Attack on the SS Baton Rouge Victory

The attack on the SS Baton Rouge Victory was a commando attack launched by the Viet Cong on August 26, 1966, in which they attacked the Victory ship SS Baton Rouge Victory using two 2,400-pound limpet mines[1] while it was proceeding along the Lòng Tàu River, about 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Saigon. The explosions killed seven American civilian sailors on board and tore a 16-by-45-foot (4.9 by 13.7 m) hole in the ship's hull forcing the captain to run the ship aground to avoid sinking and blocking the shipping channel. Water rushed the hole and immediately flooded the ship's engine room, seven of the nine crew members working in the engine room drowned. Only the Chief Engineer and an Oiler were able to get out of the engine room. The SS Baton Rouge Victory had departed the San Francisco Embarcadero on 28 July 1966 with a crew of 45, loaded with military trucks and other heavy equipment.[2][3][4][5] She was refloated on 30 August 1966 and towed to Vũng Tàu. In 1967, she was scrapped at Hualien, Formosa, now called Taiwan.[6][7]

Attack on the SS Baton Rouge Victory
Part of the Vietnam War
DateAugust 23, 1966
Location
Lòng Tàu River, 22 miles southeast of Saigon, South Vietnam
Result Viet Cong victory
Belligerents
Viet Cong United States
Commanders and leaders
Ho Xuan Canh Unknown
Units involved
10th Special Operations Group SS Baton Rouge Victory
Strength
20 commandos 1 freighter
Casualties and losses
None 1 freighter damaged
7 U.S. civilian employees killed.
Vietnam Service. American Merchant Seamen who made the supreme sacrifice. San Francisco, includes men from the SS Baton Rouge Victory

A S.S. Baton Rouge Victory Memorial Plaque was funded and built in 1990. The Vietnam Service Plaque is for American Merchant Seamen who made the supreme sacrifice, placed in San Francisco. The Plaque includes men from the SS Baton Rouge Victory.[8][9]

See also

References
  1. (in Vietnamese) Thanh Trà, "Đặc công đánh đắm tàu Baton Rouge Victory 10.000 tấn" Archived August 26, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Xã hội Thông tin, retrieved on 26-8-2014.
  2. Stephen Schwartz, "Remembering Vietnam's Forgotten Seamen", San Francisco Chronicle, October 20, 1997.
  3. Culver, John A., CAPT USNR "A time for Victories" United States Naval Institute Proceedings February 1977 pp. 50-56.
  4. Marolda, Edward (2015). Combat at Close Quarters Warfare on the Rivers and Canals of Vietnam (PDF). United States Navy Naval History and Heritage Command. p. 26. ISBN 9780945274735. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. Sherwood, John (2015). War in the shallows U.S. Navy coastal and riverine warfare in Vietnam 1965–1968 (PDF). United States Navy Naval History and Heritage Command. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-945274-76-6. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. www.mfoww.org History of The Marine Firemen's Union
  7. The Forgotten Heroes: The Heroic Story of the United States Merchant Marine, By Brian Herbert, page 256
  8. State of California, Department of Finance, S.S. Baton Rouge Victory Memorial Plaque
  9. State of California, Senate Bill No. 1651, CHAPTER 258, S.S. Baton Rouge Victory Memorial Plaque
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