RECENT ACTIVITIES IN NORTH VIETNAM SOUTH OF THE 20TH PARALLEL (30 SEPTEMBER-6 OCTOBER 1968)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82S00205R000200040021-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 24, 2004
• Sequence Number: 21
• Publication Date: October 8, 1968
• Content Type: IM

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Top Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Memorandum
RECENT ACTIVITIES IN NORTH VIETNAM SOUTH OF THE 20TH
PARALLEL (30 SEPTEMBER-6 OCTOBER 1968)
Top Secret
8 October 1968
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
8 October 1968
Recent Activities in North Vietnam
South of the 20th Parallel
(30 September-6 October 1968)
Summary
North Vietnam has continued to improve its
logistical capabilities in the Panhandle and has
begun the reconstruction of an industrial facility
below the 20th Parallel for the first time since
the bombing restrictions were adopted. Reconstruc-
tion of the Thanh Hoa power plant is apparently
under way
Repairs to railroad bridges now permit the
employment of full-size rail cars between the 19th
and 20th Parallels for the first time since the
bombings began. Truck activity
increased by about one-third from the unusually
low level reported the previous week, but poor
weather continued to hamper air observations, and
total sightings remained well below the levels
noted since 1 April., Watercraft sightings
e ine slightly, u remaine
we above averages compiled since the bombing
halt.
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Note: This memorandum was produced solely by CIA.
It was prepared jointly by the Office of Economic
Research and the Office of Current Intelligence
and was coordinated with the Director's Special
Assistant for Vietnamese Affairs.
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1. The North Vietnamese are increasing their
rail tra ort capability south of the 20th
Parallel
the Hanoi-Vinh rail line. Large meter-
gauge o cars were observed at the Cho Giat/Tho
Trang rail transshipment area, indicating that
the North Vietnamese have reconstructed bridges
on the rail line south of Thanh Hoa to such an
extent that normal rail operations are again
possible between the 19th and 20th Parallels.
Prior to mid-September, only small meter-gauge
tramcars could be used on the line south of Thanh
Hoa because of the weight-bearing limits of recon-
structed bridges. In addition, 38 rail cars not
previously observed south of the 19th Parallel
were detected in the Vinh railroad yard, the first
indications of through rail movement south of the
19th Parallel since early June.
Truck Traffic
2. n increase of one-third
in truck sightings an a 70-percent increase in
trucks destroyed or damaged, compared with the
previous week. Nevertheless, truck sightings re-
mained substantially below the weekly average noted
since 1 April as they have for the past several
weeks. No convoys or large concentrations of
trucks were reported. Truck sightings along
coastal Route lA south of Vinh, however, were
considerably greater for the second week in a row
than that observed on this route in the past sev-
eral months. Improved weather conditions during
the latter part of the week may account for much
of the increase in truck sightings this week.
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De- Effective
Sighted stroyed Damaged Losses a/
This week b/
(30 Sep-
6 Oct) 338 110 37
Last week
(23-29 Sep) 253 62 25 53
Weekly
average
(since
1 Apr)
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re sm-narf a a.
3. Watercraft sightings south of the 19th
Parallel decreased slightly this week but remained
well above the average weekly sightings noted
since 1 April 1968. Watercraft activity was cen-
tered on the Song Ca, Kenh Gai, and Song Ngan Sau
waterways around Vinh and on the Kenh Me and Song
Dau waterways. Two hundred and twenty-five water-
craft were observed on 30 September along a five-
mile section of Song Dau that runs from the coast
to the Dong Ben transshipment area; Dong Ben is
located about one mile south of Cho Giat, a large
rail-to-road transshipment area, and near Route lA,
the main north-south highway route.
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Industry
5. The first major industrial reconstruction
undertaken by North Vietnam south of the 20th
Parallel has been detected at the Thanh Hoa power-
plant, which had been heavily damaged by,US bomb-
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is estimated tnat e
plant could be in survice by mid-1969. The Thanh
Hoa facility will account for about 3 percent of
North Vietnam's pre-bombing generating capacity,
approximately equal to the generating capacity of
the original plant, and will serve a small power
system in the vicinity of Thanh Hoa.
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ACTIVITIES IN NORTH VIETNAM SOUTH OF THE 20th PARALLEL
(30 September-6 October 1968)
Ho' 9inh
Duong
v Normal Rail Operations Again Possible
Between 19th and 20th Parallels
tho Son
Aiinh Cam
f
Xom Hoai
T1AIL;ANC
/
H 38 Rail Cars Observed
'1DErif3ZtTAF? Z`E
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