| Date: 2 December 1965 |
| Aircraft type: F-4B Phantom |
| Serial Number: 151409 |
| Military Unit: VF-92 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Enterprise |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Tracy James Potter (Survived) |
| Lt(jg) Donald Wayne Schmidt (Survived) |
| In 1965 the USS Enterprise was the US Navy’s pride and joy. The $451 million ship was launched on 24 September 1960, being not only the world’s largest ship at the time but also the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The USS Enterprise is 1,123ft long and weighs 89,600 tons fully loaded including a complement of 84 aircraft and 5,500 men. Accompanied by the nuclear powered guided-missile cruiser USS Bainbridge, the Enterprise sailed into the South China Sea and was assigned to TF 77 on 21 November. It took up position at Dixie Station on 2 December to fly missions over South Vietnam before moving to Yankee Station for operations over North Vietnam. Although Navy aircrew always regarded air operations over the South merely as a prelude to the ‘real’ air war in the North, things could, and did, go wrong, especially with a new carrier on its first war cruise. On its first day of operations the Enterprise launched 118 sorties against Viet Cong targets in South Vietnam, however, only 116 aircraft returned to the carrier’s decks.
Two Phantoms from VF-92 were tasked to provide close air support to US troops about 5 miles north of An Loc, which is 55 miles north of Saigon and only 10 miles from the border with Cambodia. Lt Potter put his Phantom (call sign Silver Kite 206) into a 30-degree dive and released six Mk82 bombs at 5,000 feet. As soon as the bomb released the crew felt an explosion and the wingman reported that the Phantom was trailing fuel which had ignited. Within seconds most of the fuel had been lost and the aircraft was still on fire leaving no alternative for the crew but to eject. They were picked up after some anxious minutes by a USAF HH-43 helicopter from Bien Hoa that was directed to the scene by a C-123 that happened to be in the area. The Mk82 bombs were fitted with a tail fuse that had a 4.5 second arming delay but for some reason the bombs had armed instantly upon release and then one bomb may have touched another causing a detonation. This incident was reminiscent of the Intruder’s introduction to combat in July. |
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