FOIA: Desoto Support - 19 September 1964

relea00101.pdf
Desoto Support
This is a report of DRV Naval messages and orders between 17 and 18 September. Document date of 19 September is a logical assumption.
Document date: 1964-09-19
Department: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Author: SIGINT; San Miguel, Philippines
Document type: Report
pages: 2


Archivist's Notes: This is a report of DRV Naval messages of 17 and 18 September 1964. Gives basic position of the DRV Southern and Northern Fleet. Orders them to mobilize and then wait. Also includes confirmation from Northern Fleet being in position.

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.

Occurring on Aug. SEPT 17th and 18, these messages are several days after the incident, but the aggressive language used displays they were still on high alert. They must have either been planning another attack, or expecting one. The last line stated “The enemy had provoked LF attack us by sea and air” makes me believe they were expecting an attack, but it could also be read “The enemy had provoked LF attack US by sea and air” meaning they were going to be the ones attacking. Like other messages, it is not clear.

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.

[edit on 4/28/2008 by JacKatMtn]

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 go here.

I need to make a correction from my first post.

The messages in this document were from September 17th and 18th, not August.

Related FOIA Documents:
FOIA: Desoto Support - 18 September 1964
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