| Date: 15 April 1968 |
| Aircraft type: F-4B Phantom |
| Serial Number: 153002 |
| Military Unit: VF-114 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Kitty Hawk |
| Name(s): |
| Lt(jg) Gerard Keith Baer (Survived) |
| Lt(jg) Roy Lynn McCready (Survived) |
| Aircraft type: F-4B Phantom |
| Serial Number: 153043 |
| Military Unit: VF-114 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Kitty Hawk |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Cdr John Frederick Farnsworth (Survived) |
| Lt(jg) Joseph Michael Sarnecky (Survived) |
| Two Phantoms from the Kitty Hawk collided when returning from a strike mission near Vinh. All four crew members ejected just off the coast and immediately came under fire from the shore. The leader of a flight of A-4Cs from VA-112 heard the crew’s distress calls and arrived at the scene to see the men in their life rafts about 1,000 yards from the shore. Soon afterwards an SH-3A and a UH-2B of HC-7 arrived and made the rescue as the Skyhawks provided suppressive fire against the shore gun batteries.
HC-7 Rescue Helicopter Combat Support Squadron SEVEN (HC-7) was established September 1, 1967. While simultaneously providing several fleet support activities in the Gulf of Tonkin, HC-7 assumed the responsibility for North Vietnam naval combat search and rescue. HC-7 prepared for action using UH-2B Kaman Sea Sprite helos inherited from HC-1 and were stationed in detachments aboard small boys, destroyers (DDs) and Guided Missile Frigates (DLGs), patrolling off the coast of North Vietnam primarily for the purpose of Search and Rescue (SAR) duty. The information at the following link was compiled by Ron Milam, the historian for HC-7, from ship's deck logs, official HC-7 Rescue Reports, other official and unofficial documents, interviews with crew members and survivors, and other sources, including the Chris Hobson book upon which this site is based. The details for the rescue associated with this fixed wing loss can be accessed by clicking on this link and this link. |
You may return to your search results, go to the Search Form, or go back to the Home Page.