In the early morning of May 13, US patrol planes passed over Poulo Wai, dropping flares to cut through the darkness. Immediately, Cambodian anti-aircraft guns on the island opened fire on the planes. But it was too late, the pilots had spotted the Mayaguez. Knowing that US Marines were probably on their way, the Cambodians ordered Captain Miller to start his ship and sail to another island, Koh Tang. Then the Mayaguez was forced to follow several Cambodian swift boats toward the north of the island. A few hours later, the scream of jet engines cut through the air.
The US airforce had once again spotted the Mayaguez. Fighter planes began to circle the ships and fire their guns at the water in front of the swift boats. The message was clear: if you try to move the Mayaguez again, you die. A plan was drafted to drop US soldiers onto the decks of the ship by helicopter. But on the way, one of the helicopters crashed, tragically killing the men on board. The call was made to hold off the rescue until they had a better idea of how to rescue the crew safely. Meanwhile, the Cambodians were attempting to move the crew to the mainland city of Kampong Som on fishing boats.
The idea was that the US planes would be less likely to try to stop them on the smaller boats. But once again, fighter planes descended on the ships and fired into the water. After a low pass, one of the fighter crews radioed back to tell the officers that they had spotted the crew on the fishing boat. The attacks were called off because of the danger of hitting the crew, and the fishing boats reached the city around 10 AM. But the local commander, afraid of provoking an American attack on the city, refused to take the crew.
The crew was once again moved, this time to the island of Koh Rong Sanloem. The Americans, however, were still convinced that the crew was on Koh Tang. And on May 15, US Marines invaded the island as another force stormed the Mayaguez itself. The Marines had expected light resistance, but the island turned out to have an equal force of Khmer Rouge soldiers armed with anti-aircraft guns and RPGs. An intense firefight erupted on the island as US soldiers fired tear gas canisters onto the Mayaguez and boarded the ship.
During the attack, an RPG round struck one of the US helicopters. It crashed in a ball of fire, killing several military personnel. That was when the Cambodians decided things had gone too far. They immediately issued a statement saying that they had never intended to hold the crew for long and would be releasing them. The crew was returned to a US Navy ship after signing a statement that they had not been mistreated. By that night, all the US military elements were withdrawn from the region. Officially, it was the final battle of the Vietnam war, giving the US one last chance to pull a victory out of a defeat.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Mayaguez Incident”. Gerald Ford Museum.
“Mayaguez Captain Tells Story of Rescue.” Sydney Schanberg, New York Times. May 1975.
“Remembering North Korea’s Audacious Capture Of The USS Pueblo”. David Welna, NPR. January 2018.