routine. They consistently delivered equipment and equipment to the warring Vietnam. The war was gaining momentum and they had enough work. As you know, a significant mass of South Vietnamese supported the Viet Cong and North Vietnam. Taking into account the fact that South Vietnam was ruled by stupid and incompetent military dictators set by the Americans, in fact, brutal kings who diligently killed competitors in the struggle for power and did not shy away from reprisals against the civilian population, this was not surprising. For many years, people in impotent rage watched as foreign weapons were imported into their country, which were to be used to kill their compatriots.
But after a while, among them were those whose rage was no longer so powerless.
65th Viet Cong Special Operations Group
Like many national liberation movements, the Vietcong envisioned a mixture of a party and a guerrilla army. At the same time, the presence of a patron country in the north with a large mobilization resource and a poorly equipped but brave army left a certain imprint on the actions of the Viet Cong against the US puppets, and then the Americans themselves. Lacking the resources to wage open war in cities, the Vietcong created small combat groups that were supposed to sabotage, kill Americans and collaborators, and conduct reconnaissance. These were, in fact, the fighting groups of the underground, fighting against the pro-Western regime. Of course, this was the case in many countries of the world both before and after. But the Vietnamese specificity was such that these people had where to get very specific training. So, for example, there were many partisan movements in the world, but not so many of those where there were combat swimmers and miners who know how to place magnetic mines under water. The Viet Cong, “tied” to North Vietnam, had no problems with training such specialists.
The domestic reader has little idea of how seriously North Vietnam approached the conduct of special operations. So, the Vietnamese practiced throwing sabotage groups into the American rear with the help of aviation - who else in the world was able to do this? Vietnam was one of the first countries in the world to have its own special operations forces - Dak Kong special forces. In any Vietnamese offensive, the use of special forces was very wide.
Although strictly formally, the founding date of "Dak Kong" was March 19, 1967, in fact, these special forces grew out of the detachments that, with sudden raids without heavy weapons, carved out French strongholds during the First War in Indochina. It was during the period 1948-1950 that the laying down of what would become the "Dak Kong" took place - troops of extremely well trained and motivated to fight people with tremendous personal courage. It was in the war with the French that both "Dak Kong Bo" - army special forces in the usual sense, and "Dak Kong Nuok" - combat swimmers appeared. And also - "Dak Kong beats dong" - specially trained saboteurs, underground, capable of waging a guerrilla war without external support for years and focused mainly on operations in the urban environment.
In 1963, a 27-year-old activist and patriot Lam Son Nao underwent training under the program of such a unit in one of the military units "Dak Kong".
Nao was a native of Saigon. He left to work at the age of 17 to escape the poverty of his family. Many of his relatives were killed by the French, which gave the young man a hatred of foreign invaders. From his youth, he supported the Viet Cong and the idea of uniting Vietnam under Vietnamese rule, and as soon as he had such an opportunity, he joined this organization. Then there was the sending of saboteurs to the courses and the hardest combat training in "Dak Kong".
Soon he again found himself in Saigon, where his parents still lived, and ended up in one of the detachments subordinate to the command of the Saigon District Organization of the Viet Cong - Saigon-Gia-Dinh. This squad was the 65th Special Operations Group - in fact, several specially trained volunteers, like Nao, subordinate to Saigon Gia Dinh. Nao, as a specially trained person, was appointed her commander. The detachment was supposed to conduct reconnaissance and sabotage in the port of Saigon, where Nao's father worked. His father helped him get a job at the port. Thanks to this, Nao was able to move freely around the port.
According to the instructions of the command, it was reconnaissance that was the main task of the group, of which Nao was a part, but soon the plans changed.
In the fall of 1963, the command decided to blow up the Coure. The former aircraft carrier was supposed to unload at the end of 1963, and Nao, who was ordered to complete this combat mission, began to work out a plan for the operation. He himself had to design and manufacture a mine for detonation. The idea of the operation was to undermine the ship in the port, which was supposed to give a good propaganda effect, to make it difficult for the enemy to supply, at least temporarily and maybe kill someone. In case of very extreme luck, the cargo could also be damaged. The mine was heavy and huge, over 80 kilograms of weight, loaded with TNT. For the little Vietnamese, such a weight was almost an insoluble problem and Nao was forced to involve a fighter trained by him named Nguyen Van Kai in the operation. The latter was supposed to help him drag the charges to the ship, and then Nao, who had undergone special training, could install them himself.
But how do you get to the ship? The guards usually blocked all approaches to these vital transports for the South Vietnamese authorities. Vietnamese workers were carefully examined while loading. And in general, the port territory was full of soldiers and guards - it was unrealistic to smuggle almost ninety kilograms of explosives with you. In addition, the district command wanted none of the Vietnamese workers to die in the blast. This further complicated the operation, requiring it to be carried out at night, when there were no extra people in the port.
Nao was looking for a way to deliver the bombs to the water. In the water everything would be easy, but the path to the water was a problem.
And again the father helped - he drew the attention of his son to the fact that a two-kilometer sewer tunnel passes through the port area. Nao reconnoitred the tunnel and found out that it really was possible to get to the water with a load.
But again, not without problems. Unlike domestic sewerage, this tunnel was used for technical waste and was filled with chemically aggressive waste. It was possible to breathe there for a while, but if dirt got into the eyes from the tunnel, a chemical burn was inevitable.
And, as luck would have it, part of the way had to be overcome by diving into this aggressive slurry. Of course, if you close your eyes tightly, and then somehow wipe them with something, then there were chances, but in general, the risks went off scale already at the stage of delivering bombs to the target.
However, there was no other way to bypass the guards.
Nao also carefully considered another weak point in his plan - the delivery of the mine to the port in principle. Theoretically, it was possible to carry her into the territory without inspection, but it was impossible to predict whether a search would be carried out or not. There was already pure luck, but he wanted to take the risk.
Three times he scouted the tunnels to make sure everything worked out, and finally was able to convince the command that the plan he had chosen was real. Soon, his first combat operation was approved.
The first approach
On December 29, 1963, early in the evening, Nao and Kai secretly dragged bombs into the tunnel and moved towards the river. They managed to get to the water unnoticed. Nao set the timers in the bombs at 19:00, by which time there were no workers on the ship. Covertly and quietly, they delivered the explosives to the side of the ship, and Nao, trained to handle mines, reinforced them on his hull. No less secretly, the fighters returned. The tension among the saboteurs was growing, they expected the ship to blow up, their first combat success, and now it’s time, and … nothing happens. Generally.
It was a failure. Nao understood that sooner or later they would inspect the ship under water - most likely when entering the first American port. Not only will the mine fall into the hands of the Americans and allow them to get some intelligence, but also the fact of the operation of the 65th group in the port will become apparent. It would be a disaster.
Nao that day, apparently, was glad that the mine was installed in the evening, because he had a whole night to correct the mistake. Shortly after the explosion he desired did not occur, he was on his way back to the ship. In total darkness, Nao found a whole mine on the hull. Now it had to be deactivated and removed. Nao recalled:
“I was considering two options. First, the bomb will explode when I touch it and I die. It was acceptable. Second - I will be caught with explosives. And that's what I was afraid of."
Oddly enough, everything worked out. The mine was unhooked from the ship and hauled to safety through the tunnel. Moreover, Nao and Kai were able to carry her back out of the port.
Some disadvantage was that Kai still caught toxic dirt in his eyes, and it was not clear how it would all end for him.
Soon, "Coure" was leaving for a new load of weapons to kill the Vietnamese, and Nao was forced to look at it.
In relation to him, no special disciplinary sanctions were made: it turned out that the mines had substandard batteries in the timers. The problem was soon resolved, and Nao began planning a new attack.
We had to wait a long four months. Finally, one of the Viet Cong agents in the port, Do Toan, told Nao the date of the arrival of the next transport, the Karda. The ship was supposed to dock on May 1, 1964.
Strike at the air transport "Card"
Kai's vision problems have not disappeared. He could see, but there was no question of using it in special operations. Fortunately, he was not the only one Nao trained. Instead, another fighter went - Nguyen Phu Hung, known among his own under the shortened nickname Hai Hung.
Now Nao was more careful in his planning. There should be no mistake, Americans will not be careless forever.
As Do Toan had promised, the ship arrived in Saigon on May 1, 1964.
Nao thought better this time.
First, a safer route was chosen to deliver the bombs to the tunnel. Nao and Hung were supposed to deliver the mines by boat along the river. The river was controlled by the river police, but, firstly, these people, like everyone who worked for the Saigon regime, were corrupt, and secondly, in some places the boat could be driven into swamps where the police boat would not have entered. For all the risks, it was safer than going into a port with explosive devices openly, like the last time. There was a certain risk in carrying mines to the descent into the tunnel, but Nao and Hung planned to imitate the fact that they were doing some kind of work in the tunnel.
Secondly, Nao remade the mines - now there are two of them, one with American C-4 explosives, and this time Nao knew for sure that they were working.
On the morning of May 2, 1964, the Card was loaded. The day before, he had unloaded military supplies for the South Vietnamese army, and now he was taking on board old helicopters to send them to the United States for repairs.
Then in the morning, Nao and Hung, loading mines on a boat, slowly sailed on it along the Saigon River towards the harbor.
A police boat chased after them near the Tu-Tiem peninsula. Fortunately, the banks in this place were swampy and Nao pushed the boat into the reeds, where the boat could not go. Truth and the Vietcong were now trapped.
The police, seeing the two ragamuffins, demanded to explain who they were and where they were going, as well as to take the boat out into the open water for a search. This is a critical moment in the entire operation.
But the saboteurs this time were lucky. Nao was immediately able to convince the police of his legend, which was next.
They, Nao and Hung are port thieves. According to them, an American ship is unloading in the port. They want to steal 20 radios and clothes from him to sell.
The police did not think for a long time. Under the promise to share the booty with them on the way back, Nao received permission to sail further, but one of the policemen jumped into the boat, saying that he would make sure that the thieves did not "throw" them after the theft and shared the booty. Nao had two options. The first is to kill this police officer a little later. The second is to try to bribe him to leave. Nao said that the cargo would be heavy, and because of the extra passenger in the boat, they would not be able to take out everything they were planning. But he, Nao, is ready to give an "advance" of 1000 Vietnamese dongs so that the boat can be passed on without a passenger on board. If the police did not agree, they would have to kill one of them, but they agreed. The money was given immediately, and the police warned that they would meet them at the exit from the port. It was luck, and the saboteurs took full advantage of it.
Then no one interfered with them, and everything went according to plan. Swamps, the outskirts of the port, a stinking sewer, again chemically aggressive mud, water … Nao, who did not want to fail, sailed to the ship for reconnaissance to check if there was an ambush on their way, and Hung remained with mines in the sewers. Then Nao returned and in the next swim the saboteurs had already gone with their deadly load.
This time, Nao, who realized that it would take much longer to leave the scene of the operation, set the timer to 3 am. This gave them a reserve of time in case of problems with the withdrawal.
And there were some minor problems - the police, who were waiting for the "thieves" with the loot, intercepted their boat, as they had intended. But there were no stolen radios and bags of things. The boat was empty. Nao just threw up his hands guiltily and said that nothing happened. Having poured out the allegedly unlucky thieves a little, the police released them, being content with the thousand dongs they had previously received.
The timing turned out to be accurate. Nao returned home only at 2.45. And at 3.00, as planned, a resounding explosion was heard in the port of Saigon.
The next morning, Nao and Hung came to work as if nothing had happened.
Effects
The explosion punched a hole 3, 7x0, 91 meters in the Kard board, damaged cable routes and pipelines, and also led to the flooding of the engine room. Despite the very quick start of the fight for survivability on the part of the crew, the amount of water taken on board led to the fact that the stern of the ship sank 15 meters into the water and lay on the bottom. Part of the cargo was damaged. Regarding losses, American sources cite conflicting data - from several wounded to five civilian American dead.
It took 17 days to restore the Karda's buoyancy, after which a pair of American rescue ships specially arrived in Saigon began transporting it to Subic Bay, in the Philippines, where it was supposed to get up for repairs. The Card was able to return to flights only in December 1964, after about seven months. The costs of lifting and repairing it were quite serious.
For two young men, only one of whom received military training in real troops, it was a success.
The Americans understood that the propaganda effect of this operation would be very useful for the Viet Cong and harmful to them, so they hid information about what happened in every possible way. When it became impossible to hide it, the US Navy admitted that there was a sabotage in the port, and one of the American ships was damaged.
It is worth saying that the Americans later thoroughly investigated this sabotage and introduced security measures that made a repetition of such sabotage impossible.
The Vietnamese, on the other hand, promoted the operation to the fullest. In Vietnamese news and reports, it was said that the saboteurs of the "Southern Liberation Army" no more nor less sank an American aircraft carrier, the first after the Japanese in World War II.
The truth was in the middle, as usual. The ship went to the bottom, but did not sink, its damage was not fatal, but significant, and yes, it was technically still an aircraft carrier, it was just used a long time ago as a non-combat vehicle, however, very important at that particular moment.
Lam Son Nao heard on the radio how Ho Chi Minh and Nguyen Vo Giap celebrated this operation, and Nao was very proud of what and how he did this time. Before the Tonkin incident, which led to the open intervention of the United States in the sluggish intra-Vietnamese conflict, and its transformation into a nightmare war for the whole of Indochina with millions killed, carpet bombing, forests burned by defoliants and hundreds of millions of unexploded bombs, mines and shells that left behind in Asia "forces of good." At the time of the Karda explosion, the war had not even really begun. Except for the White House and the Pentagon, nobody knew about this …
Lam Son Nao continued his service as a saboteur. In 1967, a South Vietnamese counterintelligence agent tracked him down and he was arrested. He spent the next five years of his life in prison, in confinement, periodically diluted with lethargic and stupid, not less painful torture. We couldn't get any information out of it.
In 1973 he was freed and returned to his old occupation. His last operation was an intact seizure of the bridge over the Saigon River on April 29, 1975, along which Vietnamese troops marched directly to the Palace of Independence, the seat of the South Vietnamese president. Nao commanded a special group that captured the bridge and disarmed its guards. However, in those days, few people in his native Saigon wanted to really resist.
The explosion of the Kard aircraft itself had neither strategic nor operational significance. By and large, it was a prick for the American military machine. But out of tens of thousands of such injections, ultimately, Vietnam's victory in its long and brutal war for its final independence was formed.
