The Last Battle of the Vietnam War: Mayaguez Incident

The Last Battle of the Vietnam War: Mayaguez Incident

by Mike Benge

Two weeks after the fall of Saigon, on May 12, 1975, Khmer Rouge in an American-made PCF Swift gunboat seized the U.S. merchant ship SS Mayaguez and its crew in Cambodian waters. After the U.S. withdrawal from Viet Nam and the abandonment of the three countries of former Indochina, a number of conservative politicians and intellectuals in the United States had begun to question America’s “credibility” in the international field, suggesting that this would encourage enemies around the world to challenge America with seeming impunity. The Cambodian seizure of the Mayaguez appeared to be just such a challenge. President Gerald Ford denounced the seizure as an “act of piracy” and demanded immediate release of the ship.

President Ford, goaded by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believed that the ship’s seizure provided an opportunity for the United States “to prove that others will be worse off if they tackle us, and not that they can return to the status quo. It is not enough to get the ship’s release.” One Pentagon official told Newsweek at the time, “Henry Kissinger was determined to give the Khmer Rouge a bloody nose.” This in a way would be comparable to baseball’s traditional contemptuous gesture of kicking dirt on the umpire’s shoes after he had said, “You’re out of here!” They also wanted to avoid a repeat of the embarrassing Pueblo incident of 1968, where failure to promptly use military force to halt the capture of the U.S. intelligence ship by North Korea led to an eleven-month hostage situation.

On instructions from the President, Kissinger tried to send a message to the Chinese Liaison Office in Washington demanding the immediate release of Mayaguez and her crew; however, it was refused. Kissinger then instructed George H. W. Bush, head of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing, to deliver the note to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and to pass on an oral message that “The Government of the United States demands the immediate release of the vessel and of the full crew. If that release does not immediately take place, the authorities in Phnom Penh will be responsible for the consequences.”

The SS Mayaguez

The SS Mayaguez, owned by Sea-Land Service Inc., was the first all-container U.S. flag ship in foreign trade. Beginning in 1965, the SS Mayaguez sailed a regular route for Sea-Land Services in support of American forces in Southeast Asia: Hong Kong — Sattahip, Thailand — Singapore. On May 7, 1975, about a week after the fall of Saigon, the

Mayaguez left Hong Kong on a routine voyage carrying 107 containers of routine cargo, 77 containers of government and military cargo, and 90 empty containers — all insured for

$5 million. The exact contents of the 77 containers have never been disclosed, but the Mayaguez had loaded containers from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon just nine days before the fall of Saigon. There was speculation that some may have contained arms and ammunition. Nevertheless, during the entire incident the Khmer Rouge did not search the containers.

The crisis began on the afternoon of May 12, 1975, as the Mayaguez en route to Sattahip, Thailand, was allegedly sailing in a regular shipping lane in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the coast of Cambodia, and about 8 miles from the Poulo Wai Islands.

Poulo Wai Islands (aka Wai Islands), is a group of two small wooded and uninhabited islands in the Gulf of Siam located some 95 kilometres (59 miles) to the southwest of the coast of Preah Sihanouk Province, Cambodia. Poulo  Wai at times was claimed by Thailand, Cambodia, and Viet

Nam. The latest claimant and occupier were the Khmer Rouge. There were many small boats about.

Reportedly, the Mayaguez was within the 12 nautical miles of territorial-waters claimed by Cambodia. However, the U.S. did not recognize 12 nautical miles territorial waters claims at that time, recognizing only 3 nautical miles, and characterized the location as international sea lanes on the high seas.

A Shot across the BowSuddenly, a few American-made PCF Swift gunboats were seen coming from Poulo Wai towards the Mayaguez and at 14:18, a 76-mm shot was fired across her bow. Swift Boats manned by Khmer Rouge (KR) then swarmed the Mayaguez firing several machine gun rounds and a rocket-propelled grenade which was considered as warning shots.

The ship’s Captain, Charles T. Miller, had in its safe a U.S. government envelope only to be opened in special circumstances which he destroyed just before seizure.

According to U.S. military reports, the seizure took place six nautical miles off the island. Captain Miller heeded thewarning and at the same time sent out a MAYDAY message and then stopped the ship. Mayaguez‘s SOS and Mayday signals were picked up by a number of listeners including an employee of Delta Exploration Company in Jakarta, Indonesia, who notified the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. By 05:12 Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) the first news of the incident  reached  the  National  Military  Command  Center  (NMCC) 

Washington, D.C. Seven KR soldiers boarded the Mayaguez and their leader, Commander Sa Mean, pointed at a map indicating that the ship should proceed to the east of Poulo Wai. Sa Mean ordered Captain Miller to follow the swift boats  around  Koh  Tang  Island   to

Poulo Wai Island, 1.5 km north, where 20 more Khmer Rouge boarded the vessel. A U.S. P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft from Patrol Squadron 17 confirmed that the Mayaguez had been moved to Poulo Wai.

With a diplomatic solution appearing unlikely, on May 14, at 5:45 PM, President Ford ordered General David Jones, acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), to take military action against the Khmer Rouge. The JCS proposed to simultaneously send in the Marines to retake the Mayaguez and assault Koh Tang Island to free its crew (assuming that’s where were being held), and bomb the Kompong Som oil storage complex and Ream airfield using aircraft from the Coral Sea. However, it was recognized that this will be complicated by the uncertainty surrounding the location of Mayaguez‘s crew. “Intelligence reports” varied: some were still on the ship, some on Koh Tang and others were on the fishing boat bound for Kampong Som. Nonetheless, the President ordered military action, and the Marine Corps detachment at Subic Bay was given the assignment. They were to assault a ship at  sea — the first such maneuver since 1826. Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger then ordered the military to locate Mayaguez and prevent her movement to the Cambodian mainland, employingmunitions and tear