The A-4 Skyhawk Was A Legend

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A-4 Skyhawk.

The Douglas A-4 Skyhawk has a few distinctive historical claims to fame. Perhaps the most famous example is the fact that a Skyhawk was flown by eventual U.S. Senator and 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain on the day of his shootdown that resulted in his harrowing 5.5-year experience as a POW in the infamous Hanoi Hilton.  But it turns out that the Skyhawk has an achievement record that goes above and beyond that unfortunate moment in history.

The A-4 Skyhawk Soars Into History

For starters, the A-4 was the first aircraft to drop ordnance in the Vietnam War. This occurred on 5 August 1964, during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident when U.S. Navy pilots attacked torpedo boats in North Vietnam, in retaliation for (admittedly disputed) attacks on the destroyers USS Maddox and Turner Joy.  In the process, the U.S. experienced its first combat loss of an A-4 when it was hit by anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) fire. The pilot, then-Lieutenant (j.g.) Everett Alvarez, who ejected safely but was then captured, becoming second longest-held U.S. POW of the war, and eventually retired from the Navy at the rank of Commander.

From that point onward, the Skyhawk ended up logging more Vietnam combat missions than any other naval attack aircraft, more than the A-6 Intruder or the A-7 Corsair II.  Along the way, the Skyhawk garnered only one air-to-air kill against the North Vietnamese Air Force, a MiG-17 “Fresco” taken down by an unguided Zuni rocket fired by an A-4C crew belonging to the USS Bonhomme Richard.  Coincidentally, it was a MiG-17 that scored the only air-to-air victory against the A-4 during that same war.

A grand total of 362 Skyhawks were lost during the Vietnam War due to all causes.  The last of these occurred on 26 September 1972, when USMC Captain James Walsh was hit by ground fire and had to eject from the aircraft. He was the last Marine to be taken prisoner during the Vietnam War.

Much loved by their crews for their toughness and agility, Skyhawks would later be assigned to the trainer and adversary role for USN and USMC pilots, used as a role-player/surrogate for the MiG-17 at the Navy’s “Top Gun” school immortalized in the Tom Cruise movies. As an additional laurel, from 1973 to 1986, the A-4F Skyhawk was the aircraft flown by the Blue Angels.  The last of the Stateside Skyhawks were retired in 2003.

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