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The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club: Naval Aviation in the Vietnam War Hardcover – October 12, 2021

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 383 ratings
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The "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" was the tongue-in-cheek nickname of the US Seventh Fleet that was stationed off the coast of Vietnam and this book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975.

On August 2, 1964, the USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous Gulf of Tonkin incident that led directly to America's increased involvement in the Vietnam War. Supporting the Maddox that day were four F-8E Crusaders from the USS Ticonderoga, and this was the very start of the US Navy's commitment to the air war over Vietnam.

The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club is titled after the nickname for the US Navy's Seventh Fleet which was stationed off the coast of Vietnam, and it tells the full story of the US Navy's war in the air. It details all the operations from the USS Maddox onwards through to the eventual withdrawal of the fleet following the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975.

The Seventh Fleet's Task Force 77, which at points during the war had as many as six carriers on station at any one time with 70–100 aircraft on each, provided vital air support for combat troops on the ground, while at the same time taking part in the major operations against North Vietnam itself such as Rolling Thunder, Linebacker I and II. All of these operations took place in a hostile environment of flak, missiles and MiGs.

The story is told through the dramatic first-hand accounts of those that took part in the fighting, with many of the interviews carried out by the author himself. The Vietnamese perspective is also given, with the author having had access to the official Vietnamese account of the war in the air. The author also has a personal interest in the story, as at the age of 20 he served with the US Seventh Fleet off the coast of Vietnam and was personally involved in the dramatic history of The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Osprey Publishing
  4. Publication date
    October 12, 2021
  5. Dimensions
    6.3 x 1.54 x 9.52 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1472845951
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1472845955
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Vietnam War was my war, by which I mean I fought in it, and I can say that Thomas Cleaver in his Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club examines the war in an unparalleled way through the lens of aviation and its aviators. He illustrates the inevitable agony and sacrifice, thrill and triumph of the young men immersed in that saga. It all makes for a riveting read.” - Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, US Army (Ret.), soldier, diplomat and late Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary

“Tom Cleaver has captured the dramatic history of Naval Aviation’s combat record in Vietnam in a manner worthy of the classic historical novel. From the first shot fired in the Tonkin Gulf in August 1964 to the final salvo in January 1973, Tom weaves an accurate tale, full of the color and fury of battle, courage, suspense, and thrill of victory – as experienced and portrayed on both sides of the conflict.” - Captain Roy Cash, Jr., USN (Ret.), Former CO, Top Gun

“Tom Cleaver’s book is a superb study of Naval Aviation's experiences during the Vietnam War. Tom’s in-depth focus and analysis of personal inputs from aircrews on both sides of the conflict coupled with the ever-changing political environment make it a high-powered book that is difficult to put down.” - Rear-Admiral James A. “Jim” Lair, USN (Ret.), former commanding officer, USS America

“With equal measures of aeronautical detail, historical perspective, and gripping action, Tom Cleaver has crafted an authoritative and balanced account of the Navy’s Vietnam air war. Readers will be amazed by the recall and revelations of the Naval Aviators interviewed, profiled and portrayed. This is a gripping narrative combined with a definitive historical and technical reference.” - David Sears, author of 'Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea'

“The author does an outstanding job of highlighting both the shortcomings and triumphs of naval aviation during this period.” - New York Journal of Books

About the Author

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has been a published writer for the past 45 years with his most recent work, Going Downtown (2022), being the latest addition to his best-selling Osprey titles The Frozen Chosen (2016), Pacific Thunder (2017), Tidal Wave (2018), Holding the Line (2019), MiG Alley (2019), and I Will Run Wild (2020). During his 30 years as a screenwriter in Hollywood, he wrote the cult classic The Terror Within and worked as a supervising producer on a number of TV and cable series. He served in the US Navy in Vietnam and currently lives in Encino, California.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Osprey Publishing (October 12, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1472845951
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1472845955
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.78 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.54 x 9.52 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 383 ratings

About the author

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Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

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My mother used to enjoy telling people that my first word was "airplane" (said as "o-pane") when a P-38 flew over the park we were in there in Denver, Colorado, where I grew up. My enjoyment of airplanes was also the result of my father's influence. He had worked for Roscoe Turner and met such luminaries as Ernst Udet and Jimmy Doolittle back in the 1930s. The fact my grand nephew can, at age 5, identify all the airplanes that live at the little airport across the street from his school I take as evidence that aeronuttiness is likely genetic.

Having learned to read at an early age, one of my favorite childhood activities was spending a Saturday in the stacks at the main Denver public library, going through the aviation and second world war history sections and devouring everything there. I also spent three years in the Navy in naval aviation as an enlisted sailor in the years immediately prior to and during the outbreak of that waste of 58,000 American lives and God knows how many Asian lives, Vietnam.

I became a pilot myself in the 1970s, and over the 40 years since have spent quite a bit of time in the air, in the airplanes of the Second World War. In that time, I have also had the privilege of meeting many of the participants in that war, and writing about them in Air Enthusiast Quarterly, Air International, Air Force, Aviation History and Flight Journal magazines. Over the past 30 years, I have been involved with the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.

At the same time, I became a produced screenwriter, and learned to see a story and tell it through the characters. I hope that has slopped over into my non-fiction writing.

In my writing, I am more interested in describing who these people were than in the simple explication of what they did. As a well-known writer said, writing historical non-fiction gives a writer the power to bring the dead back to life, and that is my goal in this work.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
383 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Richard G. Schmelzer
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding read
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2024
Verified Purchase
Detailed record of our Naval and Air Force aircraft development and deployment during the Vietnam conflict. Military service and misdirected guidance by political and senior military leaders. WHY,the incompetence?
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Marine BN
4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite as good as the original...
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2022
Verified Purchase
The original book of this title (out of print) was better. The page size of this version is smaller and the typeset is not as pleasing. Content is OK, but I prefer the original.
2 people found this helpful
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HI@PNW
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read and engrossing content.
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2023
Verified Purchase
Cleaver fills out the details of the Vietnam War from the naval air perspective.
Technological changes on both sides and of challenges of jet air combat that led to the creation of the famous Top Gun course. I am glad the scope of the book did not end with the fall of South Vietnam but further extended military actions to complete the coda of the war.
One person found this helpful
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Dave Conant
5.0 out of 5 stars Look at Vietnam from both sides now
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2021
Verified Purchase
I thought I had a fairly decent view of how messed up the US participation in Vietnam was but Mr. Cleaver's book gives a detailed line by line account from the air war perspective. It includes very specific data on the weaponry both sides brought to bear and how it functioned or didn't as well as a front line view of how political policy decisions impacted the morale and lives of the people who were laying it on the line. That Cleaver is a very capable writer who keeps the story flowing and makes the data points part of the account just makes it that much more interesting. History books can be dull and boring, this one is the complete opposite.
8 people found this helpful
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elpaso45
3.0 out of 5 stars interesting but confusing
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2022
Verified Purchase
This was an interesting book but Mr. Cleaver made it confusing to read. He repeated many of to incidents more than one time and jumped back and forth. He should either have broken it down by plane types or by chronological order. Mixing both and throwing in political considerations willy-nilly added to the confusion.
5 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars History of the Southeast Asian wars
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2021
Verified Purchase
Excellent history, well organized, and war action coordinated with the political situation at home. I was the Flight Surgeon for AIR GROUP 15, aboard the USS CORAL SEA and qualified as a RIO in the F_4B in actions during Feb '65 to Nov 65. Only one small error in that portrayal, Bob Shoemaker was an F-8 pilot with VF154.
8 people found this helpful
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Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Tom nailed it.
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
Mr. Cleaver in his unique, detailed, technically, and politically accurate style successfully re-educated me, a 63 year-old, on the history of the Vietnam war. Told in a balanced, accurate and thorough manner, the book covered the aircraft, the challenges, and the inevitable outcome.
I was initially shocked at his direct knowledge of the start of the war, but ignoring political correctness he set the proper tone, and in outstanding Freedom of the press, laid bare the mistakes of the past, hopefully not to be repeated.
4 people found this helpful
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Goldens821
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book and Very Detailed
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2021
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the book very much, and it shed a lot of light on portions of the Navy's involvement in the Vietnam War. Starting with the Tonkin Gulf incident, the author provides a balanced view of both the military and political aspects of this war. The war was lost by the utter and total stupidity of our elected politicians and their civilian heads at the Department of Defense.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars L'hitoire du gulf du tonkinLE
Reviewed in Canada on August 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
Lecture personnelle.
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Mário Antoneli Penteado
5.0 out of 5 stars Muito boa a leitura!
Reviewed in Brazil on May 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
Conta desde o incidente do USS Maddox, que levou os EUA a entrarem na guerra (chamada guerra da mentira) até o sequestro do cargueiro americano fechando o capítulo dessa trágica história em 1975. Muito bem detalhado, explicando o poderio aeronaval dos EUA e a força aérea do Vietnã nos anos 60. Falando dos problemas com os mísseis, falta de canhões nos aviões da USAF, fuzileiros e da marinha, pouca manobrabilidade dos caças americanos (comparado com os Migs), os alvos que não eram permitidos atacarem e o surgimento do Top Gun. Fantástico e recomendo para os fãs de aviação e história.
Boa leitura!
One person found this helpful
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João Almeida
5.0 out of 5 stars Mto bom
Reviewed in Spain on January 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
Sempre gostei do tema Vietname
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RAY J
5.0 out of 5 stars A DETAILED HISTORY OF US NAVAL AVIATION IN THE VIETNAM WAR
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2022
Verified Purchase
THIS IS A VERY WELL RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN HISTORY OF US NAVAL AVIATION IN THE VIETNAM WAR. IT COVERS BOTH SUCCESSES AND FAILURES IN AN EVEN HANDED WAY.IT IS WELL ILLUSTRATED AND GIVES A DETAILED OVERVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF US NAVAL AIRCRAFT AND TACTICS TO FIGHT A LIMITED WAR WITH THOSE DESIGNED FOR GLOBAL NUCLEAR WAR.IT COVERS BOTH THE AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE SIDES OF THE CONFLICT.OVERALL, A VERY GOOD READ.
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Kindle Customery a BOB J
5.0 out of 5 stars Great documented Navy stories
Reviewed in Canada on November 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
This is an encyclopedia that is technical and historic from start to finish of this war. Facts spoke for themselves without an agenda. I will keep this for future reference.
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