This was because the North Vietnamese were not yet fully aware of the payload and night attack capabilities of the newly introduced A-6 Intruder, but in the coming years they would learn this lesson, much to their detriment. The next day the North Vietnamese released a press statement in which they attributed the destruction to the B-52 Stratofortress. A later damage assessment counted at least 25 bomb craters in the target area with heavy damage to the plant. By the time they began firing their antiaircraft guns both Intruders were already on the way home. The North Vietnamese were taken by surprise that night. The second plane had problems with its release mechanism but the bombardier-navigator was able to manually drop his entire load as well. The pilots separated their aircraft laterally before Hays made his run, releasing all his bombs onto the target. ![]() Soon the powerplant, sitting on the northeast side of Uong Bi, appeared below. They stayed that way until about 25 miles from the target and then began a slow climb to 1,800 feet, where they could safely release their bomb loads. The Intruder’s crews rendezvoused soon after takeoff and leveled off below 500 feet, staying low to avoid enemy radar detection. Their target was the Uong Bi powerplant, 12 miles north of Haiphong, a port city in Communist-controlled North Vietnam. Bill Yarbrough and bombardier-navigator Lieutenant Bud Roemish flew the other A-6 as their wingmen. ![]() ![]() Commander Ron Hays, executive officer of Squadron VA-85, piloted the lead plane with his bombardier-navigator Lieutenant Ted Been seated next to him. A pair of A-6 Intruder attack planes quickly rose from the carrier’s deck accompanied by an E-2A Electronic Warfare aircraft for later communications. A Soviet intelligence-gathering ship was nearby, so the planes operated under radio silence. The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk prepared three aircraft for launch from its powerful catapults. It was dark and difficult to see on the night of April 18, 1966, but the U.S.
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