| Date: 31 August 1966 |
| Aircraft type: RF-8G Crusader |
| Serial Number: 146874 |
| Military Unit: Detachment G, VFP-63 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Oriskany |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Cdr Thomas Alan Tucker (Survived) |
| The Oriskany finished a terrible month by losing yet another aircraft but the pilot was recovered in one of the most remarkable rescues of the war. The commander of the Oriskany’s VFP-63 detachment was tasked with obtaining photographs of a foreign oil tanker and other ships in Haiphong Harbour. As the aircraft (call sign Cork Tip 602) was nearing Quang Yen, about five miles northeast of Haiphong, it was hit by 37mm ground fire and the pilot lost all control with the exception of the rudder. The aircraft started to gyrate wildly and Lt Cdr Tucker ejected at 1,500 feet over Haiphong harbour. He came down in Haiphong’s secondary ship channel less than 150 yards offshore and a number of junks got under way to capture the pilot. An SH-3A of HS-6 from the USS Kearsarge arrived within minutes and went straight in for a rescue attempt with only Lt Cdr Tucker’s escorting F-8 flown by Lt Cdr Foster Schuler ("Tooter") Teague overhead to provide support. Teague strafed the approaching junks as the helicopter door gunner also kept up a steady stream of suppressive fire. The helicopter, piloted by HS-6 CO Cdr Robert Sidney Vermilya, flew for 20 minutes up the channel at 50 feet while under constant fire from shore and vessels. The helicopter rescued Lt Cdr Tucker from right under the noses of the North Vietnamese in one of the most daring and dangerous rescue missions of the war. This was the first RF-8G to be lost in Southeast Asia and was a strengthened and improved conversion of the RF-8A Crusader. Tom Tucker later commanded VF-51 during its transition from the F-8E to the F-4B.
A well-written story of this flight and rescue can be found at https://www.historynet.com/crusader-down/ |
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