FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R40-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 39

relea00128.pdf
2/G11/VHN/R40-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 39
This is a follow up report on DRV Naval activities following the 2 August 1964 attack on the USS Maddox
Document date: 1964-08-07
Department: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Author: SIGINT; Phu Bai
Document type: Report
pages: 2

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Archivist's Notes: This is a comms that mentions T333 and T336 of the DRV Naval force were under tow. The DRV tug Bach Dan was towing T336 as they communicate that T333 was still awaiting a tow. It also mentions that night recon signals are green flares and lights on the top of masts.

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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 report is similar to previous reports that two DRV vessels were in need of tow back to the harbor. The message says that the vessels were damaged in the first attack on Aug. 2nd, 1964 on the USS Maddox. This is a verification that they had indeed attacked the destroyer.

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 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 related 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/R30-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 28
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R32-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 30

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.