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US Navy - Guided Missile Cruiser CG 66 - USS Hue City |
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| 09/24 | ||
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Type,
class: Guided Missile Cruiser (CG); Ticonderoga
class Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA STATUS: Awarded: April 16, 1987 Laid down: February 20, 1989 Launched: June 1, 1990 Commissioned: September 14, 1991 Decommissioned: September 23, 2022 Fate: laid up at Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Namesake: the Battle of Hue City, South Vietnam, 1968 Ships Motto: FIDELITY - COURAGE - HONOR Technical Data: see: INFO > Ticonderoga class Guided Missile Cruiser - CG |
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 decommissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia - September 23, 2022  Mayport, Florida - October 2019  Fleet Week Port Everglades, Florida - April 2019  Atlantic Ocean - March 2019  Atlantic Ocean - March 2019  departing Naval Station Mayport, Florida - September 2018  returning to Naval Station Mayport, Florida - August 2017  returning to Naval Station Mayport, Florida - August 2017  Exercise Sea Breeze 17 - Black Sea - July 2017  Exercise Sea Breeze 17 - Black Sea - July 2017  Odesa, Ukraine - July 2017  Odesa, Ukraine - July 2017  Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Crete, Greece - June 2017  Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Crete, Greece - June 2017  Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Crete, Greece - June 2017  off Djibouti - May 2017  5th Fleet AOR - April 2017  5th Fleet AOR - April 2017  Mk.45 gun fire exercise - 5th Fleet AOR - April 2017  5th Fleet AOR - March 2017  Tallinn, Estonia - February 2017  Tallinn, Estonia - February 2017  Mk.141 tube-launcher for RGM-84 Harpoon SSM missiles - Tallinn, Estonia - February 2017  Mk.15 Phalanx CIWS fire exercise - Atlantic Ocean - January 2017  Naval Station Mayport, Florida - October 2016  Atlantic Ocean - September 2016  Naval Station Mayport, Florida - November 2014  returning to Naval Station Mayport, Florida - April 2014  returning to Naval Station Mayport, Florida - July 2013  returning to Naval Station Mayport, Florida - July 2013  Mediterranean Sea - June 2013  Arabian Sea - April 2013  Arabian Sea - March 2013  Suez Canal - March 2013  combat information center (CIC) - Alicante, Spain - March 2013  departing Naval Station Mayport, Florida - February 2013  Atlantic Ocean - December 2012  Arabian Sea - October 2012  Mk.15 Phalanx CIWS fire exercise - Arabian Sea - October 2012  Arabian Sea - September 2012  Atlantic Ocean - June 2012  Atlantic Ocean - June 2012  Atlantic Ocean - June 2012  Atlantic Ocean - May 2012  Atlantic Ocean - May 2012  Gulf of Oman - February 2010  Mediterranean Sea - January 2010  gas turbine control console - Mediterranean Sea - January 2010  Mediterranean Sea - May 2008  Fleet Week New York - May 2007  Fleet Week New York - May 2007  Atlantic Ocean - April 2007  Atlantic Ocean - April 2007  Naval Station Mayport, Florida - October 2006  Mk.41 vertical launching system (VLS) maintenance - Naval Station Mayport, Florida - July 2005  Naval Station Mayport, Florida - February 2005  Stavanger, Norway - October 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Trieste, Italy - September 2004  2 x SH-60B Seahawk from HSL-48 aboard - Trieste, Italy - September 2004  Operation Enduring Freedom - September 2003  returning to Naval Station Mayport, Florida - August 2002  Operation Enduring Freedom - April 2002  New York - July 2000  Atlantic Ocean - December 1993  Atlantic Ocean - December 1993  Mayport, Florida - February 1992  sea trials - Gulf of Mexico - June 1991  sea trials - Gulf of Mexico - June 1991  sea trials - Gulf of Mexico - June 1991  sea trials - Gulf of Mexico - June 1991  sea trials - Gulf of Mexico - June 1991  sea trials - Gulf of Mexico - June 1991 
 sea trials - Gulf of Mexico - June 1991 |
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USS Hué City (CG 66): USS HUE CITY is the fourteenth cruiser in the TICONDEROGA class to be built by Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her keel was laid on 20 February 1989. She was floated on 1 June 1990 and christened on 21 July 1991 by her sponsor, Mrs. Jo Ann Cheatham, the wife of Lieutenant General Earnest C. Cheatham, Jr., USMC (Ret.). HUE CITY’s standard is the flag of the United States Marine Corps, in addition to the national ensign and the flag of the United States Navy. HUE CITY sailed on 11 March 1993 for her maiden deployment to the Mediterranean Sea as Air Warfare Commander for the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) battle group. Principally operating in the Adriatic Sea, HUE CITY developed the air picture and transmitted it to command centers afloat and ashore. HUE CITY also monitored the safety of United Nations relief flights to Bosnia, ensuring Serbian aircraft did not violate no-fly zones. While conducting refresher training near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in April 1994 HUE CITY was directed to serve as Destroyer Squadron 22 flagship in support of United Nations sanctions against Haiti. Later that year HUE CITY conducted counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea. HUE CITY sailed for her second deployment 22 March 1995 with the THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) battle group, again as Air Warfare Commander. HUE CITY took station in the Red Sea, where she provided air coverage and support to the Combat Air Patrols enforcing the no-fly zone in southern Iraq. HUE CITY sailed for the Baltic Sea on 24 May 1996 to participate in operations involving forty-eight ships from thirteen nations. The operations focused on tracking air, surface and subsurface targets in a multinational task force. HUE CITY deployed on 29 April 1997 to the Mediterranean Sea as Air Warfare Commander for the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) battle group. HUE CITY operated in the Adriatic Sea, overseeing all air activity in support of naval operations. Early in 1998 HUE CITY received Cooperative Engagement Capability. This capability represents the leading edge of air warfare, enabling HUE CITY to launch a missile against an enemy target that is being tracked by another vessel. CG 66 sailed again for the Baltic Sea in May 1999 to participate in BALTOPS ’99 and on 19 June she departed to return to Mayport, Fla. after a four-day port visit in Kiel, Germany. USS HUE CITY took part in the Carribean Phase Task Group of the 41st annual UNITAS Naval exercise, as the flagship. The Caribbean Phase, hosted by the U.S. Navy, commenced March 19, 2000 with a multi-national task force port visit to Cartagena including four U.S. ships. This phase ended April 10th with a port visit to Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. It marked the first time in the history of UNITAS that three separate phases, formerly hosted by the U.S., Colombian and Venezuelan Navies, were being combined into one larger and more complex phase. The following year, Colombia was to host the Caribbean Phase, with rotation of host-nation responsibilities going to Venezuela the following year. USS HUE CITY took part in International Naval Review on July 4, 2000 in New York Harbor, and then Sail Boston 2000. As part of the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73) Carrier Battle Group (CVBG), and in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, USS HUE CITY set sail in support of defense and humanitarian efforts off the coast of New York. Ships and aircraft of the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) Carrier Battle Group (CVBG) commenced use of the Vieques Island inner range beginning Sept. 24, 2001 in conjunction with their Composite Unit Training Exercises (COMPUTEX). The exercise, which began the week prior, also utilized the northern and southern Puerto Rican operating areas, and involved complex battle group training events, naval surface fire-support training and air-to-ground bombing. USS HUE CITY then took part in Underway No. 10", one in a series of tests leading to the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) Operation Evaluation (OPEVAL) scheduled for Spring 2001. The CEC system provides the capability to cooperatively engage targets by a warship using data from other CEC-equipped ships, aircraft, and land-based sensors, even in an electronic-jamming environment. It also provides a common, consistent and highly accurate air picture, allowing battle group defenses to act as one seamless system. The test, off Wallops Island, VA, simulated missile firings from some of the Navy's most technically advanced ships against unmanned drones. As part of the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) Battle Group (CVBG), USS HUE CITY took part Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX) 02-1, with Phase I of the exercise running from January 19 through 26, 2002 and Phase II running February 7-14, 2002. In March 2002, USS HUE CITY was part of the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) Carrier Battle Group at it relieved the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) Carrier Battle Group, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In May 2002, during a three-day Naval Gun Fire Support (NGFS) exercise off the coast of Djibouti, Africa, USS HUE CITY fired hundreds of 5-inch rounds in support of Marine Expeditionary Unit Exercise 2002 (MEUEX '02) more than 60 targets that included tanks, bunkers, and various military vehicles. HUE CITY joined the WASP Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to conduct this first of its kind exercise in this little-known region of northeast Africa. Prior to 2014, she successfully completed consecutive deployments to the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea. On 14 April 2014, Monday evening, a fire broke out at just after 6:20 p.m. local time while Hué City was steaming about 200 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda. The crew fought and defeated a major fire in one of the main engineering spaces without suffering any injuries. The ship's executive officer was relieved by the head of Carrier Strike Group 8 in June 2014 for "failing to ensure his crew properly stowed hazardous materials" which subsequently caught fire. According to the investigation report, bales of rags caught fire after they had been improperly stored in an exhaust uptake trunk. The fire caused over $23 million in damage and required over 9 months of repairs. It also caused Hué City to miss the planned deployment to Europe. In December 2020 the U.S. Navy's Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels stated that the ship was planned to be placed Out of Commission in Reserve in 2022. Hué City has received the following awards: Meritorious Unit Commendation, as part of TG 20.15 from 8 May 2000 to 14 May 2001 Meritorious Unit Commendation, as part of TF 60 from 1 April 2002 to 30 September 2002 Meritorious Unit Commendation, as part of COMCARSTRKGRU 8 from 1 October 2011 to 3 July 2013 Armed Forces Service Medal for a number of periods relating to Bosnia from March to July 1993, June to September 1995 and June to August 1997. Navy E Ribbon, 13 awards. 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. |
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About the Battle of Hué City,
South Vietnam - 1968: The Battle of Hué during 1968, was one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the Vietnam War (1960-1975). The Army of the Republic of Vietnam and three understrength U.S. Marine Corps battalions attacked and defeated more than 10,000 entrenched People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, also known as, Viet Cong) guerilla forces. Background With the beginning of the Tet Offensive on January 30, 1968, the Vietnamese lunar New Year, American forces had been committed to combat upon Vietnamese soil for almost three years. Highway One passed through Hué and over the Perfume River (the river ran through the city dividing it into both northern and southern areas) creating an important supply line from the coastal city of Da Nang to the DMZ for the Allied forces. Hué was also a base for United States Navy supply boats. The city, considering its value and its distance from the DMZ (only 50 miles), should have therefore been well-defended, fortified, and prepared for the communist offensive. However, it was actually poorly defended and unprepared because the Allied forces expected that the North Vietnamese army and Viet Cong would respect the Tet truce. During the Tet, which is an important holiday celebrated in Vietnam, the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army launched a massive assault on South Vietnam, attacking hundreds of military targets and population centers across the country, among them the city of Hué. The Tet Offensive began on January 31, 1968. The Battle Attack In the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, a division-sized force of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) soldiers launched a coordinated attack on the city of Hué. Their targets were the Tay Loc airfield at 16°28′35″N 107°34′7.8″E / 16.47639°N 107.568833°E (Tay Loc) and the 1st ARVN Division headquarters in the Citadel, and the Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV) compound in the New City on the south side of the river. Their strategic objective was to "liberate" the entire city to help sweep the Communist insurgents into power. At 02:33, a signal flare lit up the night sky and two battalions from the NVA Sixth Regiment attacked the western bank of the fortress-like Citadel on the northern side of the city. Their objective was to capture the Mang Cu Compound, the Tac Loc Airfield, and the Imperial Palace. A simultaneous attack by the NVA Fourth Regiment was also launched on Hué's headquarters of the U.S. MACV Compound in the southern part of Hué. At the Western Gate of the Citadel, a four-man North Vietnamese sapper team, dressed in South Vietnamese Army uniforms, killed the guards and opened the gate. Upon their flashlight signals, lead elements of the 6th NVA entered the old city. North Vietnamese regulars poured into the old imperial capital.' The 800th and 802d Battalions pushed through the Western Gate and then drove north. On the Tay Loc airfield, the 'Black Panther' Company, reinforced by the division's 1st Ordnance Company, stopped the 800th Battalion. Although the enemy battle account stated that the South Vietnamese 'offered no strong resistance,' the NVA report acknowledged 'the heavy enemy ARVN fire enveloped the entire airfield. By dawn, our troops were still unable to advance.' While the fighting for the airfield continued to seesaw with first the ARVN having the upper hand and then the Communists, the 802d Battalion struck the 1st Division headquarters at Mang Ca. Although the enemy battalion penetrated the division compound, an ad hoc 200-man defensive force of staff officers and clerks staved off the enemy assaults. General Truong called back most of his Black Panther Company from the airfield to bolster the headquarters defenses, which kept division headquarters secure. At 0800, North Vietnamese troops raised the red and blue Viet Cong banner with its gold star over the Citadel flag tower. Three United States Marine Corps battalions were protecting the air base at Phu Bai (approximately ten miles southeast of Hué), Highway One and all western entrances to Hué, when there should have been two complete regiments. The Commanding Officer of the Marines in Hué was Colonel Stanley S, Hughes, a veteran of World War II and the Korean War who had already been awarded the Navy Cross and Silver Star for action in WWII and was eventually awarded his second Navy Cross for Hue City. ARVN reinforcements In the citadel, on February 1, the embattled General Truong called in reinforcements. He ordered his 3rd Regiment; the 3rd Troop, 7th ARVN Cavalry; and the 1st ARVN Airborne Task Force to relieve the pressure on his Mang Ca headquarters. Responding to the call at PK 17, the ARVN base located near a road marker on Route l, 17 kilometers north of Huế, the 3rd Troop and the 7th Battalion of the Airborne task force rolled out of their base area in an armored convoy onto Route l. A North Vietnamese blocking force stopped the ARVN relief force about 400 meters short of the Citadel wall. Unable to force their way through the enemy positions, the South Vietnamese paratroopers asked for assistance. The 2nd ARVN Airborne Battalion reinforced the convoy and the South Vietnamese finally penetrated the lines and entered the Citadel in the early morning hours of the next day. The cost had been heavy: the ARVN suffered 131 casualties including 40 dead, and lost four of the 12 armored personnel carriers in the convoy. According to the South Vietnamese, the enemy also paid a steep price in men and equipment. The ARVN claimed to have killed 250 of the NVA, captured five prisoners, and recovered 71 individual and 25 crew-served weapons. The 3rd ARVN Regiment had an even more difficult time. On the 31st, two of its battalions, the 2nd and 3rd, advanced east from encampments southwest of the city along the northern bank of the Perfume River, but North Vietnamese defensive fires forced them to fall back. Unable to enter the Citadel, the two battalions established their night positions outside the southeast wall of the old City. Enemy forces surrounded the 1st and 4th Battalions of the regiment, operating to the southeast, as they attempted to reinforce the units in Huế. Captain Phan Ngoc Luong, the commander of the 1st Battalion, retreated with his unit to the coastal Ba Long outpost, arriving there with only three clips per man for their World War II vintage M1 rifles.* At Ba Long, the battalion then embarked upon motorized junks and reached the Citadel the following day. The 4th Battalion, however, remained unable to break its encirclement for several days. South of the city, on January 31, Lieutenant Colonel Phan Huu Chi, the commander of the ARVN 7th Armored Cavalry Squadron attempted to break the enemy stranglehold. He led an armored column toward Huế, but like the other South Vietnamese units, found it impossible to break through. With the promise of U.S. Marine reinforcements, Chi's column, with three tanks in the lead, tried once more. This time they crossed the An Cuu Bridge into the new city. Coming upon the central police headquarters in southern Huế, the tanks attempted to relieve the police defenders. When an enemy B-40 rocket made a direct hit upon Lieutenant Colonel Chi's tank, killing him instantly, the South Vietnamese armor pulled back. After this the Marines at Phu Bai were called and the first U.S. Marines to bolster the South Vietnamese in the city were on their way. They were from the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, part of Task Force X-Ray. U.S. Marines On the night of January 30-January 31, the same time the North Vietnamese struck Huế, the Marines faced rocket and mortar fire at the Phu Bai airstrip and Communist infantry units hit Marine Combined Action Platoons and local PF and RF units in the region including the Truoi River and Phu Loc sectors. At the key Truoi River Bridge, about 0400 a North Vietnamese company attacked the South Vietnamese bridge security detachment and the nearby Combined Action Platoon H-8. Colonel Hughes ordered Captain G. Ronald Christmas, the Company H commander to relieve the embattled CAP unit. The Marines caught the enemy force beginning to withdraw from the CAP enclave and took it under fire. Seeing an opportunity to trap the North Vietnamese, Cheatham reinforced Company H with his Command Group and Company F. With his other companies in blocking positions, Cheatham hoped to catch the enemy against the Truoi River. While inflicting casualties, the events in Huế were to interfere with his plans. At 1030, January 31, Company G departed for Phu Bai as the Task Force reserve. Later that afternoon, the battalion lost operational control of Company F. Captain Downs years later remembered the company "disengaged . .. where we had them pinned up against a river, moved to the river and trucked into Phu Bai." With the departure of Company F about 1630, the NVA successfully disengaged and Companies H and E took up night defensive positions. According to the Marines, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines (2/5) killed 18 enemy troops, took 1 prisoner, and recovered sundry equipment and weapons including 6 AK-47s, at a cost of three Marines killed and 13 wounded. While the fighting continued in the Truoi River and the Phu Loc sectors, the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines had begun to move into Hue city. In the early morning hours of January 31 after the rocket bombardment of the airfield and the initial attack on the Truoi River Bridge, Task Force X-Ray received reports of enemy strikes all along Route l between the Hai Van Pass and Hue. All told, the enemy hit some 18 targets from bridges, Combined Action units, and company defensive positions. With Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines as the Phu Bai reserve, Colonel Hughes directed Lieutenant Colonel Gravel to stage the company for any contingency. At 0630, Colonel Hughes ordered the company to reinforce the Truoi River Bridge. All Captain Batcheller recalled several years later was that "we were rousted up about 0400 on the 31st and launched south on trucks to rendezvous with and reinforce ARVN forces about a map sheet and a half south of Phu Bai." Up to this point the fighting for Hue had been entirely a South Vietnamese affair. General LaHue, the Task Force X-Ray commander, actually had very little reliable intelligence on the situation. All he knew was that Truong's headquarters had been under attack, as was the MACV compound. Because of enemy mortaring of the LCU ramp in southern Hue, the allies had stopped all river traffic to the city. As LaHue later wrote: "Initial deployment of forces was made with limited information." As the Marines approached the southern suburbs of the city, they began to come under increased sniper fire. In one village, the troops dismounted and cleared the houses on either side of the main street before proceeding. The Marine convoy stopped several times to eliminate resistance in heavy house-to-house and street fighting before proceeding again. At about 1515 after bloody fighting the Marines managed to make their way toward the MACV compound. By this time, the enemy attackers had pulled back their forces from the immediate vicinity of the compound. Lieutenant Colonel Gravel met with Army Colonel George O. Adkisson, the U.S. senior advisor to the 1 st ARVN Division. Leaving Company A behind to secure the MACV compound, the Marine battalion commander took Company G, reinforced by the three tanks from the 3d Tank Battalion and a few South Vietnamese tanks from the ARVN 7th Armored Squadron, and attempted to cross the main bridge over the Perfume River. Gravel left the armor behind on the southern bank to provide direct fire support. As he remembered, the American M48s were too heavy for the bridge and the South Vietnamese tankers in light M24 tanks "refused to go." As the Marine infantry started across, an enemy machine gun on the other end of the bridge opened up, killing and wounding several Marines. One Marine, Lance Corporal Lester A. Tully, later awarded the Silver Star for his action, ran forward, threw a grenade, and silenced the gun. Two platoons successfully made their way to the other side. They turned left and immediately came under automatic weapons and recoilless rifle fire from the Citadel wall. The Marines decided to withdraw. This was easier said than done. The enemy was well dug-in and firing from virtually every building in Hue city north of the river. The number of wounded was rising, the Marines commandeered some abandoned Vietnamese civilian vehicles and used them as makeshift ambulances to carry out the wounded. Among the casualties on the bridge was Major Walter M. Murphy, the 1st Battalion S-3 or operations officer, who later died of his wounds. By 20:00, the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines had established defensive positions near the MACV compound and a helicopter landing zone in a field just west of the Navy LCU Ramp in southern Hue. On that first day, the two Marine companies in Hue had sustained casualties of 10 Marines killed and 56 wounded. During the night, the battalion called in a helicopter into the landing zone to take out the worst of the wounded. The American command still had little realization of the situation in Hue. Counter-attack The next morning at 0700, Gravel launched a two-company assault supported by tanks towards the jail and provincial building. The Marines did not progress further than one block before they came under sniper fire. A tank was knocked out by a 57 mm recoilless rifle. After that the attack was stopped and the battalion returned to the MACV compound. North of the Perfume River, on the 1st, the 1st ARVN Division enjoyed some limited success. Although the 2d and 3d Battalions of the 3d ARVN Regiment remained outside of the Citadel walls unable to penetrate the NVA defenses, the 2d and 7th Airborne Battalions, supported by armored personnel carriers and the Black Panther Company, recaptured the Tay Loc airfield. About 1500, the 1st Battalion, 3d ARVN reached the 1st ARVN command post at the Mang Ca compound. Later that day, U.S. Marine helicopters from HMM-165 brought part of the 4th Battalion, 2d ARVN Regiment from Dong Ha into the Citadel. One of the pilots, Captain Denis M. Duna-gan, remembered that the call for an emergency trooplift came in about 1400. Eight CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters made the flight in marginal weather with a 200-500 foot ceiling and one mile visibility, arriving in an improvised landing zone under enemy mortar fire. The deteriorating weather forced the squadron to cancel the remaining lifts with about one-half of the battalion in the Citadel. Shortly after 1500 Company F, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines made a helicopter landing into southern Hue. They were to relieve a MACV communications facility surrounded by a VC force. The company spent the better part of the afternoon trying to reach the isolated United States Army Signal Corps troops and never made it. The company sustained casualties of 3 dead and 13 wounded. Breakout On February 1, General Cushman alerted the 1st Air Cavalry commander, Major General John J.Tolson, to be ready to deploy his 3d Brigade into a sector west of Hue. By 2215 that night, Tolson's command had asked III MAF to coordinate with I Corps and Task Force X-Ray its designated area of operations in the Hue sector. Tolson's plan called for an air assault by two battalions of the 3d Brigade northwest of Hue. The 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry was to arrive in the landing zone first, followed by the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry to be inserted near PK-17. Attacking in a southeasterly direction, the two battalions would then attempt to close the enemy supply line into Hue. Under difficult circumstances, the 'First Team' began its movement into the Hue area. In mid-afternoon on the 2d, the 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry arrived in a landing zone about 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Hue and then pushed towards the city.' In southern Hue, on February 2, the Marines made some minor headway and brought in further reinforcements. The 1st Battalion finally relieved the MACV radio facility that morning and later, after a three-hour fire fight, reached the Hue University campus.' Although the NVA, during the night, had dropped the railroad bridge across the Perfume River west of the city, they left untouched the bridge across the Phu Cam Canal. About 1100, Company H, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, commanded by Captain G. Ronald Christmas, crossed the An Cuu Bridge over the canal in a 'Rough Rider' armed convoy. As the convoy, accompanied by Army trucks equipped with quad .50-caliber machine guns and two Ontos, entered the city, enemy snipers opened up on the Marine reinforcements. Near the MACV compound, the Marines came under heavy enemy machine gun and rocket fire. The Army gunners with their 'quad .50s' and the Marine Ontos, each with six 106 mm recoilless rifles, quickly responded. In the resulting confusion, the convoy exchanged fire with a Marine unit already in the city. About mid-day, the NVA, continued to block any advance to the south. An enemy 75 mm recoilless rifle knocked out one of the supporting tanks. By the end ot the day, the Marines had sustained 2 dead and 34 wounded and claimed to have killed nearly 140 of the enemy. The battalion consolidated its night defensive positions and waited to renew its attack on the following day. Battle for the Citadel Heavy street fighting followed the Marines all the way through the city for more than three weeks. Marines of the 1st and 5th Regiments, fighting alongside the Army of the Republic of Vietnam’s 1st Division, and also supported by U.S. Army 7th and 12th Cavalry Regiments drove the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces out of Hue little by little and retook the city one block at a time. Many of the Marines had little or no urban combat experience, and the US troops were not trained for urban close-quarters combat, so this battle was especially tough for them. Due to Hue's religious and cultural status, Allied forces were ordered not to bomb or shell the city, for fear of destroying the historic structures. Also, since it was monsoon season, it was virtually impossible for the U.S. forces to use air support. But as the intensity of the battle increased, the policy was eliminated. The communist forces were constantly using snipers, hidden inside buildings or in small holes, and prepared makeshift machine gun bunkers. They organised local counterattacks and, during the night, they prepared explosive booby traps. Sometimes booby traps were even placed under dead bodies. Finally it was only down to the Citadel and the Imperial Palace which was in the center of it. American A-4 Skyhawks dropped bombs and napalm on the Citadel. The Marines raised an American flag but shortly thereafter were ordered to lower it, for in accordance with South Vietnamese law, no US flag was permitted to be flown without an accompanying South Vietnamese flag. The Marines objected to this law and threatened to shoot a few American Army officers who were instructed to take down the flag, but eventually took it down themselves under an order from their superior officer. On February 24, 1968, the Imperial Palace in the center of the Citadel was secured and the elite Black Panther Company of the First South Vietnamese Division tore down the NVA's flag, which had flown since the battle's start on January 31. A few days later the NVA withdrew from the city completely. Aftermath The Communist forces suffered heavy losses in this battle, losing 5,133 men at Hue; about 3,000 more were estimated to be killed outside of the city (according to MACV). 80% of the city was destroyed by American firepower. There was also a large civilian death toll, mostly due to the massacres by Vietnamese Communist forces of the civilian population of the city during their one month control of the city. In the battle's aftermath, South Vietnamese and American soldiers unearthed numerous shallow mass graves inside the city and on its outskirts containing the bodies of approximately 2,800 people killed by the NVA and VC and their systematic way of eliminating those who were considered as a threat to Communist victory, although it has been stated that a South Vietnamese intelligence unit may have killed some of these victims who were said to have aided the enemy. Militarily, Hue was an Allied victory, because the NVA and VC forces (ultimately numbering about 12,000, more than a full division) were driven from the city paying heavy price for their offensive, but from the opinion of the American public, Hue was the beginning of the end. Marine Captain Myron Harrington who commanded a one-hundred-man company during the battle: "Did we have to destroy the town in order to save it"? From this time forward, American support for the war in Vietnam declined, and during the next five years American involvement slowly but steadily decreased until 1975 when the last American troops left Vietnam. |
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