I have written or edited a number of books and articles, and indeed my Ph.D dissertation at George Washington University, on the US Seventh Fleet’s involvement in the conflicts of the Cold War in Asia, including the Korean War and the Taiwan Strait crises of the 1950s. But I was especially intrigued about its major, ten-year combat experience during the Vietnam War, a watershed in modern American and indeed international history. My Ready Seapower: A History of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, published in 2012, included a chapter on Vietnam but I wanted to offer a more comprehensive, detailed look at the fleet’s overall contribution to the US and allied war effort. I wanted to reinforce the conclusion that seapower in general and the Seventh Fleet in particular played a major role in the strategy and conduct of the war in Southeast Asia. As a result of my previous scholarly endeavors and 40-year service with the US Naval Historical Center, I had developed an advanced understanding of the once highly classified but now accessible records of the modern US Navy. I had also come to know and record interviews with many veteran Seventh Fleet officers and enlisted sailors, whose insights on the conflict shed so much light on what strategies, tactics, leadership, ships, planes, and weapons worked—or didn’t work; of the fleet’s successes and failures in battle; of the lessons for the future of naval warfare and 21st century conflict. And on a personal basis as a Vietnam veteran, I wanted to honor the service of my fellow countrymen and women who fought for what they believed was a moral and worthy cause.   

In short, my US Seventh Fleet, Vietnam 1964–75 describes and interprets the Vietnam experience of America’s most renowned fighting fleet of modern times. Critical to that story was the strategic and operational direction of the fleet by the administrations of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon, and their involvement in the Rolling Thunder and Linebacker bombing campaigns against North Vietnam. The book also treats other significant subjects, including the aerial interdiction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, the mining of Haiphong harbor, and the naval bombardment, amphibious, counter-infiltration, and special operations in South Vietnam that helped defeat North Vietnam’s Nguyen Hue or Easter Offensive of 1972. The work pays particular attention to the mission and purpose of the fleet, its organization and composition, the operational and tactical approaches of its aircraft carrier, surface ship, submarine, and amphibious task forces, and its performance in combat from 1964 to 1975. It also provides a look at the characteristics of the fleet’s warships, aircraft and technology, and at the logistic ships that provided “underway replenishment” enabling the fleet to stay in the fight off Vietnam. A major focus of the book is also the influence of national and naval intelligence on Seventh Fleet operations, especially during the Gulf of Tonkin incident of August 1964 and the enemy’s effort to supply Viet Cong forces in South Vietnam by sea, especially through the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville.

It was my intention to credit the fleet’s accomplishments in battle and its major contribution to the war effort, but not shy away from examining its operational and tactical missteps, or problems with its leaders, ships, planes, and weapons. With a strong belief in the utility of non-textual information to improve understanding, I complemented the narrative with dramatic images from the Navy’s photo archives, as well as the Fleet series’ maps and trademark 3D diagrams. Text boxes discuss such subjects as combat search and rescue, the coastal interdiction of North Vietnam, and the fires on board carriers Oriskany (CVA-34), Forrestal (CVA-59), and Enterprise (CVAN-65) that killed hundreds of American sailors, destroyed aircraft, and took some ships off the line. Dramatic depictions by distinguished artist Adam Tooby of a nighttime naval battle in the Gulf of Tonkin, the destruction of North Vietnam’s famous “Dragon’s Jaw” bridge by future Admiral Leighton “Snuffy” Smith and his squadron mates, and gunfire support by destroyer Orleck (DD-886) during a Navy-Marine amphibious assault illuminate and grace the text. US Seventh Fleet, Vietnam 1964–75 presents a concise yet comprehensive look at one of the US Navy’s most significant combat experiences of the late 20th century.

You can order your copy of US Seventh Fleet, Vietnam 1964–75: American naval power in Southeast Asia here.