The eyes of America were fixed on the television screen as President Richard Nixon took to the
podium, his solemn expression revealing the weight of the moment. The nation hung
on his every word as he carefully delivered his speech, each pause pregnant with significance.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, a massive military orchestra
was being unfurled from the carrier USS Coral Sea. Several A-6 Intruders took to the skies
toward their target: Haiphong's port, a crucial naval asset for North Vietnam.
The warplanes soon pierced the North Vietnamese secure air space and swooped in to deliver a
barrage of 1,000-pound Mk-52 magnetic mines that would effectively blockade the enemies' naval
ports and cripple their ability to receive supplies from China and the Soviet Union.
One minute after the Intruders had released their payloads, the Coral Sea delivered
an instant transmission to the White House confirming the success of the initial blockade;
at that moment, Nixon began speaking normally, and he surprised the nation by saying: (QUOTE)
"I have ordered the following measures, which are being implemented as I am speaking to you.
All entrances to North Vietnamese ports will be mined to prevent access
to these ports and North Vietnamese naval operations from these ports."
The bold move was a defiant challenge to the might of China and the Soviet Union,
risking their wrath during a de-escalation. But this was only the beginning - the first
round in a campaign that would come to be known as Operation Pocket Money…
Bitter Negotiations
Diplomatic talks to end the conflict in Vietnam began in Paris, France, on May 10, 1968.
However, they turned out to be highly contentious,
with both sides accusing the other of bad faith and making unrealistic demands.
However, by the end of 1968, the two sides had agreed on a framework for peace negotiations,
which included a cease-fire and the withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam.
Despite this progress, the peace talks stalled for several years,
with both sides continuing to fight in Vietnam.
The US and North Vietnam remained opposed to one another on several key issues, including
the future political structure of Vietnam and the role of the Viet Cong in any future government.
The reluctant negotiators met again in January 1972 to resume the peace talks,
with similar results. Both sides refused to budge on crucial points regarding the future of Vietnam.
The negotiations then continued sluggishly, and the US grew increasingly frustrated.
To make matters worse, the US military wasn't performing so well in certain
regions. The initial troop withdrawal in 1969 had given the enemy a considerable advantage,
which they were eagerly exploiting. The Quảng Trị
Province, particularly, was collapsing rapidly before the North Vietnamese Easter offensive.
As the North Vietnamese’s success on the battlefield made them reluctant
to negotiate, the US needed a way to pressure them back to the table.
Thus, after avoiding it for over a decade for fear of escalating the conflict with Russia and China,
the US military decided to mine and blockade North Vietnam's waters.
In May 1972, Operation Pocket Money was launched as the US sought a way out of the Vietnam War.
Onset
On May 8, 1972, the United States unleashed an operation that would change the course of
the Vietnam War. The mission was timed to coincide with President Richard Nixon's televised speech at
9:00pm Eastern Time. USS Coral Sea was tasked with leading the operation's opening phase.
The audacious operation involved three A-6 Intruders carrying four 1,000-pound Mk-52
magnetic mines and six Navy A-7 Corsair II carrying four 500-pound Mk-36 acoustic
mines. The aircraft would drop the mines in Haiphong's inner and outer channels,
disrupting North Vietnamese naval operations and blocking enemy supply routes.
The Mk-52 mines were massive, measuring 80 inches in length and 19 inches in diameter, and they were
intended to be fitted with an aerodynamic nose cap during transport. However, USS Coral Sea only had
six nose caps, meaning that each A-6 would have to suffer the drag penalty of two uncapped mines.
At the targeted port, 37 foreign-flag ships moored, including 16 Soviet,
five Chinese, five Somalian, four British, three Polish, two Cuban, and one East German.
To avoid harming neutral ships, the mines were set with a time fuze delay of 72 hours,
allowing the ships to leave the port safely.
To protect the minelaying aircraft, guided missile cruisers USS Long
Beach and USS Chicago moved north to within 40 miles of Haiphong. The
cruisers were given a free-fire zone for RIM-8 Talos missiles to engage
any defending MiG fighters approaching from the Phúc Yên and Kép airfields near Hanoi.
The initial action of Operation Pocket Money was a success, but the day was not without tragedy.
As Rear Admiral Rembrandt C. Robinson and his staff were returning from a planning
meeting aboard USS Coral Sea on May 8, the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King transporting
them lost power while approaching the flagship USS Providence at 10:45pm,
causing the helicopter to land on the edge of the carrier's flight deck and roll overboard.
The Admiral, his chief of staff, and his operations officer all perished.
Onslaught
In the early hours of May 9, the mine-laying actions continued, and a Lockheed EC-121 Warning
Star took off from Da Nang Air Base to support the massive efforts of the day. Meanwhile, USS Kitty
Hawk deployed 17 warplanes for a diversionary strike against the Nam Dinh railroad siding.
The attack was planned to distract the enemy and focus their efforts on
a different region. However, lousy weather restricted the original diversion plan,
forcing the bombers to hit secondary targets of Thanh and Phu Qui.
In sync with the other actions of the day,
a sizable destroyer force commanded by Captain Robert Pace bombarded the
Haiphong Harbor air defense batteries for 30 minutes before the aerial mining began.
The Intruders, escorted by A-7E Corsairs and a single EKA-3B Skywarrior for electronic
countermeasures support, left the Coral Sea at 8:40am to join the operation.
The enemy had been startled by the sudden brutality and the destruction of their
air-defense emplacements, and as the American aircraft approached to drop their mines,
they deployed two MiG interceptors. However, the Americans were prepared,
and Chicago launched two Talos missiles at the MiGs, destroying one of them.
At 8:59am, the Coral Sea bombers began releasing mines.
Shortly after, the pilots radioed their carriers to confirm that the mines were in the water. The
message was passed to the White House, where President Nixon was delivering a speech.
Upon hearing the news, Nixon immediately disclosed to the public the wide range
of measures to disrupt North Vietnamese naval operations,
including mining all entrances to their ports, interrupting the delivery of supplies,
cutting off rail and communication lines, and continuing air and naval strikes.
Over the following days, additional mining missions targeted the ports of Thanh Hoa, Phuc
Loi, Quang Khe, and Dong Khoi. By the year's end, Navy and Marine Corps bombers had dropped over
8,000 mines in North Vietnamese coastal waters and 3,000 in inland waterways.
Solar Storms and Minefields
The far-reaching operation was not flawless, and on August 4,
1972, dozens of the mines suddenly malfunctioned and detonated spontaneously.
The US Navy determined that magnetic radiation from a geomagnetic storm
triggered by a coronal mass ejection on the sun caused the explosions,
a finding that was confirmed by scientific research in 2018.
One British and four Soviet vessels managed to leave the port of Haiphong during a brief
window of opportunity in which the mines posed no threat. The rest of the ships in
the harbor were virtually immobilized for 300 days as the port of Haiphong was closed. The
mining operation also prevented routine dredging, causing the harbor depth to decrease by two feet.
Even so, the mission had been a decisive success, with the naval communications of most of North
Vietnam being wholly shattered in one fell swoop. Moreover, American negotiators used the mining to
their advantage, offering to remove some of the mines in exchange for releasing prisoners of war.
Months later, Operation End Sweep successfully removed the mines between February 6 and July 27,
1973, but at a cost. USS Warrington was severely damaged when she triggered what
was believed to be mislaid mines 20 miles north of Đồng Hới on July 17.
Aftershock
Operation Pocket Money was a tactical success, but the effect it had on the
peace negotiations between the US and North Vietnam was not what the Americans intended.
Initially, the mines served as a bargaining chip that allowed US
officials to pressure the enemy to release some POWs. However,
the operation eventually led to another breakdown in negotiations, as the North
Vietnamese government refused to participate in further talks until the mining was stopped.
This resulted in a delay of several months in the peace negotiations, which did not
resume until late 1972. The mining operation also increased tensions between the United
States and North Vietnam and contributed to a further escalation of the conflict.
Ultimately, however, the operation successfully achieved its objectives.
It disrupted North Vietnamese supply lines and showed Vietnam the US still
had ways to protect its interests in the region.
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