RIPPLE SALVO… SNEAK ATTACK… but first…
Good Morning: Day SEVENTY-ONE of a long look back to Operation Rolling Thunder…
9 MAY 1966 (NYT)… ON THE HOMEFRONT… A cloudy, rainy Monday in New York…
Page 1: “4 Main Rail Links To Hanoi Severed By Raids”… The U.S. military reported that highly successful Air Force strike operations on the North Vietnamese rail systems have severed the main supply lines to Hanoi from both China and Haiphong. Two links with China and links with both Haiphong and Vinh, including two main highways have been cut as a consequence of a concentrated three week campaign waged by Air Force F-105Ds. “The United States pattern of nearly daily attacks on roads and bridges, and now the blocking of principal routes into Hanoi have doubtlessly caused serious supply problems,” said one military source. “But there are a lot of other routes to China. They are not as good as the ones we have knocked out. They are longer and in worse condition but they are useable. Hanoi can still get supplies, it is just going to take more work and more time.” One consequence of the cuts will be an increase in river and coastal traffic…
Page 6: “Review Of Draft Backed By (William) Ryan,” a New York Democrat, who notes that growing concerns about the inequities in the current draft deferment system give rise to the need for a private review of the Selective Service System. Prominent educators and manpower specialists should meet in a National Service Conference to study and “closely examine” the possibility of allowing young men to choose the Peace Corps, civil rights work, or other national service as an alternative to a military draft. Consensus is building for a lottery system to replace the deferment system…
Page 20: “Negroes Victors In 3 Texas Races”… For the first time in the 20th century Texas will have a Negro in the state legislature. Miss Barbara Jordan, a lawyer, age 30, has been elected to the State Senate. In addition, the voters voted to abolish the Texas poll tax as of February 1967…
PRESIDENT’S DAILY BRIEFING… This is the inaugural inclusion of this source of information on RTR … 2,500 of these documents were down graded and sanitized from Top Secret to Unclas in July 2015… Your Humble Host will include only those items that pertain to Rolling Thunder and the Vietnam War…(1) The Buddhist heirarchy has not yet come out with any significant reaction to Ky’s weekend remarks. Tri Quang has been summoned to Saigon from Hue by Buddhist leaders in Saigon. (2) Viet Cong appear to be zeroing in on South Korean personnel as targets for propaganda, terrorism and sabotage attacks. (3) ComChina preliminary data on third nuclear test (early on May 9) suggests yield of about 50 KT. First 2 tests: Oct 1964 was 25 KT, and Apr 1965 was 30 KT. Test bomb was dropped from an aircraft. China claims the weapon was thermonuclear but U.S. says this is unlikely.
9 MAY 1966 ROLLING THUNDER OPS… One Navy Spad in the water…
LCDR C.W. SOMMERS flying an A-1H from the VA-215 squadron on USS Hancock was returning from a maritime patrol in the Gulf of Tonkin and suffered engine failure requiring he ditch the aircraft. He was subsequently rescued by a Navy helo…
RIPPLE SALVO… JOE and BRUCE… For the last thirty years I have been sitting on a flying story that yearns for the light of day. This is the true story of a ROLLING THUNDER “sneak attack” by a pair of young Navy Lieutenants that reminded me of Dave Dawson and Freddie Farmer from the R. Sidney Bowen “The War Adventure Series” of World War II flying stories for young boys. A dozen plus tales of Dave and Freddie winning the war against the axis of Italy, Germany, and Japan. They were the fictitious dynamic duo of WWII aviation… The following tale is a very real story of one flight in the illustrious Naval careers of JOE and BRUCE, INTRUDER CREW…..
The Rolling Thunder Sneak Attack on Nam Cap
The target requiring the attention of Joe and Bruce was the weather and communication site, Nan Cap, that served multiple purposes for the enemy, North Vietnam. Since the target was in close proximity to Hanoi, Hainan, and the mainland of China, there was no room for an error in execution. The penalty for a navigation mistake would be years of prison time in China, or worse. Because of the location, U.S. intelligence concluded that the Nam Cap station was a vital communication link between North Vietnam and China, the principal supplier of war support for NVN.The station was located on an island 63 miles northeast of Haiphong and had not been previously struck in Operation Rolling Thunder.
With no pre-strike photography or intelligence concerning defenses, Joe and Bruce assumed the worst and planned on meeting ground fire opposition in the medium to heavy category. The nearness of enemy airfields in a zone of excellent enemy radar coverage led Joe and Bruce to include the possibility of MIG opposition in their attack and retirement. Since their attack was to be sly and unsupported, and at extreme distance from friendly forces, they had to include every possibility in their planning.
Due to the lack of information normally available from prior attacks, both Joe and Bruce were in a bind for the info required for Joe to pilot the A-6A loaded with 22 500-pound MK82 GP bombs to the precise bomb release point required to get the desired damage on not one but two separate buildings in the station complex. Bruce, as Bombardier/Navigator was hard pressed to find the required radar offset aim points to insure bombs on target with the target information available on the USS Kitty Hawk operating in the Gulf of Tonkin in January 1968. Bruce planned to offset his aim point in order to place the first bombs on the diesel power plant and walk his 22 bombs across the complex to the primary target, the central control building. There was a hard requirement to have this expected radar picture in mind since the attack was to be a high speed, low altitude attack through a covey of small islands that look very similar on an aircraft radar scope. In addition, Joe and Bruce planned a second run on the target to obtain full radar photographic coverage for the use of subsequent attacks, if necessary.
Execution of the unsupported single A-6A Intruder mission began with a maximum load cat shot off the bow, including 11,550 pounds of MK82 kisses. En route to the target at medium altitude Joe and Bruce performed weapon, radar and inertial navigation checks to confirm that their trusty A-6 was fully ready for the run on Nam Cap. Joe commenced his letdown to his pre-planned navigation altitude of 300-feet just as MIG warnings were received on his radio. The MIGs were active North of Hanoi and about 50 miles from his track. Weather en route was overcast at 200-feet with visibility of less than three miles in rain and fog. Bruce provided steering guidance and at the preplanned pull-up point Joe began a slight climb to facilitate operation of the radar cameras. Bruce positively identified the target on radar and placed his cursors on the preplanned aim point. He performed wind solutions and made last minute corrections to his weapon delivery calculations. Joe used his instruments and navigation aids to position the aircraft on the heading, speed and altitude for the gliding attack on the target. Opposition AAA was observed in the final attack, but they bored through and the 22 00-pounders were released on target. Joe immediately rolled right to clear the target area and the enemy gun fire.
At that point, about ten miles clear of the target area, Joe and Bruce had to make a decision on whether or not to carry out the planned second run on the target to obtain the desired radar photography. Joe decided to follow the advice of history’s great military leaders:”Fortune favors the bold.” Joe and Bruce updated their navigation and positioned the aircraft at 1500-feet for optimum photo coverage and commenced the high speed return to Nam Cap. Enemy anti-aircraft fire picked then up eight miles short of the target and remained moderate to heavy but was avoided as they fled forward to do their duty as they saw it. The desired RSP photography was obtained, and Joe and Bruce departed the area unopposed to return to the Kitty Hawk.
Bomb damage photography was subsequently obtained to confirm that the bombs delivered by Joe and Bruce were on target. The first bombs were shown to have impacted approximately 75 feet from the diesel power plant, which sustained moderate damage and the primary target, the central control building was struck multiple times demolishing two walls of the building and collapsing the roof. The RSP taken on the second run was subsequently used in follow on attacks of the communication facility.
The bold and courageous performance of Joe and Bruce on this mission earned each a recommendation for the Distinguished Flying Cross, which seems very appropriate and well deserved to me. They were awarded Air Medals. Shame on you CinCPacFlt … Bear sends.
Joe and Bruce: Thanks for a great strike on the enemy, and thanks for a good sea story… And dear readers…it’s up to you to figure out who the Joe and Bruce of this true event are…. Your Humble Host will have the identity of Joe and Bruce in a couple of days…
Lest we forget… Bear ……….. –30– ………..