Fascinating story...enjoy, Part I of II
Skyhawk Down
A firsthand account of a 1965 ‘broken arrow’ and the loss of Lieutenant (j.g.) Douglas Webster, U.S. Navy.By Chief Petty Officer Delbert Mitchell, U.S. Navy (Retired)
December 2019
Naval History Magazine
Volume 33, Number 6
My recollections of the “broken arrow” accident—when an A-4E Skyhawk loaded with a thermonuclear bomb went over the side of the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) on 5 December 1965—are still as vivid as the day it happened.
I had joined the Ticonderoga in March 1964 as an airman apprentice (AA) and was assigned to the guided missiles (GM) division of the weapons department. I had no guided-missile training, so I learned my trade on the job. Our division was a small group of men led by an aviation ordnanceman senior chief and a lieutenant (junior grade), who was an explosive ordnance disposal officer. We were very close, and we gained a lot of expertise in handling, building, and maintaining Sidewinder, Sparrow, Shrike, and Bullpup missiles.
The Ticonderoga was in the South China Sea when, on 2 August 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox (DD-731) reported an attack by three North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Maddox asked for assistance, and the Ticonderoga responded by launching four F-8 Crusaders armed with Zuni rockets and 20-mm cannons. Two boats were damaged, and one was destroyed. Two days later, the destroyer USS Turner Joy (DD-951) reported being under attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. On 5 August, the Ticonderoga again responded: She launched F-8s, but no boats were found.
This led to President Lyndon Johnson signing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution on 7 August, which authorized the President to take military action against North Vietnam. The Ticonderoga remained on Yankee Station for more than 60 days, launching airstrikes until relieved by the USS Ranger (CV-61) in November. (From 1964 to April 1966, “Point Yankee”—more commonly known as Yankee Station—was a position off the coast of Vietnam at 16°00' N, 110°00' E.) We arrived in San Diego on 15 December after having been gone for almost ten months.
In January 1965, the Ticonderoga departed North Island for Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. The ship was scheduled for a yearlong overhaul and maintenance period, but a shortage of West Coast carriers and the escalating war in Vietnam shortened the yard period to six months. During the time in the yard, I and others from the weapons department attended Nuclear Weapons Loading School at North Island, Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar, and NAS Lemoore.
Back to Vietnam
The author served as an aviation ordnanceman on board the USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) from March 1964 to December 1966, through three Vietnam combat tours.
COURTESY OF DELBERT MITCHELL
The aviation units destined to deploy with the “Tico” had completed their qualifications during July and August, an intense training period to say the least. All was ready for the carrier’s second deployment to Vietnam, and on 29 September, she slipped her moorings and proceeded down San Diego Harbor, past Point Loma, on her way to Pearl Harbor. At Pearl, we passed an operational readiness inspection—checking if the ship and crew were ready for combat—without any major hitches. The air wing and all its aircraft were ready.
When we arrived back on Yankee Station, the operational tempo was very high, with flight operations being conducted night and day. I was assigned to the flight deck, checking the missiles our division had provided to the various squadrons. I also had to stand watches, and it was very tiring. At the end of November, the Ticonderoga was relieved of duty in the Gulf of Tonkin with orders to Yokosuka, Japan, for maintenance and rest and recuperation.
The ‘Crew Cut’
While we were proceeding to Yokosuka, the Tico’s commanding officer, Captain Robert N. Miller, authorized a “crew cut”—a nuclear weapon loading exercise.On Sunday, 5 December 1965, my loading crew assembled in hangar bay No. 2 around 1330. We were 50 miles off the coast of Okinawa. The exercise was to load an A-4E Skyhawk (bureau number 151022) of Attack Squadron (VA) 56 with a nuclear weapon. Plane handlers would then push the airplane onto the No. 2 aircraft elevator, escort the airplane to the flight deck, and put it on the port catapult. Finally, they would return the Skyhawk to the hangar for us to offload the bomb.
The nuclear weapon arrived in the hangar at 1400 hours. It was covered with a gray tarp, and two Marines with loaded M16 rifles provided a security escort. All six members of my team were standing around, each of us with a checklist to cover the different tasks we had to perform. Mine was to verify the weapon was on “safe” and to report it to the crew chief. The W Division personnel removed the tarp from the weapon, and we all immediately identified it as a live B43 thermonuclear weapon.
The B43 nuclear bomb could be dropped by a variety of platforms, including the A-4 Skyhawk. The same basic design could produce a variety of yields, from 70 kilotons to 1 megaton. The weapon lost on 5 December 1965 was set to the highest yield.
MALTHONIUS
