RIPPLE SALVO… #399… TICONDEROGA– the GREAT WHITE CARRIER… but first…
Good Morning: Day THREE HUNDRED NINETY-NINE of an Operation Rolling Thunder Journal on the 50th anniversary of the air war over North Vietnam… Lest we forget…
8 APRIL 1967…HEAD LINES and LEADS from The New York Times on as clear, cool Saturday in Central Park…
Page 1: “Humphrey in Paris Pleases De Gaulle But Arouses Demonstrations”…”Vice President Humphrey heaped warm praise on President De Gaulle today. He called the French leader a great man of courage held in high esteem by President Johnson. With the words of praise the Vice President tried on his arrival to build a bridge of friendship, and American officials felt that he had succeeded at least in part. On the streets of Paris however, Mr. Humphrey encountered the most disruptive, turbulent demonstrations since he began his European diplomatic mission nearly two weeks ago. As he sped through a round of official talks and wreath-laying ceremonies, Mr. Humphrey was greeted by chanting demonstrators who hurled eggs, paint and angry slogans.”… Page 1: “Saigon Proposes Brief May Truce”... “South Vietnam proposed today a 24-hour truce on May 23 to celebrate Buddhas birthday. If accepted by the Vietcong and North Vietnamese, the cease-fire would be the third since Christmas, when the fighting was suspended for 48-hours. The proposal has been approved by the United /States.”… Page 1: “Romney Calls for Victory; War Policy Like Johnson’s”... “George Romney of Michigan announced tonight a policy position on Vietnam coinciding almost precisely with that being followed by President Johnson. In his first major speech on Southeast Asia Mr. Romney warned against impatient cries for massive military escalation, .I believe we must use military force as necessary to reduce or cutoff the flow of men and supplies from North Vietnam to knock our enemy main force units and to provide a military shield for the South. We must give our gallant fighting men our full support.”… Page 1:”White House Pleased”...”The White House thanked Governor George Romney of Michigan today for ‘a strong endorsement of the fundamentals of the Administration’s position on Vietnam.’… The speech also drew high praise from New York Senator Jacob Javits, Senator George Aiken, Republican from Connecticut interpreted it as ‘an attempt to placate a lot of people and different points of view.’ “…
Page 1: “Israel Reports Her Jets Downed 6 Syrian Jets”... “Israel reported that six MIG-21s of the Syrian Air force were shot down today by Israeli Mirage fighters in a series of air battles east of the Sea of Galilee. {Damascus Radio reported that five Israeli jets had been shot down and that four Syrian MIGs had been lost.} The Israelis said all their planes returned safely. an Israeli officer was killed in border shooting that preceded the air battle. The flare-up, one of the most dramatic in the long history of Israeli-Syrian border tension, began with an exchange of fire in automatic weapons, tanks and mortars…Shooting broke out twice earlier this week but both times quiet returned within 15 minutes. Today it went on for several hours.”… HUMBLE HOST notes: On 7 April 2017, 50 years later, American Tomahawks wiped out 20 Syrian MIGs in reaction to Syrian use of chemical weapons on civilians….oohrah… Page 1: “U.S. Offers $960 Million in aid But Terms Disturb World Bank”... “The United States has offered the World Bank contribution of up to $960-million over the next three years–with certain conditions–as its share of a major increased in funds for loans to poor nations. The U.S. share of the total $2.4-billion contribution from the wealthy nations would be a maximum of $960-million. The U.S.conditions for use of the donated funds would require that some portion of those funds would be to procure goods and services from the United States.”… Page 2: “Thant Sees Pope; Is Gloomy on War”… “Secretary General Thant of the United Nations gave a pessimistic assessment of the situation in Vietnam tonight and got an equally dark report from the Special United Nations Mission to seek solutions of troubles in Aden (See CIA report below). After talks here with the President of Italy and the Pope VI, Mr. Thant reiterated at an airport news conference his view that ‘It’s going to be a long war, and the prospects of peace is as distant today as it was a year ago.’ “… Also on page 2: the Department of Defense released the names of 20 American troops killed in action in Vietnam… Page 15: “Ford to sell plastic campers to fit Ford pickup trucks.”….
8 APRIL 1967… The President’s Daily Brief…CIA (TS sanitized) ADEN: The United Nations “fact finding” mission–after six gunfire-ridden days spent mostly locked in hotel rooms and presumably under the beds– left yesterday with more haste than dignity. The three member saw almost nothing, refused to talk to the local government, and were spurned by the nationalists for whose cause they showed considerable bias…the rest remains redacted... ISRAEL-SYRIA: The border is quiet so far today, following major ground and air engagements yesterday. The clashes were touched off when Syrian troops fired on Israeli tractors working fields in a disputed border area. There are conflicting claims as to losses in the air battles. The Israelis certainly came off best and probably consider they have proved their military superiority…
8 April 1967… OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER... New York Times (9 Apr reporting 8 Apr ops) Page 3: “Carrier based pilots flew 48 missions in the north striking against the Thainguyen steel fabrication plant 35 miles north of Hanoi, and at oil storage areas, bridges and water traffic. Forty-three missions were mounted against truck convoys east of Dienbienphu and in the southern panhandle of North Vietnam by the Air Force. In the South, 434 sorties were flown, 220 of them in support of ground operations… (Bear#53lau12WBLC)…
“Vietnam: Air Losses” (Hobson) One fixed wing aircraft was lost over Southeast Asia on 8 April 1967…
(1) LT J.R. RICHIE and ENSIGN F.A. SCHUMACHER were flying an F-4B of the VF-96 Fighting Falcons embarked in USS Enterprise on a coastal reconnaissance mission along the coast near Hon Gai and Cam Pha and observed some flak just before suffering a hydraulic system failure. They turned toward Yankee Station but suffered control failure shortly thereafter and were forced to eject. They were rescued by Navy helicopter…
RIPPLE SALVO… #399… The CTF-77 carriers operating at Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin flew around-the-clock; each of three carriers operating aircraft for twelve hours. The Midnight to noon carrier was the Red Carrier; the Six Am to Six Pm carrier was the White Carrier; and the Noon to Midnight carrier was the Blue Carrier. The “big decks” operating A-6 Intruders were scheduled for either Red or Blue but never White flying hours in order to keep the night skies over North Vietnam full of Intruders. The smaller decks, especially the -27Charlies– Ticonderoga, Bonnie Dick, Oriskany, Shangri-La, Hancock, and Intrepid– were great six to six White Carrier decks. As a consequence, these air wings flew three Alpha strikes per day and saw more than their share of the intense combat… This Ripple Salvo picks up my inclusion of all the carriers that participate in Operation Rolling Thunder and Vietnam combat both before and after Rolling Thunder… Today: USS TICONDEROGA (CVA-14)…
THE FIVE VIETNAM WAR CRUISES OF USS TICONDEROGA (CVA-14) beginning in April 1964 and continuing at high tempo until September 1969– operating from Yankee Station for a total of 519 days…
(1) Deployed from home port of Alameda on 14 April 1964 with Carrier Air Wing 5 embarked returning 15 December 1964.
Days on the Line at Yankee Station: 61
Combat Losses: None.
Operational Losses: Five (4 A-4Es, 1 pilot killed, and 1 F-8E, 1 pilot killed)
(2) Deployed from Alameda on 28 September 1965 with Carrier Air Wing 5 embarked returning 13 May 1966.
Days on the Line at Yankee Station: 112
Combat Losses: 11
- 1 Dec 65: A-4C of VA-144…LTJG JOHN VERN McCORMICK…KIA (First Tico combat loss in 86 days of combat–2nd cruise)…
- 3 Jan 66: A-1J of VA-52...Lt J.W.Donahue...Recovered…
- 7 Feb…A-4E of VA-56...LCDR RENDER CRAYTON...POW…
- 9 Feb…A-4C of VA-144…LCDR J.L. Snyder…Recovered…
- 14 Feb…A-4C of VA-144…LTJG J.C. Durham…Recovered…
- 20 Mar…A-4C of VA-144…LTJG JERALD LEE PINNEKER…KIA...
- 14 Apr…A-1H of VA-52…CDR JOHN CLEMENT MAPE, Commanding VA-52, KIA
- 17 Apr…A-4E of VA-56…LCDR V. Gary Hough...Recovered…
- 18 Apr…A-1H of VA-52…LT A.D. Wilson... Recovered…
- 19 Apr…RF-8A of VFP-63...LT Ron F. Ball…Recovered…
- 19 Apr…F-8E of VF-53...CDR R.F. Mohrhardt...Recovered…
Operational Losses: 5 (2 A-1H; 3 F-8Es, 1 pilot killed)
(3) Deployed from Alameda on 15 October 1966 with Carrier Air Wing 19 embarked and returned 29 May 1967…
Days on the Line: 126
Combat Losses: 14
- 23 Nov 66…A-4E of VA-192…CDR Allen “Boot” Hill…Recovered…
- 27 Nov…A-1H of VA-52…LTJG W.H. Natter...Recovered…
- 13 Dec…A-4C of VA-195...LTJG D.O. Taylor...Recovered…
- 13 Dec…A-4C of VA-195...LCDR Charles Barnett...Recovered…
- 14 Dec…F-8E of VF-194…LT MICHAEL THOMAS NEWELL…KIA…
- 5 Jan 67…A-4E of VA-192...LCDR RICHARD STRATTON…POW...
- 6 Jan…F-8E…of VF-191…LCDR RICHARD DEAN MULLEN…POW…
- 7 Mar…A-4E of VA-192…LT S.N. Young...Recovered…
- 11 Mar…A-4E of VA-192...CDR ERNEST MELVIN MOORE, XO VA-192…POW
- 7 Apr…A-4C of VA-195...CDR Charles E. Hathaway...Recovered…
- 10 Apr…A-4E of VA-192...LCDR George Shattuck...Recovered…
- 25 Apr…A-4E of VA-192...LCDR Frank Almberg…Recovered…
- 26 Apr…A-4E of VA-192...LTJG J.W. Cain…Recovered…
- 26 Apr…A-4E of VA-192…LCDR MICHAEL J. ESTOCIN…KIA…Medal of Honor…
Operational Losses: 3 (1 F-8E, pilot killed: 1 A-1H, pilot killed; 1 A-4c)…
(4) Deployed from Alameda on 27 December 1967 with CVW-19 embarked and returned on 17 August 1968.
Days on the Line: 120
Combat Losses: 2
- 14 Feb 68…F-8E of VF-114...LTJG ROBERT CHARLES McMAHAN…KIA…
- 28 Mar…RF-8G of VFP-63…LCDR MICHAEL WALTER WALLACE…KIA
Operational Losses: 6 (1 UH-2A; 3 F-8E 2 pilots killed; 2 A-4F 1 pilot killed)…
High point of deployment: One MIG-17 Kill by LCDR JOHN B. NICOLLS of VF-191… oohrah…
(5) Deployed from Alameda on 1 February 1969 with Carrier Air Wing 16 embarked returning 10 September 1969…
Days on the Line: 97
Combat Losses: None
Operational Losses: 7 (3 A-7Bs; 2 F-8s; 2 A-4Cs, 1 pilot killed)…
USS Ticonderoga and her Vietnam war air wings lost a total of 53 aircraft and 19 pilots (4 POWs came home)…
Lest we forget… Bear