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

relea00127.pdf
2/G11/VHN/R32-64 SIGINT Readiness Bravo Lantern Report Nr. 30
Another follow up report based on the initial attack of the USS Maddox 2 August 1964
Document date: 1964-08-07
Department: NSA Headquarters, Ft. Meade, MD (DIRNSDA)
Author: SIGINT; Phu Bai
Document type: Report
pages: 2


Archivist's Notes: This report is based on DRV Naval comms which relateds to their salvage operations.DRV Vessel 120 was ordered by to tow back 2 ships of the 135 Squadron. They also communicate that 2 vessels were sunk.

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 in that two DRV vessels were sunk. This damage to the DRV ships occurred during the US air strike in retaliation to the earlier attack on the USS Maddox destroyer.

What I found interesting is at the end the message said to “Cancel any of the wrong orders with these orders and administer exactly like these orders”. This is either an incorrect interpretation, or possibly a disinformation message. Disinformation was used to confuse or mislead the enemy, and was common practice when the enemy was know to be listening in on communications.

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 links to 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/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.