February 1969. South Vietnam February Naval Gunfire Summary Report.

February 1969. February Naval Gunfire Summary Report. Enemy positions throughout South Vietnam came under attack from ships ot the U.S. Seventh Fleet. February's missions left 908 military structures and 435 bunkers destroyed or damaged. Ships ranging in size from the 800-ton minesweeper USS Leader to the 56,000-ton battleship USS New Jersey took part in the attacks, with the heaviest load of missions being carried by the New Jersey and the Fleet's destroyers. Two cruisers also joined in the shellings. The daily strikes also accounted for 34 enemy soldiers killed, 32 supply boats destroyed or damaged, 19 caves sealed up, 860 meters of trench-line destroyed, and five tunnel complexes collapsed. Forty-five secondary explosions and 22 sustained tires were ignited. One of the battleship New Jersey's missions was a coordinated strike against enemy troops that were threatening the U.S. outpost at Gio Linh just below the Demilitarized Zone. In company with the Coast Guard cutter Oswago, the New Jersey fired for six hours, in defense of the outpost. In other action by the New Jersey, enemy positions just below Da Nang took a five-day shelling from the 11th to the 15th of the month, as the battleship fired on troop concentrations and ammunition caches. Many fortified complexes there were destroyed by the New Jersey's guns. Air spotters listed a total of 67 structures and 52 bunkers destroyed or damaged. Also destroyed were six tunnels in an underground complex. Thirteen enemy soldiers died in the strikes. The heaviest single day of shelling by one ship came on 9 February when the destroyer USS Davis destroyed 60 military structures and three bunker at an enemy position 18 miles south of Da Hang. Even though February's naval gunfire statistics were highest of the year so far, poor weather in the early part ot the month prevented air spotters from assessing damage on many missions. [204]