Battle of the Paracel Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Military engagement
In the early morning of January 19, 1974, Vietnamese troops from the HQ-5 landed on Duncan Island and came under fire from Chinese troops after opening fire first on the Chinese while advancing toward the shores. Three Vietnamese soldiers were killed and two others were injured. Outnumbered, the Vietnamese ground forces withdrew by landing craft, but their small fleet itself drew up close to the Chinese warships in a tense standoff.
At 10:24 a.m., Vietnamese warships HQ-16 and HQ-10 opened fire against the Chinese warships. Then, HQ-4 and HQ-5 did the same. The ensuing sea battle lasted for about 40 minutes, with numerous vessels on both sides sustaining damage. The small Chinese warships maneuvered into the blind spots of the main cannons on the larger Vietnamese warships and succeeded in damaging all four Vietnamese ships, particularly the HQ-10. The Nhật Tảo (HQ-10) could not retreat because her last working engine was disabled in the battle; the crew was ordered to evacuate, but her captain, Major Navy Lt. Commander Ngụy Văn Thà, remained and went down with his ship. HQ-16, severely shot by a friendly ship, the HQ-5, was forced to retreat westwards. Meanwhile, HQ-4 and HQ-5 were also forced to retreat.
The next day, Chinese jet fighters and ground-attack aircraft from Hainan bombed the three islands, and were followed up with an amphibious landing force. The South Vietnamese Marine garrison on the islands was captured, and the naval force retreated to Đà Nẵng.
While the battle was going on, the Vietnamese fleet detected two Chinese reinforcing warships rushing to the area; China later acknowledged that these were the Hainan-Class submarine chasers #281 and #282. Despite South Vietnamese reports that at least one South Vietnamese craft had been struck by a missile, the Chinese insisted that what the Vietnamese saw were RPGs fired by the crew of #389 and that no missile-bearing ships were involved in the battle. In addition, the South Vietnamese fleet also received warnings from the United States that their naval radar had detected additional Chinese guided missile frigates and jet fighters on their way from nearby Hainan. South Vietnam requested assistance from the US Seventh Fleet, but the request was rejected.