| Date: 10 May 1972 |
| Aircraft type: F-4J Phantom |
| Serial Number: 155800 |
| Military Unit: VF-96 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Constellation |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Randy H Cunningham (Survived) |
| Lt(jg) Willie P Driscoll (Survived) |
| Seconds after Cdr Blackburn’s aircraft was shot down another of the Constellation’s Phantoms ran into trouble. Lt Cunningham and Lt Driscoll were in the flak suppression flight on the Hai Duong raid and had just released their cluster bombs when they were attacked by two MiG-17s. The MiGs overshot and Lt Cunningham fired a Sidewinder that destroyed one of the enemy aircraft. By this time there were several groups of MiG-17s, MiG-19s and MiG-21s in the air near Haiphong and it was obvious that the VPAF had launched an all-out effort against the raid. Lt Cunningham and his wingman dived into a group of eight MiGs that were attacking three other Phantoms of VF-96. With his second Sidewinder Cunningham shot down another MiG-17 that was on the tail of Cdr Dwight Timm’s Phantom. As four MiG-21s dived on Cunningham he evaded and headed for the coast. On the way out he spotted another MiG-17 and decided to attack it. What followed was one of the most famous dogfights of the entire war with the aircraft and crews equally matched in performance and skill. After a series of vertical rolling scissors manoeuvres Cunningham fired a Sidewinder that hit the MiG which then dived into the ground. This third kill of the mission made Randy Cunningham and Willie Driscoll the first ‘aces’ of the Vietnam War as they had previously shot down two MiGs on 19 January and 8 May. One of the legends of the air war in Vietnam is the exploits of the mythical North Vietnamese MiG-17 pilot known as ‘Colonel Tomb’ or Colonel Toon’. He is credited (by the Americans, not the Vietnamese who have always denied his existence) with shooting down 13 US aircraft. The story that the last MiG shot down by Cunningham and Driscoll was flown by ‘Colonel Tomb’ soon became one of the most enduring myths of the war. In fact there was no such person as ‘Colonel Tomb’ although there were several very successful North Vietnamese Air Force pilots. The identity of the pilot of MiG-17 3020 shot down by Cunningham and Driscoll remains unproven but it was not any of the North Vietnamese aces who are all accounted for.
Cunningham and Driscoll had little time to celebrate their new ‘ace’ status. They headed out towards the coast passing several more MiGs but as they approached Nam Dinh climbing through 16,000 feet their aircraft (call sign Show Time 100) was damaged by an explosion from an SA-2 missile. Shrapnel peppered the rear underside of the fuselage and the starboard wing tip was blown off. At first the aircraft appeared to be flying normally but soon afterwards the hydraulics started to fail. The aircraft pitched nose up and Cunningham flew along for several minutes causing the aircraft to alternately climb and dive as he rolled it using rudder and throttle. In this manner they reached the coast but the aircraft was on fire and started to spin. Unable to pull out of the spin Cunningham and Driscoll ejected about five miles out to sea. The pair were soon rescued by two HH-3A Sea King helicopters from HC-7 and were taken to the USS Okinawa amphibious assault ship. The incident is described in detail in Cunningham’s book "Fox Two." 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.