RIPPLE SALVO… #270… THE THREE VIETNAM COMBAT CRUISES OF “THE FIGHTING ‘I’…” but first…
Good Morning: Day TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY of a review of the air war over North Vietnam fifty years ago…
27 NOVEMBER 1966… THE HEADLINES AT HOME from the New York Times on a cloudy, rainy Sunday for the Giants…
Page 1: “Vietcong Offer Holiday Truces; Allies Receptive but U.S. is not expected to repeat the lengthy lull in bombing of the 1965 lull in bombings of North. U.S. wants Hanoi response. The guerrilla’s bid is made over clandestine radio in the name of the National Liberation Front.(NLF).”… Page1: “Australian Voters Back Holt Regime and Labor’s anti-Vietnam challenge fails. Government also wins in New Zealand.”… Page 1: “Moscow Denounces Mao for Duplicity in Policy and opens all-out attack on the Chinese Communist Party and urged that its anti-Soviet policy be overcome. The attack personally assailed Mao.”… Page 1: “Army Turns Back Navy Eleven, 20-7…Steve Lindell a sophomore quarterback completed two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to propel Army to a 20-7 football victory over Navy yesterday before a crowd of 100,000 at John F. Kennedy stadium in Philadelphia. At the other end of the country Notre Dame, aiming for the national title, crushed Southern California, 51-0.”… Page 1: “Smog Swept Away By Cool Air Mass, emergency ended and three state alert called off as fresh winds come in after a night of rain. Help by public praised with most following restrictions. No illnesses attributed to pollution.”… (No mention of Global Warming)…
27 NOVEMBER 1966…OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER… New York Times (28 Nov reporting 27 Nov ops) Page 1: “…In North Vietnam continued thunderstorms and low flying clouds allowed pilots to strike only a few targets around Haiphong and in the narrow panhandle. Thirty-six missions of 2 to 5 aircraft were launched into the North yesterday. Air Force B-52s swept over the Central Highlands at sunset and hammered suspected enemy troop concentrations.”… “Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) One fixed wing aircraft downed in Southeast Asia on 27 November 1966…
(1) LTJG W.H. NATTER was flying an A-1H of the VA-52 Knightriders embarked in USS TICONDEROGA and attacking barges (waterborne logistic craft WBLCs) 15 miles northeast of Thanh Hoa when hit in the fuselage by fire from the barges. LTJG NATTER flew the flaming A-1H forty miles to sea before ditching and being rescued by a Navy Helicopter…
RIPPLE SALVO… NATIONAL AIRCRAFT CARRIER MONTH and this is a day for recognizing the decades of service and the three careers of USS INTREPID CVS-11, the “Fighting I.” She was commissioned in 1943 and her first career included operations with the Pacific Fleet in WWII, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Out of commission for several years, she was brought back and modernized as an attack carrier (CVA) in the 1950s. She made her first Cold War cruises in the Mediterranean with a role in both the nuclear and conventional war-fighting readiness of the Sixth Fleet. Then came three cruises from her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia to Westpac, CTF-77 and the Gulf of Tonkin, where she logged 312 days on the line participating in Operation Rolling Thunder conducting strikes against North Vietnam. She is presently in her third and permanent career as a National Museum in the city and port of New York. What a Lady! She also served as the recovery ship for Mercury and Gemini missions while configured as an anti-submarine carrier (CVS-11), the designation she carried through her Vietnam War years. RTR is honored to include the valiant performance of Intrepid in this 1000-day summary of Operation Rolling Thunder. Her Vietnam experience began on 4 April 1966 when she departed Norfolk with Carrier Air Wing-10 aboard, and concluded when she returned from her third combat deployment on 8 February 1969. She left behind a total of 20 aircraft and 12 brave souls, including four POWs who came home from prison in Hanoi in 1973.
THE FIRST COMBAT CRUISE OF USS INTREPID CVS (11) from NAS Norfolk with CCW-10 embarked on 4 April 1966 returning on 21 November 1966 (6 1/2 months).
Days on the line: 103
Combat Losses: 3
2 Sept: A-1H of VA-165…COMMANDER WILLIAM S. JETT, III….(recovered)…
13 Sept: A-1H of VA-165…LTJG T.J. DWYER… (recovered)…
22 Sept: A-1H of VA-176…LT CHARLES A. KNOCHEL… (KIA)…
Operational Losses: 2 (1 A-4B, 1 killed; 1 UH-2A, three killed)…
Highlight of the cruise: LTJG WILLIAM T. PATTON flying an A-1H Spad of VA-176 shot down a MIG-17 on 9 October 1966….oohrah
THE SECOND COMBAT CRUISE OF USS INTRPID from Norfolk with CVW-10 embarked on 11 May 1967 returning on 30 December 1967 (6 1/2 months)…
Days on the line: 103
Combat Losses: 12
30 Jun: A-4C of VA-15…LT LeGRANDE OGDEN COLE… (KIA)…
2 JUL: A-4B of VSF-3…LTJG FREDERICK M. KASCH… (KIA)…
9 Jul: A-4C of VA-34…LCDR EDWARD H. MARTIN, XO VA-34… (POW)…
4 Jul: A-4C of VA-15…LT PHILLIP C. CRAIG… (KIA)…
2 Aug: A-4C of VA-15…LT D.W. THORNHILL… (recovered)…
12 Aug: F-8C of VF-111…LCDR FOSTER S. (TOOTER) TEAQUE… (recovered)…
25 Aug: A-4C of VA-15… LT R.W. GERARD… (recovered)…
18 Sep: A-4C 0f VA-34…LCDR SAM HAWKINS… (recovered)…
3 Oct: A-4C of VSF-3…LT A.D. PERKINS… (recovered)…
4 Oct: A-4C of VA-15…LCDR PETER V. SCHOEFFEL… (POW)…125th Mission…
7 Nov: A-4C of VA-34…LTJG M.A. KREBS… (recovered)…
17 Nov: A-4C of VA-34…LT WILSON D. KEY… (POW)…90th mission…
Operational Losses: 2 (1 A-4B and 1 UH-2C)… all recovered…
THIRD VIETNAM COMBAT CRUISE OF USS INTREPID with CVW(10) embarked left Norfolk on 4 June 1968 and returned on 8 February 1969 (6 months)…
Days on the line: 106
Combat Losses: 2
1 Aug: A-4C of VA-66…LT EDWARD J. BROMS, JR…. (KIA)…
21 Oct: A-4E of VA-106…LT KENNETH KEITH KNABB… (KIA)…
Operational Losses: 3 (2 A-4s, 1 pilot killed; 1 RF-8 recovered)…
Highlight of the cruise: On 19 September LT ANTHONY J. NARGI of VF-11 shot down a MIG-21… OOOHRAH…
CARRIERS FOREVER… mobile, flexible, versatile….moving, massing, circumspect defenses, audacious attacks…
Lest we forget… Bear -30-