The Nam Dinh Strike by BusyBee604
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The morning of 28 June, 1967, broke in full sunshine at sea, with just a few scattered clouds. Excellent flying weather had prevailed through the month of June and Air Wing 14 in CONSTELLATION had been, for several weeks, on the three Alpha strike per day schedule.
In some ways it was a grueling schedule. With VA-146's complement of 19 attack pilots, it dictated that each pilot fly an average of three Alpha strikes every two days. During normal non-combat operations, this would be a very desireable schedule, but the three hour planning/briefing and one-hour debrief coupled with the one-hour or so strike, made for a very long day when two strikes were involved. This, coupled with the mental anxiety which accompanies an Alpha strike, made for some very long and thoroughly exhausting days.
On the plus side, the three strike a day schedule was tailor-made for launches and recoveries. The ship would steam as far north (as close to the targets) as possible. Most available strike and support aircraft would be spotted and launched for each of the three strikes per day and when the strikes were completed, there was no waiting or holding upon return for a "ready deck". The ship merely turned into the wind when the first returning strike aircraft checked in.
The planning/pre-briefing for the Cong My strike was held the previous evening in the Integrated Operations/Intelligence Center (IOIC) on CONSTELLATION. Scheduled for a noon launch, the strike would concentrate on all areas of the "transshipment point located 2 miles west of the port city of Haiphong. With the weather prediction at Cong My indicating questionable cloud cover, the Nam Dinh railroad marshalling yards were also briefed as the alternate target, weather permitting.
Mind you Cong My was no "piece of cake"; however, being only about 10 miles from "feet wet" it sure looked better to me than the alternate! Nam Dinh had the reputation as the most heavily defended target south of Hanoi. It is the textile manufacturing center of the country and as such, is the second largest railway center in North Vietnam. Prestrike photos disclosed a large confluence of railway tracks which in some areas of the target, were 16 tracks abreast in the loading/unloading areas.
The strike consisted of eight A-4C Skyhawks (VA55/146), eight F-4B Phantoms (VF-142/143), four A-6A Intruders (VA-196), two KA-3B Skywarriors (VAH-8) (tanker support), two RA-5C Vigilantes (RVAH-12) (pre/post strike photography), and the standard E-2A Hawkeye (radar coverage).
The strike plan had the A4 bombers leading, Phantoms following, with the Intruder bombers close behind. Four of the Phantoms were tasked with fending off enemy fighters (TAR/BAR CAP) and the other four with flak suppression. The flak suppressors were armed with four Cluster Bomb Units (CBU) each.
CDR Gene Tissot, Commander, Carrier Air Wing 14 led the strike in a VA-146 A-4C. Because the A-4Cs were the slowest aircraft in the strike group when loaded with bombs, we also assumed the navigational lead. CDR Bill Lawrence's (CO VF-143) F-4 division was assigned to flak suppression. They were to accelerate ahead of the group just prior to roll-in and, hopefully, silence the anti-aircraft gunners as we rolled in to drop our payload of 500# bombs.
After rendezvous of the strike group, and about halfway to the target, the weather recce aircraft reported heavy low cloud coverage and rain in the Haiphong area and recommended a divert to the alternate target. CAG wheeled the strike group to port and set course for Nam Dinh.
"Nam Dinh?" I thought "Nam Dinh"!... "But why?"... we went there just last week and for the life of me, I cannot understand what they are so proud of..." Normally, a weather divert to an alternate target was coupled with a sigh of relief, lessening of heart rate, and a grin. Not this time!
Located only 30 miles south of Hanoi, Nam Dinh is a fairly large city by North Vietnamese standards. Reportedly, a large textile manufacturing center, I personally had been involved in two major strikes there in the previous month. Both were rigidly opposed by the flak gunners and we had felt lucky to get out of there alive. I could not understand what it was they were protecting so vigorously!
We had planned on fooling the gunners and missile sites by feinting to the north, but it did not work. Black clouds of flak dotted the sky as we raced straight to the city now only two minutes away. I heard the flak suppressors rolling in "Taproom flight in" as we approached our roll-in point.
Arming the bomb switches, I rolled inverted and pulled my bombsight down into the center of the railyard. Screaming down toward the target, a piercing "beep beep beep" resonated through my headset. "oh oh" I thought, "someone is down!" I continued the dive wiggling through the broken clouds and pickled my entire bomb load at 4,600'. As I pulled off, two parachutes appeared drifting below me toward the broken clouds over the target. "Must be the flak suppressors" I thought... "good luck guys!" One of the things that we feared most about being shot down, was the thought of landing in a parachute right in the middle of an area that you had just bombed! The two chutes were headed right "downtown".
Upon return to the ship, we learned that CDR Lawrence and his RIO LT(jg) Jim Bailey were missing. They were captured on the ground and would spend nearly six years as Prisoners of War in North Vietnam, returning in 1973. Luckily, all the remaining strike aircraft returned safely to CONSTELLATION that day.
Oh well, 'twas just another normal day "on the line"!
It was seven years, almost to the day, before I was to meet Bill Lawrence again. I was then the Aircraft Maintenance Officer on COMLATWINGPAC staff in early July 1974, slated to retire one month hence. Rear Admiral Lawrence checked aboard to prepare to take command of the Wing. We met, shook hands, and I saluted and uttered a hearty "welcome home, Admiral!"
Written by:
CDR F. Hugh Magee, USN (Ret.)
VA-146 12/65-12/67
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The morning of 28 June, 1967, broke in full sunshine at sea, with just a few scattered clouds. Excellent flying weather had prevailed through the month of June and Air Wing 14 in CONSTELLATION had been, for several weeks, on the three Alpha strike per day schedule.
In some ways it was a grueling schedule. With VA-146's complement of 19 attack pilots, it dictated that each pilot fly an average of three Alpha strikes every two days. During normal non-combat operations, this would be a very desireable schedule, but the three hour planning/briefing and one-hour debrief coupled with the one-hour or so strike, made for a very long day when two strikes were involved. This, coupled with the mental anxiety which accompanies an Alpha strike, made for some very long and thoroughly exhausting days.
On the plus side, the three strike a day schedule was tailor-made for launches and recoveries. The ship would steam as far north (as close to the targets) as possible. Most available strike and support aircraft would be spotted and launched for each of the three strikes per day and when the strikes were completed, there was no waiting or holding upon return for a "ready deck". The ship merely turned into the wind when the first returning strike aircraft checked in.
The planning/pre-briefing for the Cong My strike was held the previous evening in the Integrated Operations/Intelligence Center (IOIC) on CONSTELLATION. Scheduled for a noon launch, the strike would concentrate on all areas of the "transshipment point located 2 miles west of the port city of Haiphong. With the weather prediction at Cong My indicating questionable cloud cover, the Nam Dinh railroad marshalling yards were also briefed as the alternate target, weather permitting.
Mind you Cong My was no "piece of cake"; however, being only about 10 miles from "feet wet" it sure looked better to me than the alternate! Nam Dinh had the reputation as the most heavily defended target south of Hanoi. It is the textile manufacturing center of the country and as such, is the second largest railway center in North Vietnam. Prestrike photos disclosed a large confluence of railway tracks which in some areas of the target, were 16 tracks abreast in the loading/unloading areas.
The strike consisted of eight A-4C Skyhawks (VA55/146), eight F-4B Phantoms (VF-142/143), four A-6A Intruders (VA-196), two KA-3B Skywarriors (VAH-8) (tanker support), two RA-5C Vigilantes (RVAH-12) (pre/post strike photography), and the standard E-2A Hawkeye (radar coverage).
The strike plan had the A4 bombers leading, Phantoms following, with the Intruder bombers close behind. Four of the Phantoms were tasked with fending off enemy fighters (TAR/BAR CAP) and the other four with flak suppression. The flak suppressors were armed with four Cluster Bomb Units (CBU) each.
CDR Gene Tissot, Commander, Carrier Air Wing 14 led the strike in a VA-146 A-4C. Because the A-4Cs were the slowest aircraft in the strike group when loaded with bombs, we also assumed the navigational lead. CDR Bill Lawrence's (CO VF-143) F-4 division was assigned to flak suppression. They were to accelerate ahead of the group just prior to roll-in and, hopefully, silence the anti-aircraft gunners as we rolled in to drop our payload of 500# bombs.
After rendezvous of the strike group, and about halfway to the target, the weather recce aircraft reported heavy low cloud coverage and rain in the Haiphong area and recommended a divert to the alternate target. CAG wheeled the strike group to port and set course for Nam Dinh.
"Nam Dinh?" I thought "Nam Dinh"!... "But why?"... we went there just last week and for the life of me, I cannot understand what they are so proud of..." Normally, a weather divert to an alternate target was coupled with a sigh of relief, lessening of heart rate, and a grin. Not this time!
Located only 30 miles south of Hanoi, Nam Dinh is a fairly large city by North Vietnamese standards. Reportedly, a large textile manufacturing center, I personally had been involved in two major strikes there in the previous month. Both were rigidly opposed by the flak gunners and we had felt lucky to get out of there alive. I could not understand what it was they were protecting so vigorously!
We had planned on fooling the gunners and missile sites by feinting to the north, but it did not work. Black clouds of flak dotted the sky as we raced straight to the city now only two minutes away. I heard the flak suppressors rolling in "Taproom flight in" as we approached our roll-in point.
Arming the bomb switches, I rolled inverted and pulled my bombsight down into the center of the railyard. Screaming down toward the target, a piercing "beep beep beep" resonated through my headset. "oh oh" I thought, "someone is down!" I continued the dive wiggling through the broken clouds and pickled my entire bomb load at 4,600'. As I pulled off, two parachutes appeared drifting below me toward the broken clouds over the target. "Must be the flak suppressors" I thought... "good luck guys!" One of the things that we feared most about being shot down, was the thought of landing in a parachute right in the middle of an area that you had just bombed! The two chutes were headed right "downtown".
Upon return to the ship, we learned that CDR Lawrence and his RIO LT(jg) Jim Bailey were missing. They were captured on the ground and would spend nearly six years as Prisoners of War in North Vietnam, returning in 1973. Luckily, all the remaining strike aircraft returned safely to CONSTELLATION that day.
Oh well, 'twas just another normal day "on the line"!
It was seven years, almost to the day, before I was to meet Bill Lawrence again. I was then the Aircraft Maintenance Officer on COMLATWINGPAC staff in early July 1974, slated to retire one month hence. Rear Admiral Lawrence checked aboard to prepare to take command of the Wing. We met, shook hands, and I saluted and uttered a hearty "welcome home, Admiral!"
Written by:
CDR F. Hugh Magee, USN (Ret.)
VA-146 12/65-12/67
