East Sea Campaign | |||||||
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Part of the Vietnam War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
North Vietnam Viet Cong | South Vietnam | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Chu Huy Mân Mai Năng | Chung Tấn Cang | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
About 2,000 soldiers and sailors Supported by: 125th Naval Transport Brigade[1] |
5,768 military personnel Supported by: 1 frigate 2 corvettes 1 transport ship 1 patrol boat[2] | ||||||
Unknown | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 killed 8 wounded[3] |
113 killed 74 wounded 557 captured[3] 1 escort ship damaged | ||||||
284 killed more than 400 captured |
The East Sea and Spratly Islands Campaign (Vietnamese: Chiến dịch Trường Sa và các đảo trên Biển Đông) was a naval operation which took place during the closing days of the Vietnam War in April 1975. The operation took place on Spratly Islands and other islands in the South China Sea (known in Vietnam as the East Sea). Even though it had no significant impact on the final outcome of the war, the capture of certain South Vietnamese-held Spratly Islands (Trường Sa), and other islands on the southeastern coast of Vietnam by the Vietnam People's Navy (VPN) and the Viet Cong (VC) helped the Socialist Republic of Vietnam assert its sovereignty over the various groups of islands after the reunification of the country in 1975. The North Vietnamese objective was to capture all the islands under the occupation of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), and it eventually ended in complete victory for the North Vietnamese.