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The only EF-10 Skyknight pilot to conduct strafing missions during the Vietnam War
The Douglas F3D Skyknight was an early but effective attempt at combining new technologies together in a lethal package capable of shipboard operation. Whereas most fighters relied on speed and maneuverability, the portly, straight-winged F3D relied on three radars, four 20mm cannon, and – most importantly – darkness. Having first flown in March 1948, the Skyknight’s first taste of war came in September 1952, when Marine Night Fighter Squadron 513 [VMF(N)-513] deployed to Korea.
After the war, 35 Skyknights were converted into electronic warfare (EW) aircraft. As US air operations over North Vietnam intensified in early 1965, the need for a tactical EW jet to provide electronic countermeasures (ECM) protection to accompany strike packages north became apparent.
During the conversion from the F3D-2 to the F3D-2Q/EF-10B, the US Marine Corps (USMC) elected to keep two of the type’s four M2 20 mm cannon. With no need for the guns during the late 1950s and early 1960s (the US State Department having assured the Soviets the ‘Shark Fin’ flights were unarmed), maintenance on the guns lapsed. However, by mid 1965, the squadron’s ordnance shop had made the guns fully operable once again, and EF-10Bs routinely flew with loaded cannon as last ditch defensive options.
As told by Joe Copalman in his book F3D/EF-10 Skyknight Units of the Korean and Vietnam Wars, with the limited number of ‘Whales’ in Vietnam, and the importance of the EW mission, EF-10 crews were restricted from using the cannon offensively, although that did not stop one pilot from doing so.
Firing the guns in anger
The first known instance of a Skyknight crew firing the guns in anger in Vietnam was on Dec. 23, 1965. 1Lt Ken Crouch and his ECMO ‘Woody’ Wood had launched on a mission to support a US Navy strike in the Thanh Hoa area. The mission quickly fell apart when Crouch’s wingman aborted and the US Navy cancelled the entire strike.
On the flight back to Da Nang, Wood detected a signal emitting from Tiger Island, a small North Vietnamese held island a few miles off the coast just north of the DMZ. Curious, Crouch descended for a closer look. As the Skyknight headed for a hill on the island that would be the most obvious place to position a radar, Crouch and Wood noticed tracers coming directly toward the aircraft. Crouch aimed at the approximate source of the tracers and returned fire with the twin 20 mm cannon, taking a hit while pulling off target. Despite a minor shudder, Crouch decided to make another pass, expending the rest of his ammunition, before heading back to Da Nang with smoke trailing from the left wing.
As the crew later learned, a 37 mm AAA round had penetrated the left wing and destroyed the tyre, which fell into the ocean when Crouch lowered the landing gear. While he successfully made an arrested landing with only the right main and nose gear at Da Nang, the incident illustrated why EF-10 crews were restricted from strafing ground targets. With just six aircraft to provide jamming and ECM support over North Vietnam, the ‘Whale’ was just too valuable to risk losing in ground attack missions that other aircraft were far better suited to.
Firing the ‘Whale’s’ guns once again
Three months later, Crouch fired the ‘Whale’s’ guns once again, this time responding to a USAF FAC’s urgent request for any available aircraft to assist with a troops in contact firefight on Mar. 1, 1966. Crouch made multiple strafing passes, breaking up the enemy attack, and was credited by the FAC with two enemy killed in action. Upon returning to Da Nang, Crouch and his ECMO on that mission, Capt Jim Gazzale, remained quiet about the incident, as the former’s previous disregard for the restriction on strafing did not endear him to his superiors.
As it was, 1st MAW leadership received an after action report from the USAF FAC praising the ‘Whale’ crew that responded to his request and engaged the enemy to good effect, and Crouch and Gazzale found themselves in hot water. As Wayne Whitten, EF-10 Skyknight ECMO, recalled;
‘The powers that be found out about it and said “What? Who in the hell did that? How did that come about?” So they had to go up and stand tall before the Wing G-3 [Operations officer], a Colonel, and got their asses chewed. Just as they were walking out the door, he said “And, by the way, boys, it was sure nice to hear that old ‘Willie’ got a piece of the action”.’
Illegal as it was, the incident proved to be the final time a Skyknight’s guns were fired in anger.
F3D/EF-10 Skyknight Units of the Korean and Vietnam Wars is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo credit: U.S. Navy / U.S. Marine Corps
