5 minute read
Rat-Catching 101: The 50th Anniversary of HM-12 and the Birth of Airborne Mine Countermeasures
By CDR Michael Lanzillo, USN
Naval mines have existed for centuries. You read that correctly…centuries. From 16th century China’s naval explosives used to combat Japanese pirates of the time, to the British Navy’s usage in the 17th century, to the United States’ first naval mine--Bushnell’s Keg, used in the War for American Independence-- to mines of all shapes, sizes, and variations currently utilized today by nations around the globe. Mines are out there – and they are relatively cheap, easily proliferated, even easier to deploy, and are incredibly effective at achieving their purpose. This is not a secret, nor is it a novel statement. But while countering these weapons was, is, and always will be fraught with controversy and contention amongst naval leadership, what cannot be argued is the proud history of the Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM) community, and especially HM-12, on its 50th Anniversary.
Naval officers of the past have opined that the work of countering naval mines was “unpleasant work for a naval man, an occupation like that of rat-catching.” (1) That is one opinion to be sure, but the AMCM community and fifty-year-old HM-12 specifically, has forged a combat legacy of “rat-catching” across the globe since its inception.
The idea of AMCM was conceived in the Korean War, with HC-6 Detachment 84, flying the venerable RH-3A helicopter. The world’s first aerial minesweeping unit was founded to sweep the Korean Wonsan Harbor of magnetic influence mines after a Korean minesweeper struck a mine and was summarily destroyed in 1967. These pioneers of AMCM flew a helicopter operating outside of its design limits, as the mission of minesweeping caused a tail rotor buzz and maxed out transmission oil temperatures, where pilots would routinely “take the temp up to the red line, back it off until it drops, and then take it up again.” Deployed off USS Ozark (MCS 2), a recommissioned Minesweeper that was formerly a World War Two troop landing ship, and towing the MK105 Magnetic Influence sled, the pilots and aircrew of HC-6 added a new tactic to the U.S. MCM strategy with AMCM, employing brand-new MCM gear in a machine never designed for the task.
The AMCM mission was a direct result of the Navy’s “humiliation” during the anti-climactic amphibious landing at Wonsan during the Korean War. The official report of the landing read:
“The Navy able to sink an enemy fleet, to defeat aircraft and submarines, to do precision bombing rocket attack, and gunnery, to support troops ashore and blockade, met a 3,000 mine field laid off Wonsan by the Soviet naval experts The strongest Navy in the world had to remain in the Sea of Japan while a few minesweepers struggled to clear Wonsan… An adequate mine countermeasure forces with trained personnel and equipment should be provided in each fleet and should be ready for service.” (2)
While HC-6 was primarily tasked with clean-up of the mines left in Wonsan following the Korean War, it served as a proof of concept for AMCM, which Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, who in 1970 assumed the role of CNO, pushed as a Navy priority for the first time. Only one year later, in 1971, ADM Zumwalt accepted the transfer of thirteen CH-53 helicopters from the Marine Corps and established the first operational AMCM squadron, HM-12, based in Norfolk, Virginia.
HM-12 would not idle as a newly commissioned squadron for long, as it was secretly deployed to the Philippines in 1972 for training, and subsequently to the waters off North Vietnam in 1973 as part of Operation End Sweep. As part of the Nixon administration’s efforts to negotiate a settlement to the Vietnam War, and the release of all American prisoners of war, the U.S. began mining North Vietnam’s most vital ports, beginning with Haiphong. “The first drop in Haiphong harbor consisted of 36 magnetic-acoustic mines, which immediately stopped virtually all traffic.” After the 1973 cease-fire occurred in Paris, and American POWs were set to be released in exchange for clearance of the mined ports, HM-12, as part of Task Force 78, began to sweep Haiphong harbor using MK-105 magnetic influence hydrofoil sleds and Magnetic Orange Pipes, a buoyant, styrofoam-filled magnetic pipe. Unbeknownst to the North Vietnamese, HM-12 pilots already knew the locations of all of the dropped mines, and the mine sterilization/self-destruct dates were already past, meaning that that the entire Operation was a ruse of sorts, yielding only a single mine detonated.
HM-12 parlayed their success in Vietnam into rapid transition from the Far East to the Middle East, as it began Operation Nimbus Star in 1974. Tasked with clearing the Suez Canal of mines laid during the Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Israel, HM-12 embarked USS Tripoli (LPH 2) with only five days notice and set upon clearing one of the globe’s busiest commercial waterways. In just over one month, the mighty 53s from HM-12 swept over 7,616 linear miles, encompassing 120 square miles.
These two operations set the stage for not only HM-12, but the AMCM mission as a whole to become a staple in U.S. operational strategy for decades. HM squadrons have played significant roles in every armed conflict since, including the Tanker Wars and Operation Earnest Will, Operation Eagle Claw and the attempted rescue of American hostages in Iran, and both Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield, providing MCM support in the Persian Gulf.
As Admiral McCauley, in charge of Operation End Sweep, was quoted, “mine sweeping of any sort is difficult, tedious, lengthy, and totally devoid of glamor.” (3) While most HM pilots and aircrewmen would agree that this is an inconvenient and unappealing truth, they wouldn’t have it any other way. HM-12, and now its sister squadrons The Vanguard of HM-14 and the Blackhawks of HM15, continue to “rat catch” every day to ensure they are ready to answer the call, as they have since 1971.
Two U.S. Navy Sikorsky RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters of helicopter mine countermeasures squadron HM-12 Sea Dragons sweeping the Suez Canal or one of the lakes during "Operation Nimbus Moon" in 1974.
Notes
1. Lott, Arnold S. “Most Dangerous Sea.” Naval War College Review: Vol 13, No.4, Article 9.
2. https://m.youtube.com/ watch?v=Lcm7R4kSzkl.
3. Melia, Tamara M. “Damn the Torpedoes. A Short History of U.S. Naval Mine Countermeasures.” Naval Historical Center, Washington, DC, 1991, 79.
Two U.S. Navy Sikorsky RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters of helicopter mine countermeasures squadron HM-12 Sea Dragons sweeping the Suez Canal or one of the lakes during "Operation Nimbus Moon" in 1974.
