"We
reached Yokosuka, Japan in late September of 1965.
This would be our home base for the time we were in the Western
Pacific. We participated in operations
with surface ships for a few weeks. In
late November, we went down to the South China Sea and patrolled there for a
couple of weeks off the coast of Vietnam. Our assignment was Search and Rescue
(SAR) Operations. The U.S. had started
bombing North Vietnam in March in an operation known as Rolling Thunder. We were
there to pick up any pilots who may have been hit by anti-aircraft fire and
were able to bail out over the water. As
it turned out, we did not have the opportunity to retrieve any downed pilots
but were there in case we were needed.
At one point, we moved up into the Gulf of Tonkin and went in very close
to the mouth of Haiphong Harbor. Our
skipper said he could see Russian ships moving in and out of the harbor through the periscope."
