Charts showing the course of the DESOTO patrols off Vietnam in 1962-1964. DESOTO patrols (<b>De</b>Haven <b>S</b>pecial <b>O</b>perations off <b>T</b>singta<b>O</b>) were patrols conducted by U.S. Navy destroyers equipped with a mobile "van" of signals intelligence equipment used for intelligence collection in hostile waters. The destroyer USS <i>De Haven</i> (DD-727) is the namesake for these patrols. The <i>De Haven</i> performed the first patrol off the coast of China in April 1962. The first patrol to target North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin was the USS <i>Agerholm</i> (DD-826) in December 1962. The tactical purpose of the patrols in Vietnam was to intercept North Vietnamese Army intelligence and relay it to South Vietnamese Army forces. With the intercepted communications, the South Vietnamese were able to more effectively coordinate their raids. The destroyers taking part in the DESOTO patrols in Vietnam were accompanied by air support provided by an aircraft carrier. The DESOTO patrols were part of a larger scheme known as Operation 34A. Run by the U.S. Department of Defense at the time, Operation 34A, or "OPLAN 34Alpha" was a top secret program consisting primarily of covert actions against the North Vietnamese. These patrols were initially a response to the Chinese Communists' unexpected re-definition of their territorial waters to include all waters shoreward from lines drawn tangentially to, and between, twelve mile circles drawn around their offshore islands.
U.S. Navy
Official U.S. Navy photo <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/skunks-bogies-silent-hounds-flying-fish/_jcr_content/body/image.img.jpg/1422551245109.jpg">[1]</a> from the U.S. Navy <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.history.navy.mil">Naval History and Heritage Command</a>, article <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/skunks-bogies-silent-hounds-flying-fish.html"><i>Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish. The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2-4 August 1964</i> by Robert J. Hanyok</a>