FOIA: SIGINT Readiness Bravo, Lantern Report Number 1

relea00110.pdf
SIGINT Readiness Bravo, Lantern Report Number 1
Report tofollowup previous reports of T135 being missing - according to DRV Naval comms
Document date: 1964-08-02
Department: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Author: SIGINT; Phu Bai
Document type: Report
pages: 2


Archivist's Notes: This report records that T142 met up with T135, which was reported damaged and burning by USS Maddox, and leads it back to Hon Me.

2 page memo with only the 2nd page being the actual information.
White boxes used
to block out legibility in the heading –
who it is addressed to?

It begins:

COMTAIWANDEFCOM/US ( is this Taiwan defense?)
COMNAVFORJAPAN ( command navy Japan?)

On 2 Aug DRV vessel T142 passed. Its ship’s log was as follows:
0925 join 135 at IGRU
1115 lead 135 into Hom Me
1245 join 165 at Hom Me
1300 135 and T146-142 possibly departed
1525 saw the 135 …attack the enemy.
1630 we are ordered to turn around and return to concentrate at IGRU
and communicate with 165.

This document is one of several readiness reports of PT boat movements by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in which the DRV attacked US Naval vessels.

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.

Other Readiness Reports:
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R21-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R07-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Report Nr 2
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R08-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr 3
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R28-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 4
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R09-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr 5
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R10-64 SIGINT ReadinessBravo Lantern Report No. 6
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R11-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 7
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R12-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 8
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R13-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 9
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R14-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 10

[edit on 4/11/2008 by Hal9000]

Agreed... not much to this memo.

A lot of bits and pieces but the jist is clear. The aim of SIGINT isn't just to intercept human communications but also pure electronic ones such as radar. Anything which could be of tactical advantage!

[edit on 12-4-2008 by Scramjet76]

Not much else to add to the above.

Further reading/comparisons on the gulf of tonkin incident can be found ...

navy mil faq version

gwu edu version

webcom version

wikipedia version