Operation Thunderhead
Encyclopedia
Operation Thunderhead was a highly classified combat mission conducted by U.S. Navy SEAL
Team One and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT)
-11 in 1972. The mission was conducted off the coast of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War to rescue two U.S. airmen said to be escaping from a prisoner of war prison in Hanoi. The prisoners, including Air Force Colonel John A. Dramesi
were planning to steal a boat and travel down the Red River to the Gulf of Tonkin
.
Lieutenant (Lt.) Melvin Spence Dry was killed on the mission. He was the last SEAL lost during the Vietnam War. His father, retired Navy Captain Melvin H. Dry, spent the rest of his life trying to learn the circumstances surrounding his son's death. The details, however, were long shrouded in secrecy.
in the amphibious-transport submarine USS Grayback (LPSS-574)
. The plan was to launch the team at night from the submerged submarine in a Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV)
piloted by two UDT-11 operators and head for a small island off the mouth of the Red River.
On 3 June 1972, Lieutenant Dry decided to conduct a clandestine reconnaissance mission that night. Shortly after midnight the team launched from the Grayback but a combination of navigation errors and strong current took them off course. After an hour, the crew was compelled to abort the mission. They were unable to locate the Grayback and they were forced to scuttle their underpowered SDV after its battery power was exhausted.
The next morning, the team was rescued a few miles off the coast. The four men were flown to the USS Long Beach
, Operation Thunderhead's command ship.
At 2300 hours on 5 June, the men were to be transported back to the Grayback by helicopter. The team would perform a night water drop next to the submarine. During briefings with the pilots, Lt. Dry and Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Martin emphasized the maximum limits for the drop were 20/20-- 20 feet of altitude at an airspeed of 20 knots, or an equivalent combination.
When the helicopter arrived near the Graybacks expected position, they could not locate the submarine. As they desperately searched for the submarine's beacon, Lt. Dry and his men prepared to enter the water and lock-in to the submerged submarine.
According to CWO Martin, the drop was conducted downwind, adding another 15 to 20 knots of forward velocity when the jumpers hit the water. Lt. Dry died immediately of "severe trauma to the neck" caused by impact with the water, according to the Navy's death report. Two other team members were badly shaken, and one was seriously injured.
Several hours earlier, the Grayback launched its second SDV but the team abandoned their mission when their air ran out; subsequently, they made an emergency free ascent to the surface. After seeing a strobe light and hearing voices, the two teams rendezvoused.
At about 0100, they found Lt. Dry's lifeless body, inflated his life vest, and held him in tow as they swam seaward to be rescued. An HC-7 helicopter rescued the men at dawn and returned them to the Long Beach.
On 12 June, the remaining team members were transferred back to the Grayback. With the likelihood of a successful prisoner escape by sea lessened by the recent U.S. mining of North Vietnam's ports and rivers, Operation Thunderhead was soon terminated.
Because the mission was classified, the Navy did not acknowledge Dry's death as a combat loss until February 2008, when he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for Valor.
Seal
Seal commonly refers to:* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals many of which are commonly called seals* Seal , a device which helps prevent leakage, contain pressure, or exclude contamination where two systems join...
Team One and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT)
Underwater Demolition Team
The Underwater Demolition Teams were an elite special-purpose force established by the United States Navy during World War II. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War...
-11 in 1972. The mission was conducted off the coast of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War to rescue two U.S. airmen said to be escaping from a prisoner of war prison in Hanoi. The prisoners, including Air Force Colonel John A. Dramesi
John A. Dramesi
Colonel John Arthur Dramesi is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who was held as a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Dramesi is one of the very few captives who never broke under torture. He was held along with Senator John McCain and has criticized...
were planning to steal a boat and travel down the Red River to the Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin is an arm of the South China Sea, lying off the coast of northeastern Vietnam.-Etymology:The name Tonkin, written "東京" in Hán tự and Đông Kinh in romanised Vietnamese, means "Eastern Capital", and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam...
.
Lieutenant (Lt.) Melvin Spence Dry was killed on the mission. He was the last SEAL lost during the Vietnam War. His father, retired Navy Captain Melvin H. Dry, spent the rest of his life trying to learn the circumstances surrounding his son's death. The details, however, were long shrouded in secrecy.
Mission
In April 1972, SEAL Team One left Subic BaySubic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
in the amphibious-transport submarine USS Grayback (LPSS-574)
USS Grayback (SSG-574)
USS Grayback , the lead ship of her class of submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the grayback, a small herring of great commercial importance in the Great Lakes....
. The plan was to launch the team at night from the submerged submarine in a Swimmer Delivery Vehicle (SDV)
Swimmer Delivery Vehicle
Swimmer Delivery Vehicles are midget submersibles designed to transport frogmen from a combat swimmer unit or naval Special Forces underwater, over long distances. SDVs carry a pilot, co-pilot, and combat swimmer team and their equipment, to and from maritime mission objectives on land or at sea...
piloted by two UDT-11 operators and head for a small island off the mouth of the Red River.
On 3 June 1972, Lieutenant Dry decided to conduct a clandestine reconnaissance mission that night. Shortly after midnight the team launched from the Grayback but a combination of navigation errors and strong current took them off course. After an hour, the crew was compelled to abort the mission. They were unable to locate the Grayback and they were forced to scuttle their underpowered SDV after its battery power was exhausted.
The next morning, the team was rescued a few miles off the coast. The four men were flown to the USS Long Beach
USS Long Beach (CGN-9)
USS Long Beach was a nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser in the United States Navy. She was the only ship of her class....
, Operation Thunderhead's command ship.
At 2300 hours on 5 June, the men were to be transported back to the Grayback by helicopter. The team would perform a night water drop next to the submarine. During briefings with the pilots, Lt. Dry and Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Martin emphasized the maximum limits for the drop were 20/20-- 20 feet of altitude at an airspeed of 20 knots, or an equivalent combination.
When the helicopter arrived near the Graybacks expected position, they could not locate the submarine. As they desperately searched for the submarine's beacon, Lt. Dry and his men prepared to enter the water and lock-in to the submerged submarine.
According to CWO Martin, the drop was conducted downwind, adding another 15 to 20 knots of forward velocity when the jumpers hit the water. Lt. Dry died immediately of "severe trauma to the neck" caused by impact with the water, according to the Navy's death report. Two other team members were badly shaken, and one was seriously injured.
Several hours earlier, the Grayback launched its second SDV but the team abandoned their mission when their air ran out; subsequently, they made an emergency free ascent to the surface. After seeing a strobe light and hearing voices, the two teams rendezvoused.
At about 0100, they found Lt. Dry's lifeless body, inflated his life vest, and held him in tow as they swam seaward to be rescued. An HC-7 helicopter rescued the men at dawn and returned them to the Long Beach.
On 12 June, the remaining team members were transferred back to the Grayback. With the likelihood of a successful prisoner escape by sea lessened by the recent U.S. mining of North Vietnam's ports and rivers, Operation Thunderhead was soon terminated.
Because the mission was classified, the Navy did not acknowledge Dry's death as a combat loss until February 2008, when he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star for Valor.