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UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

1972-Contin ued

IT Dose of VF-92 explains MiG manuever 1151760

region embracing Haiphong north to the Chinese bor-

der. In all, 173 attack sorties were flown in this region

this day, although another 62 were directed into SVN

in continuing support of allied forces there.

It was the most intensified air-to-air combat day of

the entire war. Navy flyers shot down eight MiGs. An

F-4 Phantom II, from VF-96 on board Constellation,

while engaged in aerial combat over Haiphong shot

down three MiGs for the first triple downing of enemy

MiGs by one plane during the war. Lieutenant Randall

H. Cunningham was the pilot and Lieutenant (jg)

William P. Driscoll was the RIO of the F-4. These three

MiG downings, coupled with their 19 January and 8

May downing of two MiGs, made them the first MiG

aces of the Vietnam War. Three other kills were scored

by planes of VF-96 and one by VF-92 off Constellation

and one by VF-51 off Coral Sea.

During the five and one-half month period of

Linebacker I, the Navy contributed more than 60 per-

cent of the total sorties in NVN, with 60 percent of this

effort in the "panhandle", the area between Hanoi and

the DMZ. Tactical air operations were most intense

during the July-September quarter with 12,865 naval

sorties flown. Most attack sorties in NVN fell into two

classes-armed reconnaissance and strike. The former

was directed usually against targets of opportunity

within three main areas-near Hanoi, Haiphong and

the Chinese border. Strike operations were pre planned

and usually directed at fixed targets. Most types of

fixed targets, not associated with armed reconnais-

sance, required approval by the Commander-in-Chief,

Pacific, or by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, prior to attack.

Principal Navy aircraft were the A-7 and A-6, which

accounted for roughly 60 and 15 percent of the Navy's

attack sorties, respectively. About 25 percent of the

Navy's effort was at night. Carriers participating in the

initial May-June operations from Yankee Station were

Constellation, Coral Sea, Hancock, Kitty Hawk,

Midway and Saratoga.

10 May Commander, Naval Air Systems Command,

promulgated a plan for management of advanced pro-

totype development and demonstration of a thrust-

augmented wing Attack Plane-Fighter Vertical/Short

Takeoff and Landing aircraft. A prototype develop-

ment manager was to be established under the Deputy

Commander for Plans and Programs and was to be

assisted by a small cadre of management and technical

personnel located in the Assistant Commander for

Research and Technology's organization and at the

contractor's facility.

11 May Naval aircraft flying from Coral Sea, Midway,

Kitty Hawk and Constellation laid additional mine fields

in the remaining ports of significance in NVN- Thanh

Hoa, Dong Hoi, Vinh, Hon Gai, Quang Khe and Cam

Pha as well as the Haiphong approaches. This early

mining was not confined solely to the seven principal

ports. Other locations were also seeded early in the

campaign, including the Cua Sot, Cap Mui Ron, and

the river mouths, Cua Day and Cua Lac Giang, south of

Don Son and the Haiphong port complex.

12 May The 72-hour delay arming time on the initial

mines laid at Haiphong was up at 120900H Vietnam

time. Nine ships at Haiphong had taken advantage of

the grace period to depart the port. Twenty-seven

ships remained. Both Soviet and Soviet-bloc ships

headed for Haiphong at the time had diverted to dif-

ferent destinations, thus avoiding a direct confronta-

tion with the mine fields.

13 May CH-53 and CH-46 helicopters of HMM-l64

aboard Okinawa airlifted 1,000 South Vietnamese

Marines from SVN's 369th Marine Corps Brigade from

a landing zone near Hue to an area 24 miles north-

west of the city behind NVN lines.