Operation End Sweep | |
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Part of the Vietnam War | |
![]() A naval mine explodes in Haiphong Harbor on 9 March 1973 during Operation End Sweep, photographed by the automatic mine locator camera aboard an American CH-53A Sea Stallion helicopter. It is believed to be the only explosion of a mine during End Sweep. The Mark 105 hydrofoil minesweeping sled the helicopter is towing is at right. | |
Operational scope | Minesweeping |
Planned by | U.S. Navy Mine Warfare Force |
Objective | Clear mines from North Vietnamese waters |
Date | 6 February – 27 July 1973 |
Executed by | |
Outcome | Operational success |
History of Haiphong |
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Operation End Sweep was a United States Navy and United States Marine Corps operation to remove naval mines from Haiphong harbor and other coastal and inland waterways in North Vietnam between February and July 1973. The operation fulfilled an American obligation under the Paris Peace Accord of January 1973, which ended direct American participation in the Vietnam War. It also was the first operational deployment of a U.S. Navy air mine countermeasures capability.[1]