DESOTO patrol

The USS Agerholm carried out the first patrol to target North Vietnam in the Gulf of Tonkin in December 1962.

This inhibited the lawful navigation of international waters as defined by US interests and increased the likelihood and frequency of formal diplomatic "serious warnings" issued by Beijing when any Seventh Fleet units navigated through these areas.

[1] These types of patrols had previously been conducted off the coasts of the Soviet Union, China, and North Korea, but are perhaps of greatest significance for their role in the Vietnam War.

The aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga provided destroyers taking part in the DESOTO patrols off Vietnam with air support.

[1] The DESOTO patrols off Vietnam from 1963 onwards formed part of a larger scheme known as Operation 34A.

Run by the 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.

[3][6][7] SIGAD USN-467N specifically designates the DSU aboard USS Maddox during the patrol involved with the Gulf of Tonkin incident.