Bordelon (DDR 881) - Naval Cruise Book

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' ' f .num or: i'uc31'g'ipi ,wus 4 . J.'...., I l' OPERATION SEA DRAGON Operation Sea Dragon, one of the most 1 t successful continuing operations of the Viet- nam conflict, tasks Seventh Fleet cruisers and destroyers with the destruction of North Vietnamese logistics craft, trucks convoys, storage areas, highway choke points, and coastal defense sites. For twenty-three days the BORDELON participated in Sea Dragon, cruising along the North Vietnamese coast- line, always on the alert for elusive WIBLICS blasting shore targets once or twice a day, halt- ing the southward flow of material and supplies, carrying the way to the enemy, The ship oper- ated first with the Australian guided missile destroyer HMAS PERTH, whose commanding of- ficer served as task unit commander, then with the USS HOEL fDDG 133 with their Commodore, 1 COMDESDIV 152, as unit commander. V, G 1' 'nu--, , ,.,., ! J HMAS PERTH QD 385 41

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-5- df -' '45 f'F?Q'?fJ2Q'4 pg F-I-if, sign ,fn 14, ., .- 30 APRIL - With BORDELON in plane guard station on a moonless and rainly mid-Watch, the KITTY HAWK's utility helicopter crashed into the sea five miles astern of the formation. The ship reversed course and was shortly on the scene, finding the helo gone but the four-man crew floating safely in a raft. Although three were injured, they were quickly and safely brought aboard, Where they spent the night and left by helo in the morning. ' 1:5-EW.7.?'5vF? 'f .M ., Sixteen lucky men saw Bob Hope and friends on the Coral Sea Fellow member of Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club. .QZXW A . ,, Q V: Cczff f f. za 'f f 4, r'7f' Jf 'V f .fm .,. X ,Life The morning after the night before. CORAL SEA QCVA -439 from plane guard station. . Y .- .....,,.... tm.. ,,,,,,,J RT

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- 4 lg , .V , .. , ,,...,,.. ..,,.,,,.,. -NV .. ,,-. Al.. lv- --.4.,,1, ,gg.,f.,-.:..-4...v. v.. . .- V. , .- A . Ywl. -Y MV-- LT, Duffield checks gun - target line. 25 JANUARY - During a combined sea- air mission against coastal defense sites in the Bay of Brandon, an A-4 jet aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and the pilot ejected, landing in the water five miles from shore. BORDE LON remained on the scene to provide suppression fire during the helicopter rescue of the pilot. 31 JANUARY - While patrolling the North Vietnamese coastline on a foggy morning, a strange radar contact appeared. Moving in to The whaleboat . . . 42 investigate, theicrew at general quarters, BORDELON discovered an apparently lost U.S. Army landing craft moving toward the enemy shore. After ensuring that it was not a trap fonly a few days after the PUEBLO incidentb, the craft was escorted away from the coast where a boarding party was sent over in the whaleboat to investigate. After giving the lost and hungry eleven-man crew box lunches, BORDELON and PERTH escorted the craft south to the DMZ and safety, . . . makes the LC U.