| Date: 19 April 1966 |
| Aircraft type: F-8E Crusader |
| Serial Number: 150853 |
| Military Unit: VF-53 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Ticonderoga |
| Name(s): |
| Cdr Robair Ferris Mohrhardt (Survived) |
| An hour after Lt Ball’s incident an air strike took place on a major road bridge five miles north of Haiphong. A section of Crusaders was assigned as escorts to defend the Skyhawk bombers from any potential MiG threat. As the escorts flew over the target one of the Crusaders (call sign Fire Fighter 226) received hits from AAA in both wings. Wing fuel and hydraulics were lost in quick succession but the aircraft remained flyable and Cdr Mohrhardt set course for his carrier. Unfortunately, the damage to the hydraulics meant that he was unable to deploy the Crusader’s refueling probe and after flying south for about 100 miles Cdr Mohrhardt had to eject over the Gulf of Tonkin as his fuel was exhausted. He was rescued by a Navy helicopter. Five of the bridge’s 21 spans were dropped as a result of this raid. |
You may return to your search results, go to the Search Form, or go back to the Home Page.