FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R19-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 15

relea00123.pdf
2/G11/VHN/R19-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 15
This is a report on DRV Naval comms following the 2 August attack on USS Maddox
Document date: 1964-08-05
Department: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Author: SIGINT; Phu Bai
Document type: Report
pages: 2


Archivist's Notes: This report give info on the communications between DRV Naval vessels, Hai Phong and DRV Headquarters. It states that T142 received orders from Headquarters which were to be executed at 16:00 on 5 August 1964.T142 also informed Hai Phong of imminent actions by T146 and 2 other vessels from 135 squadron.

This document is one of several readiness reports of communications by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) after the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, in which the DRV attacked US Naval vessels on Aug. 2nd, 1964.

The message was about orders received from DRV headquarters that were to execute “imminent actions” to be carried out at 1600 hours on Aug. 5, 1964, which was the day of the supposed second attack. This communication would have gave support of a second attack, but in my opinion is vague as to what action was taken or if it was even action to be taken against someone. This vagueness seems to be common in these readiness reports

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

Other Readiness Reports:
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R14-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 10
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R15-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr 11
FOIA: 2/G11/VHN/R16-64 SIGINT Readiness Report Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 12
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

Not much else to add to the above.

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

navy mil faq version

gwu edu version

webcom version

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