Volunteers from USNS Greenville
Victory [photos from Sealift]
The volunteers were briefed
at 11 PM and at midnight were aboard an Air Force C-141 on their way to
Utapao Air Base in Thailand where 1,100 Marines landed after flights from
the Philippines and Okinawa. U.S. Air Force planes sank three Cambodian
gunboats to prevent their taking Mayaguez crew to the mainland.
The Marines showed the MSC
mariners photos of the Mayaguez and discussed plans to retake the ship.
First Officer Harriman told the Marines they could have the ship under
way within 2 to 6 hours after boarding -- if nothing was damaged.
In a three pronged attack:
- Marines were to overpower
Cambodian soldiers believed to be aboard the Mayaguez, allowing the
MSC crewmen to prepare and sail the ship to safety.
- Marines in helicopters were
to make an amphibious assault on Kaoh Tang island.
- Navy aircraft from the carrier
USS Coral Sea were to strike military targets in the mainland
Kompong Som area.
Just before boarding the SS Mayaguez, USNS Greenville Victory First Officer
Clinton Harriman (left) Second Engr. Michael Saltwick (right) discuss
the boarding operation with USS Holt skipper Cmdr. Robert Peterson (center)
[U.S. Navy photo from Sealift]
At 3 AM on May 15, the Marines,
an Army linguist, 6 volunteer USAF bomb disposal experts, 6 sailors from
USS Duluth, and the 6 MSC mariners boarded 3 helicopters bound for the
USS Harold E. Holt, which was to provide a boarding platform for
the assault. The CH-53s were too big for the Holt's helicopter pad, so
the men in one helicopter clambered down rope ladders; others went down
the cargo ramp as the helicopters touched down only their rear wheels.
USS Harold E. Holt alongside the SS Mayaguez [U.S. Navy
photo from Sealift]
Boarding the SS Mayaguez
Air Force planes dropped tear gas on the Mayaguez in advance of the boarding.
USS Holt maneuvered alongside and 48 Marines stormed over the side like
swashbuckling pirates. They found no one aboard.
About 8 AM the MSC mariners,
wearing gas masks, boarded the Mayaguez . Within 5 minutes, they had the
emergency diesel generator running. At 8:20 AM the Marines raised the
American flag
.
Marines wearing gas masks board the SS Mayaguez [U.S. Navy photo from
Sealift]
Marines raised the American flag [U.S. Navy photo from Sealift]
The volunteers hauled out tow
lines and cut the anchor chain with an acetylene torch. At 10:45 AM, USS
Holt began her tow, while MSC engineers worked to get steam up.
Release of the Mayaguez
crew
About that time, a Thai fishing boat approached the USS Wilson
which was off Kaoh Tang island supporting the amphibious assault.
Aboard the boat, which was captured by the Cambodians a few days earlier,
was a Thai crew and the 39 men of the Mayaguez. They had been set free
by their captors after being moved earlier in the day to Kompong Som in
a small Cambodian gunboat. They had then been moved again to tiny Kach
Island and had been freed there.
At noon, all Mayaguez crewmen
were back aboard their own ship. The volunteers continued to assist until
7:30 PM, when they climbed into an Army tug boat and then were flown to
the MSC office in Sattahip.
Marine Assault on Kaoh Tang
Meanwhile, on the northern tip of Kaoh Tang, the marine assault
force arriving at 6 AM on the east and west beaches met heavy fire. Khmer
Rouge held their fire until the CH-53 helicopters were close in. Machine
guns, mortars, and rocket propelled grenade launchers devastated the helicopters.
At 7:30 AM only 109 of the planned 180 marines were on the island in 3
separate locations, with Khmer Rouge infantry entrenched in bunkers in
the 1000 feet of jungle between them. A-7D Corsairs provided cover, but
the Mayaguez crew was thought to be in a building directly by the gun
emplacements.
At 11:30 AM, 100 more marines
landed. The plan called for 250 marines in the second wave, but by then
there were only 4 helicopters available. Then word came of the safe arrival
of the Mayaguez crew on the USS Wilson and the marines planned their withdrawal.
Khmer reinforcements coming in from the south were stopped by 15,000 pound
BLU-82 bombs.
After the last helicopter left
around 8 PM, a head count showed 3 marines were left behind on the island.
In 1999, Department of Defense investigators found evidence to indicate
one of the Marines was killed a few days later while trying to steal food
from the Khmer Rouge. The other two were captured within a few days, executed,
and buried on Kaoh Tang island.
The final U.S. tally for the
assault:
