A Nuclear Submarine in the Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War the attack submarine Sculpin was sent on a daring mission by President Nixon. It was believed that supply trawlers in the South China Sea were supplying the Viet Cong. When U.S forces found ground troops unloading one of the trawlers on a South Vietnamese beach a massive firefight broke out. The brutal fight caused many soldiers to believe that the trawler crews were elite forces that were willing to fight to the death.
After the firefight, the U.S. forces wanted to stop the trawlers. It was estimated that each trawler could deliver 100 tons of munitions after the ships were photographed in international waters. Since the trawlers could not be attacked in international waters and there were concerned about accidentally attacking a legitimate trawler in the region. A plan was created to use a submarine to follow one of the trawlers all the way from Hainan to South Vietnam in order to mark it for destruction by U.S. forces.
On April 12, 1972, the Sculpin was patrolling off Hainan and found a trawler that matched the description of the trawlers sending supplies to the Viet Cong. When the trawler made a turn toward the Philippines, the men of the Sculpin realized that they were following a supply ship and not a fisherman and kept close watch. They turned off active sonar and used only passive sonar, using the distinctive shaft rub and propeller sound to keep tabs on the trawler’s position. As they followed the trawler from China to Vietnam, with covert air support above them, the Sculpin operated in water that was perfectly calm and as shallow as six fathoms.
When the trawler was followed all the way to the Vietnamese coast, the crew of the Sculpin requested permission to shoot but Admiral John McCain believed that it would not work. Instead the South Vietnamese naval forces were called in on April 24. As the Vietnamese destroyer closed in the trawler raised a Chinese flag and indicated they were fishing. This caused the Vietnamese to hesitate but the men aboard the Sculpin insisted it was a trawler filled with weapons that they had followed for 2,400 miles.
On this identification, the South Vietnamese hit the trawler and it and its cargo exploded. A few men survived and were rescued. They spoke Vietnamese, not Chinese, and provided valuable intelligence about their operations, making the mission a complete success.