| Date: 14 February 1968 |
| Aircraft type: A-1H Skyraider |
| Serial Number: 134499 |
| Military Unit: VA-25 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Coral Sea |
| Name(s): |
| Lt(jg) Joseph Patrick Dunn (KIA) |
| Lt Dunn must have thought himself lucky to be chosen to collect one of his Squadron’s aircraft from Cubi Point NAS in the Philippines where it had been undergoing repairs. He took off from Cubi Point for the ferry flight back to the Coral Sea, which was having a 10-day stand down from operations. Lt Dunn was accompanied by another aircraft on the flight back to the carrier. During the flight the pair drifted north of their intended track and came close to the east coast of the Chinese island of Hainan. The aircraft were intercepted by Chinese MiGs, one of which fired on Lt Dunn’s aircraft. The Skyraider (call sign Canaasta 404) came down about seven miles from the coast, offshore from the village of Kao-lung. The other US pilot saw Lt Dunn eject and watched the parachute deploy. He reported the incident but was under the impression that he was off the coast of North Vietnam so the SAR forces were directed to the wrong location. When the pilot eventually arrived at a South Vietnamese airfield he realised his mistake and the search was redirected towards Hainan. Eight hours after Lt Dunn was shot down a SAR beeper transmission was heard near Hainan, however, there has been no further evidence of the fate of Joseph Dunn since that day. Lt(jg) Dunn was promoted successively to the rank of Commander during the time he was posted as missing until his death was presumed for administrative purposes. This was the last Navy Skyraider lost during the war in Southeast Asia as the single seat model made its last flight with VA-25 on 10 April and the EA-1F flew its last operational mission on 18 September 1968. VA-25 flew the last operational Navy Skyraider sortie of the war on 20 February, after which the Squadron returned to the USA on the Coral Sea and re-equipped with the A-4F Skyhawk. |
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