A Fact: Viet Cong Commandos Sank an 'Aircraft Carrier'

I never knew about this. Thanks for a great share!

Thanks for sharing CW5 Jack Cardwell this incident has been discussed a few times on this net. The "Cargo Ship and Aircraft Ferry" USNS Card (T-)AKV-40 was mined and sank on May 2, 1964 then raised and returned to service 11 December, 1964.
This occurred in May 1964 [before the August 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident which resulted in us declaring war] when our presence in South Vietnam was relatively low and primarily clandestine in Southeast Asia. Needless to say security increased after that point.

US Navy ship background "Mined and sunk while moored in Saigon, Vietnam, 2 May 1964; 5 of her crew were killed. Raised 19 May, and returned to service 11 December.
Fate: Entered the Reserve Fleet, Olympia, WA, at 0936 PST on 10 March 1970. Advertised for scrap under PD-X-905, dated 20 April 1971; opened on 11 May 1971. Sold to Zidell Explorations Inc. for $93,899.99, contract No. MA-6332, 14 May 1971. Withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet at 1442 PDT on 9 June 1971."

Background from The New York Times Archives article from 1964
"U.S. SHIP IS SUNK BY VIETNAM REDS; CREWMEN ESCAPE; The Card, Copter Transport, Blasted at Saigon Dock—Settles to Bottom; OLD AIRCRAFT ABOARD; ‘Baby Flattop’ Was About to Sail—4 Marines Hurt in Fight in North Zone
May 2, 1964, Page 1

SAIGON, South Vietnam, Saturday, May 2—Communist terrorists sank a United States aircraft transport in Saigon Harbor today.
All 73 men of the civilian crew were reported safe.
The Vietcong guerrillas blew a hole into the 9,800‐ton U.S.S. Card below the waterline. The ship had arrived here with a cargo of helicopters and fighter bombers.
It was the first time a major United States vessel had been sunk in the battle against the Vietcong.
The Card had taken on a cargo of old helicopters for return to the United States and had been scheduled to sail later today. How the explosive was put in or on the ship was not determined.
The explosion occurred at 5 A.M, [5 P.M., Friday, New York time], and the ship began sinking almost immediately.
The ship settled onto the muddy bottom of the 48‐footdeep Saigon River with her flight deck and superstructure above water.
Capt. Borge Langeland, the 55‐year‐old civilian skipper, of New Orleans, said there was a possibility the ship would capsize.
The Card had World War U service in the North Atlantic and has a Presidential Citation from her clashes with Nazi U‐boats.

Captain Langeland said the full extent of the darrage to the Card, or the size of the hole, had not been determined “but the hole must be very big and it probably will be many weeks before the Card can leave Saigon for the United States.”
“The explosion hammered through the ship, jarring engine room attendants,” Captain Langeland reported. “The ship began to take water immediately, forcing several crewmen to hurriedly evacuate their quarters. The crew immediately closed off the lower compartments.”
Second Mate Raymond Arbon, 45, also of New Orleans, who was on watch at the time of the explosion, was knocked down but unhurt.
Pieces of the ship's steel railing and planks from the pier to which she had been moored were scattered across the wharf and the Card's steel superstructure was bent by the blast.
The Card, built in 1942, is now under charter to the United States Military Transport Service, and manned by an all‐civilian crew. She has made several trips to Saigon in the last year, carrying helicopters, planes and vehicles.
There was a question as to who was responsible for the external security of the ship.
United States Navy sources said South Vietnamese soldiers were on duty near the Card during the early morning hours. But the Americans said they could not confirm reports that the Army had taken over security from Saigon's water police.
Captain Langeland said the Card herself “does not put out extra (shore) security while we are here.”
In the action in South Vietnam, four United States Marines were wounded Thursday and a copter was downed.
The guerrillas fired on a fleet of Marine helicopters taking South Vietnamese forces out of a battle area 35 miles west of the northern city of Da Nang.
A Marine officer and an enlisted man were wounded in one helicopter, a spokesman said. A Marine enlisted man in another helicopter was also hit.
The Vietcong fire knocked out the engine of a third helicopter. A crew member was wounded as it fell. The United States spokesman said the crew had destroyed the helicopter before they were rescued.
The last reported successful sabotage of a foreign ship in Saigon Harbor was during the 1946–54 Indochina war, when Communist‐led forces sunk a French transport. The hull is still in the muddy waters of Saigon River."

Phong van dac cong Lam Son Nao viec danh chim tau USS Card
[Vietnamese language]
"Lam Son Nao was a NLF Docker who helped sink the American supply ship USS Card. As an infiltrator his mission was to gather all information on the American areas, such as boats and military storage facilities. During this particular mission he discovered that the USS Card was coming into port with more supplies for the United States. He tells of bribing the secret police to allow him to sneak a bomb to the other side of the Saigon dockyard and the huge explosion caused by the detonation."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Htirxv_73M

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Interesting history share Chief.