FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R30-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 28, page 1

relea00126.pdf
2/G11/VHN/R30-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 28
This is a followup report on the 2 August 1964 attack on USS Maddox
Document date: 1964-08-06
Department: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Author: SIGINT; Phu Bai
Document type: Report
pages: 2

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Archivist's Notes: This appears to be a report based on Port Wallut comms to the DRV Naval vessels.It goes to boost moral by enforcing their brave pursuit of the enemy in which they communicate shooting down 1 US aircraft and damaging 2 others.It further states that 5 US aircraft were fired upon and 3 were burning and one US pilot was captured.

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This document is another report of intercepted communications from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in which the DRV attacked US Naval vessels on Aug. 2nd, 1964.

This one makes a claim that a US pilot was captured after downing an aircraft. This was on Aug. 5th, 1964 after the US air strike in retaliation for the earlier attacks on the USS Maddox. The US reported that no aircraft were shot down and that no pilot was captured. The damage reports aginst the US from the DRV appeared to be exaggerated as time went on.

The previous report also said that a pilot had been shot down.

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident prompted the US Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave President Johnson authority to use military force to defend allies in the area and ultimately lead to the beginning of the Vietnam War.

Related FOIA Documents:
FOIA: DRV Naval Entity Reports Losses and Claims two Enemy Aircraft Shot Down - 4 August 1964
FOIA: DRV Naval Entity Claims six U.S. Aircraft Downed by Naval and Air Defence Forces - 6 August 19
FOIA: DRV attack on US Ships in Gulf of Tonkin; 2 - 4 August 1964
FOIA: Summary of DRV Naval Communications Revealing Pre-Planned Attacks on USS Maddox
FOIA: SIGINT Reflections of DRV Attacks on USS Maddox - 08/08/1964

Here are some other links to other reports.

Other Readiness Reports:
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R19-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 15
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R20-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 16
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R21-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 17
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R18-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 18
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R27-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 25
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R32-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 30
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R40-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 39

All these SIGINT reports from the Gulf of Tonkin incident clearly highlight the importance of good intelligence gathering.

To read about the history of SIGINT in good detail
click here.