After Action Report for Op Lingkod Timog I

[Mgellis]

To: Department of National Defense
From: Commanding Officer, BRP RAMON ALCARAZ
Date: August 4, 2013
Subject: After Action Report for Op Lingkod Timog I

We departed Zamboanga at 07:00 ZULU on the 23rd. Because our task force had two days to get the C-CHAMPION to the outreach camp, I decided to take her and the RAMON ALCARAZ east and then head southwest, cruising south of Sulu Island, and then head northwest to Outreach Camp Bay.

I sent the two patrol boats in a more direct course, with the intention of using them to spot and dispatch any hostiles, all while keeping my convoy at standoff distance—if the patrol boats ran into trouble, I could request assistance from the AH-6s or simply pick off hostiles as necessary with Harpoon missiles.

Because of the heavy maritime traffic in the area, I gave orders to fire only when a vessel was clearly identified as hostile.

We did not have to wait long. At 07:19, BRP LEOPOLDO REGIS identified a dhow as hostile. She engaged the dhow with her 40 mm. cannon and sunk her at approximately 07:23. At the same time, more small boats were identified as hostile. Almost simultaneously, BRP SULPICIO FERNANDEZ identified additional small boats as hostile. In all, the two patrol boats were engaged by seven hostile small craft. The battle was over by approximately 08:00. They sunk all seven, but the BRP LEOPOLDO REGIS sustained light damage and it was necessary to extinguish a major fire. The crew of both patrol vessels performed admirably, but the crew of the BRP LEOPOLDO REGIS is especially to be commended for their courage and professionalism in preventing the loss of their vessel.

For a short while, it seemed that the rest of the voyage would go quietly. At 08:41, BRP LEOPOLDO REGIS detected another patrol boat, but its commander assumed this was one of the Malaysian vessels about which we had been briefed. Only a few minutes later, he realized the boat was in the hands of militants. For some reason, they did not fire their missiles, and BRP LEOPOLDO REGIS was able to engage and sink her with cannon fire. Again, the quick action of the crew prevented a disaster, although the ship did take a few hits from the missile boat’s 30 mm. cannon—at one point, the two boats were only a few hundred yards apart and were strafing each other with machine guns and automatic cannon. The hijacked missile boat was sunk at approximately 09:00.

By this time, the Firescout had been dispatched and undertook a general patrol of the area. Other hostile boats were identified and the two AH-6s were launched to intercept them. The AH-6s were responsible for sinking two more boats, but regretfully one was lost to AAA fire. This occurred at approximately 12:00. The Firescout was employed to search for survivors but unfortunately the crew of the AH-6 perished in the crash.

At this point, I changed tactics. I had been keeping my Harpoon missiles in reserve. Now I used the patrol boats and the Firescout to identify hostile targets and began to use Harpoon missiles to destroy them before they could pose a threat to any of my forces. All remaining hostile vessels were dispatched in this manner. This was completed by approximately 14:00.

In all, the twelve hostile vessels were destroyed. This included seven small craft, a hijacked Osa-class missile boat, and four other patrol vessels, including three operated by what we now know were rogue Malaysian forces. Our own losses were fortunately limited to the one AH-6.

The remainder of the voyage was uneventful. The convoy arrived on station at approximately 18:00 and completed unloading the field hospital and medical personnel at approximately 20:00 ZULU.