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“Yankee Station” • The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club
The Gulf of Tonkin ( Vịnh Bắc Bộ , northern bay) is in the northwestern part of the South China Sea, off the coast of North Vietnam (Tonkin, Đông Kinh , eastern capital) and Hainan Island, People’s Republic of China.
Wednesday, February 5, 1969
It is 0 Dark 30 on Yankee Station, about 90 miles off the coast of North Vietnam. I am a young naval officer standing the bridge watch on board a destroyer underway in the Gulf of Tonkin.
My ship is USS FLETCHER (DD-445), homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, call sign “Radish.” Fletcher is part of the carrier strike group of USS HANCOCK (CVA-19), homeported in Alameda, California, call sign “Rampage.”
“Hanna” is an Essex class aircraft carrier. She is the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of John Hancock, president of the Second Continental Congress.
On July 4, 1776, John Hancock presided over the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
U.S. Navy Douglas A-4F Skyhawks of Attack Squadron 55 (VA-55) “War Horses” and Attack Squadron 164 (VA-164) “Ghost Riders,” are the ship’s firepower, enough firepower to rival the air forces of many nations.
These two squadrons are assigned to Attack Carrier Wing 21 (CVW-21), aboard “Hanna.”
Fletcher’s job, and that of our sister destroyers in the carrier strike group, here in the Gulf of Tonkin, is to protect “Hanna” from harm.
Fletcher is in plane guard station, about 2,500 yards astern of “Hanna.”
Our purpose is to serve as a visual reference for the carrier’s Landing Signal Officer (LSO), and to function as plane guard to rescue any ship’s personnel who might fall overboard during flight ops.
Aircraft carrier flight operations are inherently dangerous. We are ever watchful and ready to recover any aircrew whose aircraft may crash or have to ditch in the ocean during carrier flight operations.
The plane guard role is also dangerous. Aircraft carriers often change course and speed to maintain best wind conditions for aircraft take off and landing.
Any lack of awareness or inattention by either ship, especially at night, in extreme weather, or with battle damage, can put the plane guard ship under the bows of a rapidly maneuvering carrier traveling at full speed.
When Fletcher is not in plane guard station, we are miles ahead, or on either side of “Hanna,” fanned out with other destroyers of the carrier strike group.
We are “tin can” destroyer sailors who provide early warning screening, defense in depth, and search and rescue support to protect “Hanna” and her crew from harm.
It is 0203, early morning. Today, Fletcher is in plane guard station, 2,500 yards behind “Hanna.” It is pitch black, except for pinpoints of ship navigation lights.
I am standing the bridge watch on Fletcher when a Vought F-8H Crusader aircraft lands heavily on “Hanna’s” carrier deck and explodes in a huge orange fireball right in front of me.
At first light, we find pieces of fuel cells from the wing tanks, and a piece of a flight helmet, in the thinly scattered debris floating on the surface of the Gulf of Tonkin.
Lieutenant (junior grade) Paul Eugene Swigart, Jr., USNR, a pilot in Fighter Squadron 24 (VF-24) “Fighting Renegades,” Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21), aboard USS HANCOCK (CVA-19), is killed. His body is not recovered. He is 25 years old.
LTJG Swigart is from Seal Beach, California. His MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) is Unrestricted Line Officer, Pilot (1315).
Earlier today, he flew from a base in South Vietnam to land on the flight deck of USS HANCOCK (CVA-19) on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin about 80 miles east of North Vietnam.
At Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, California, he is named on a memorial headstone in plot MA 0 105. His name is inscribed in the Courts of the Missing, Court B, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.
His name, PAUL E SWIGART JR, is inscribed on the black granite Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Panel 33W, Line 69). His name is one of 58,307 names on “The Wall” in Washington, D.C.
Sunday, February 9, 1969
It is now four days later, 0604 in the morning. We are 125 miles east of North Vietnam. Fletcher is in screen station, five miles off the starboard beam of USS HANCOCK (CVA-19).
A Douglas A-4F Skyhawk from Hancock catches fire during the catapult shot, and crashes into the Gulf of Tonkin. As “Hanna” passes by, the pilot is seen inside his plane, sinking on the starboard side.
Fletcher assists in search and rescue operations in the wreckage area. We find two signal wands, part of the cockpit seat, and some insulation.
Lieutenant Commander Roger Allen Meyers, USN, a pilot in Attack Squadron 164 (VA-164) “Ghost Riders,” Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21), aboard USS HANCOCK (CVA-19) is killed. His body is not recovered. He is 35 years old.
Lieutenant Commander Meyers is from Chicago, Illinois. His MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) is Unrestricted Line Officer, Pilot (1310).
At Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, he is named on a memorial headstone in Memorial Section 3. His name is inscribed in the Courts of the Missing, Court B, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii.
His name, ROGER A MEYERS, is inscribed on the black granite Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Panel 33W, Line 94). His name is one of 58,307 names on “The Wall” in Washington, D.C.
No one wants to be a Gold Star Family.
Gold Star Families remember their family members who have died in military service.
As a nation, we honor the ultimate sacrifice of Gold Star Families.
As human beings, we acknowledge the loss, the grief, the need for continual healing of Gold Star Families.
Men and women who die in military service give their last full measure of devotion to the people of the United States. They give the ultimate sacrifice of their lives for the rest of us.
The least we can do is remember them.
This day, I remember U.S. Navy Lieutenant (junior grade) Paul Eugene Swigart, Jr., USNR.
This day, I remember Lieutenant Commander Roger Allen Meyers, USN.
I was there. I remember.
____________________________
Webmaster note: the two cruises Mr. Fox describes were from November 1966 to May 1967, and February 1968 to August 1968. Fletcher made one final WESTPAC cruise from November 1968 to May 1969 and was decommissioned in August 1969. On that last cruise, Fletcher’s crew got to see the New Jersey in action in Vietnam. On one occasion Fletcher and New Jersey simultaneously rearmed from an ammo ship. The second USS Fletcher DD-992 was decommissioned in October 2004. The reunions Mr. Fox mentions still take place every year and now include crewmembers of both the DD/DDE-445 and the DD-992.
- Vietnam War
- Yacht clubs
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club
- View history
Military humor: Badge of the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club -aka US 7th Fleet-
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club was a tongue-in-cheek nickname for the United States Seventh Fleet during the Vietnam War . [1] All through the war in Vietnam , the Seventh Fleet engaged in combat operations against enemy forces through attack carrier air strikes, naval gunfire support, amphibious operations, patrol and reconnaissance operations and mine warfare.
History [ ]
The name "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club " was used from 1961 when the Seventh Fleet arrived to the waters off Vietnam and carried out most of its operations from the Gulf of Tonkin. This included aircraft operations at Yankee Station and destroyers and cruisers along the coast on the gun line . After the 1973 cease-fire , the Fleet conducted mine countermeasure operations in the coastal waterways of North Vietnam . Two years later, ships and aircraft of the Fleet evacuated thousands of US citizens and refugees from South Vietnam and Cambodia as those countries fell to opposing forces. The fleet departed in 1975.
Although the insignia for the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club always remained unofficial, it became very popular. It is present in a wide range of Vietnam War military memorabilia. The yellow and red background colors are those of the flag of the Republic of Vietnam .
References [ ]
- ↑ Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club
External links [ ]
- Official Seventh Fleet web site
- Roster of ships in the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club
- Rene J Francillon, Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club US Carrier Operations Off Vietnam
The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club
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The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club: Naval Aviation in the Vietnam War
- Author: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Page Count: 400
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The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club: Naval Aviation in the Vietnam War Kindle Edition
- Print length 498 pages
- Language English
- Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
- Publisher Osprey Publishing
- Publication date October 14, 2021
- File size 6465 KB
- Page Flip Enabled
- Word Wise Enabled
- Enhanced typesetting Enabled
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Editorial Reviews
“The Vietnam War was my war, by which I mean I fought in it, and I can say that Thomas Cleaver in his Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club examines the war in an unparalleled way through the lens of aviation and its aviators. He illustrates the inevitable agony and sacrifice, thrill and triumph of the young men immersed in that saga. It all makes for a riveting read.” - Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, US Army (Ret.), soldier, diplomat and late Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary “Tom Cleaver has captured the dramatic history of Naval Aviation’s combat record in Vietnam in a manner worthy of the classic historical novel. From the first shot fired in the Tonkin Gulf in August 1964 to the final salvo in January 1973, Tom weaves an accurate tale, full of the color and fury of battle, courage, suspense, and thrill of victory – as experienced and portrayed on both sides of the conflict.” - Captain Roy Cash, Jr., USN (Ret.), Former CO, Top Gun “Tom Cleaver’s book is a superb study of Naval Aviation's experiences during the Vietnam War. Tom’s in-depth focus and analysis of personal inputs from aircrews on both sides of the conflict coupled with the ever-changing political environment make it a high-powered book that is difficult to put down.” - Rear-Admiral James A. “Jim” Lair, USN (Ret.), former commanding officer, USS America “With equal measures of aeronautical detail, historical perspective, and gripping action, Tom Cleaver has crafted an authoritative and balanced account of the Navy’s Vietnam air war. Readers will be amazed by the recall and revelations of the Naval Aviators interviewed, profiled and portrayed. This is a gripping narrative combined with a definitive historical and technical reference.” - David Sears, author of 'Such Men as These: The Story of the Navy Pilots Who Flew the Deadly Skies over Korea' “The author does an outstanding job of highlighting both the shortcomings and triumphs of naval aviation during this period.” - New York Journal of Books
About the Author
Product details.
- ASIN : B08W572RQV
- Publisher : Osprey Publishing; 1st edition (October 14, 2021)
- Publication date : October 14, 2021
- Language : English
- File size : 6465 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 498 pages
- #207 in Military Aviation History (Kindle Store)
- #247 in Vietnam War History (Kindle Store)
- #248 in Southeast Asia History
About the author
Thomas mckelvey cleaver.
My mother used to enjoy telling people that my first word was "airplane" (said as "o-pane") when a P-38 flew over the park we were in there in Denver, Colorado, where I grew up. My enjoyment of airplanes was also the result of my father's influence. He had worked for Roscoe Turner and met such luminaries as Ernst Udet and Jimmy Doolittle back in the 1930s. The fact my grand nephew can, at age 5, identify all the airplanes that live at the little airport across the street from his school I take as evidence that aeronuttiness is likely genetic.
Having learned to read at an early age, one of my favorite childhood activities was spending a Saturday in the stacks at the main Denver public library, going through the aviation and second world war history sections and devouring everything there. I also spent three years in the Navy in naval aviation as an enlisted sailor in the years immediately prior to and during the outbreak of that waste of 58,000 American lives and God knows how many Asian lives, Vietnam.
I became a pilot myself in the 1970s, and over the 40 years since have spent quite a bit of time in the air, in the airplanes of the Second World War. In that time, I have also had the privilege of meeting many of the participants in that war, and writing about them in Air Enthusiast Quarterly, Air International, Air Force, Aviation History and Flight Journal magazines. Over the past 30 years, I have been involved with the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.
At the same time, I became a produced screenwriter, and learned to see a story and tell it through the characters. I hope that has slopped over into my non-fiction writing.
In my writing, I am more interested in describing who these people were than in the simple explication of what they did. As a well-known writer said, writing historical non-fiction gives a writer the power to bring the dead back to life, and that is my goal in this work.
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Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, The - Naval Aviation in the Vietnam War
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Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club was a tongue-in-cheek nickname for the United States Seventh Fleet during the Vietnam War. Throughout the War in Vietnam , the Seventh Fleet engaged in combat operations against enemy forces through attack carrier air strikes, naval gunfire support, amphibious operations, patrol and reconnaissance operations and mine warfare.
A private group for military personnel who served in the Tonkin Gulf during the Vietnam War. To join, you need to answer three questions and provide proof of your service and a profile picture.
Learn about the nickname and history of the U.S. Navy carriers operating off the coast of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. See a replica of a carrier stateroom with personal touches of home on the \"floating city\".
The Seventh Fleet Arrives In the early 1960s, the Seventh Fleet moved into Vietnamese waters to counter Communist operations in South Vietnam and Laos. It quickly earned the nickname "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" since most operations were based there. Ships cruised along the coast to record transmissions and identify North Vietnamese radar installations. Naval advisors in Da Nang maintained ...
Remembering the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 50 Years Later By Al Wellman [Printer-Friendly Version] Fifty years ago the US Navy established PIRAZ station off the coast of Ngh An Province about fifteen miles east of the island of Hon Truan. For the next several years, a guided missile cruiser with a destroyer riding shotgun patrolled back and forth ...
The "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" was the tongue-in-cheek nickname of the US Seventh Fleet that was stationed off the coast of Vietnam and this book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975.On August 2, 1964, the USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous Gulf of Tonkin incident that led directly to America's increased involvement in the Vietnam War.
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club. US Navy sailors serving during Vietnam war in the Western Pacific.
The "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" was the tongue-in-cheek nickname of the US Seventh Fleet that was stationed off the coast of Vietnam and this book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975. On August 2, 1964, ...
A naval officer recounts his experiences on board USS Fletcher, a destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin, where U.S. Navy aircraft carriers conducted air strikes over North Vietnam. He witnesses a fatal plane crash, a rescue operation, and the aftermath of the Tonkin Gulf incident.
On one occasion Fletcher and New Jersey simultaneously rearmed from an ammo ship. The second USS Fletcher DD-992 was decommissioned in October 2004. The reunions Mr. Fox mentions still take place every year and now include crewmembers of both the DD/DDE-445 and the DD-992. The Fighting Fletcher and the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club by Arthur B. Fox.
The "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" was the tongue-in-cheek nickname of the US Seventh Fleet that was stationed off the coast of Vietnam and this book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975. On August 2, 1964, ...
This book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign during the Vietnam War between 1965 to 1975, where the US Seventh Fleet, stationed off the Vietnamese coast, was given the tongue-in-cheek nickname 'The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club'.On August 2, 1964, USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous 'Gulf of Tonkin incident' that lead directly to America's increased involvement in the Vietnam War.
On August 2, 1964, USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Cleaver tells the full story of the U.S. Navy's war in the air. Detailed are all the operations from USS Maddox onward through the eventual withdrawal of the fleet following the collapse of South Vietnam in 1975. 16 pages of photos, many in color.
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club was a tongue-in-cheek nickname for the United States Seventh Fleet during the Vietnam War. All through the war in Vietnam, the Seventh Fleet engaged in combat operations against enemy forces through attack carrier air strikes, naval gunfire support, amphibious operations, patrol and reconnaissance operations and mine warfare. The name "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" was used ...
The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club: Naval Aviation in the Vietnam War On August 2, 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous Gulf of Tonkin incident that led directly to America's increased involvement in the Vietnam War. Supporting the Maddox that day were four F-8E Crusaders from the USS Ticonderoga, and this was the very start of the US Navy's commitment to the air war over ...
The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club tells the complete story of the US Naval air campaign during the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975, where the US Seventh Fleet, stationed off the Vietnamese coast, was given the tongue-in-cheek nickname 'The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club'. On August 2, 1964, USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous 'Gulf of Tonkin incident' that led directly to America's increased ...
The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club tells the complete story of the US Naval air campaign during the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975, where the US Seventh Fleet, stationed off the Vietnamese coast, was given the tongue-in-cheek nickname 'The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club'.On August 2, 1964, USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous 'Gulf of Tonkin incident' that led directly to America's increased involvement ...
Object Moved This document may be found here
The Tonkin Gulf Incident. Discovering the truth of what had happened a month later, out of the mouth of a trusted friend, literally changed my life and my view of the world forever. The most memorable operation I discovered was the North Vietnamese air attacks on US Navy ships in 1972, which the US Navy claims never happened - to the point ...
This book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign during the Vietnam War between 1965 to 1975, where the US Seventh Fleet, stationed off the Vietnamese coast, was given the tongue-in-cheek nickname 'The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club'. On August 2, 1964, USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous 'Gulf of Tonkin incident' that lead directly to America's increased involvement in the Vietnam War.
The "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" was the tongue-in-cheek nickname of the US Seventh Fleet that was stationed off the coast of Vietnam and this book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975.On August 2, 1964, the USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous Gulf of Tonkin incident that led directly to America's increased involvement in the Vietnam War.
The "Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club" was the tongue-in-cheek nickname of the US Seventh Fleet that was stationed off the coast of Vietnam and this book tells the full story of the US Naval air campaign in the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975. On August 2, 1964, the USS Maddox became embroiled in the infamous Gulf of Tonkin incident that led directly to ...