Editing Operation Flaming Dart

{{Short description|Part of the Vietnam War (1965)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Operation Flaming Dart
|partof=the [[Vietnam War]]
|date=7–24 February 1965
|place=[[North Vietnam]]
|result=Strategic USAF and RVNAF failure; escalation of the war
|combatant1={{flag|United States}}<br>{{flag|South Vietnam}}
|combatant2={{flag|North Vietnam}}<br>{{flagicon image|FNL Flag.svg}} [[Vietcong]]
|commander1={{flagicon|United States}} [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]<br>{{flagicon|South Vietnam}} [[Nguyễn Cao Kỳ]]
|commander2={{flagicon|Vietnam}} [[Ho Chi Minh]]
}}
{{Campaignbox Vietnam War}}
'''Operation Flaming Dart''' was a U.S. and [[South Vietnam]]ese military operation, conducted in two parts, during the [[Vietnam War]].

==Background==
United States President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] in February 1965 ordered a series of reprisal air strikes after several attacks on U.S. bases by [[Vietcong]] units, particularly in reply to the Viet Cong [[Attack on Camp Holloway]].<ref name=Clodfelter>{{cite book|last=Clodfelter|first=Micheal|title=Vietnam in Military Statistics: A History of the Indochina Wars, 1772-1991|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=1995|isbn=9780786400270}}</ref>{{rp|58}}

==Operation==
Forty-nine retaliatory sorties were flown for Flaming Dart I on 7 February 1965. Flaming Dart I targeted North Vietnamese army bases near [[Đồng Hới]], while the second wave targeted Vietcong logistics and communications near the [[Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone]] (DMZ). Among the pilots was [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]] (RVNAF) Air Marshal [[Nguyễn Cao Kỳ]], then a member of Vietnam's ruling junta.<ref name=Clodfelter/>{{rp|58}}

[[U.S. Navy]] [[aircraft carriers]] launched aircraft for strikes on the barracks at Vit Thu Lu and Đồng Hới, both just north of the DMZ. The attack on Vit Thu Lu was cancelled because of heavy clouds over the target. The weather was little better at Dong Hoi, home of the [[People's Army of Vietnam]] (PAVN) [[325th Division (Vietnam)|325th Infantry Division]]. A 29-plane strike formation from {{USS|Coral Sea|CV-43|6}} approached the target under a low cloud ceiling at 500 knots. The [[Douglas A-4 Skyhawk|A-4 Skyhawks]] of attack squadrons [[VA-153 (U.S. Navy)|VA-153]] and [[Second VA-155 (U.S. Navy)|VA-155]] hit the barracks with rockets and 250-pound bombs. Prepared as they had not been during [[Operation Pierce Arrow]], North Vietnamese antiaircraft gunners threw up a curtain of fire from 37-millimeter guns, automatic weapons and small arms ashore and from [[Shantou-class gunboat|Swatow gunboats]] in the [[Kiến Giang River|Kien River]]. Some of this fire hit Lieutenant Edward A. Dickson's A-4 but he continued his attack before ejecting from his crippled plane, however his parachute failed to open and he plunged to his death. Right behind ''Coral Sea''s formation came 17 A-4s of [[VA-212 (U.S. Navy)|VA-212]] and [[VA-216 (U.S. Navy)|VA-216]] from the {{USS|Hancock|CV-19|6}} which dropped their ordnance on already burning and smoking camp facilities as [[Vought F-8 Crusader|F-8 Crusaders]] suppressed fire from antiaircraft sites. Completing the mission, RF-8A reconnaissance aircraft rolled in to photograph the scene for naval intelligence analysis. The results were unimpressive. The attack had destroyed or damaged only 22 of the 275 buildings in the camp.<ref name=Marolda>{{cite book|last=Marolda|first=Edward|title=The Approaching Storm, Conflict in Asia 1945-1965|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command|year=2009|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/publications/publications-by-subject/approaching-storm.html|isbn=978-0945274575}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>{{rp|81}}

[[File:Douglas A-1J Skyraider of VA-95 taxis to a catapult USS Ranger (CVA-61), 11 February 1965 (428-NPC-34705).jpg|thumb|An A-1J Skyraider of VA-95 aboard USS ''Ranger'', 11 February 1965.]]

In reaction to Flaming Dart the [[1965 Qui Nhơn hotel bombing|Vietcong attacked a hotel billeting U.S. personnel in Qui Nhơn]], prompting the Flaming Dart II airstrikes on 11 February 1965. The U.S. Navy launched 99 fighter-bombers from three carriers: ''Hancock'', ''Coral Sea'' and {{USS|Ranger|CV-61|6}}. The [[Douglas A-1 Skyraider|A-1 Skyraiders]] and A-4s from the carriers delivered tons of bombs and rockets to the target area at Chanh Hoa as F-8E Crusaders and [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II|F-4B Phantoms]] rocketed and strafed antiaircraft positions. A total of 33 F-8s, F-4s and A-1s protected the attack force should North Vietnamese MiGs based near [[Hanoi]] challenge the mission. Although MiGs did not interfere with the operation, antiaircraft gunners damaged a ''Coral Sea'' A-4C, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at [[Da Nang Air Base]]. Unused bombs still positioned on the wings exploded when the pilot landed at Danang, destroying the aircraft; the pilot survived. Lieutenant Commander [[Robert H. Shumaker]] of [[VF-154]] ejected from his stricken F-8 over Chanh Hoa where he was captured by PAVN troops.<ref name=Marolda/>{{rp|81–2}}

While the naval aircraft bombed Chanh Hoa, the RVNAF and the [[U.S. Air Force]] (USAF) attacked Chap Le. The RVNAF used 28 propeller-driven A-1s, while the USAF had an equal number of jet-powered [[F-100 Super Sabre]]s on target. While Americans with [[Farm Gate (military operation)|Farm Gate]] had been flying combat with their South Vietnamese counterparts, the USAF strikes in South Vietnam escalated the war by their use of jet aircraft.<ref name=Clodfelter/>{{rp|58–9}}

American reaction to Communist escalation was not restricted to the bombing of North Vietnam. Washington also escalated its use of air power when it authorized the use of U.S. jet attack aircraft to engage targets in the south. On 19 February 1965, USAF [[Martin B-57 Canberra|B-57]]s conducted the first jet strikes flown by Americans in support of South Vietnamese ground units. On 24 February 1965, USAF jets struck again, this time breaking up a Viet Cong ambush in the [[Central Highlands (Vietnam)|Central Highlands]] with a massive series of tactical air sorties. Again, this was an escalation in the U.S. use of air power.<ref name=Clodfelter/>{{rp|59}}

==Aftermath==
The Operation Flaming Dart raids were later followed by [[Operation Rolling Thunder]], which began a 44-month campaign on 2 March 1965.<ref name=Clodfelter/>{{rp|59}} Other aerial campaigns were also waged during the war. By war's end, the American bombing campaigns during the Vietnam War amounted to the heaviest aerial bombardment in history, totaling 7,662,000 tons of ordnance.<ref name=Clodfelter/>{{rp|225}}

==See also==
*[[List of bombing campaigns of the Vietnam War]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.c-span.org/video/?323857-1/1965-universal-newsreel-vietnam Universal newsreel detailing the attack on Camp Holloway and Operation Flaming Dart] 

{{coord missing|Vietnam}}

[[Category:Battles and operations of the Vietnam War in 1965|Flaming Dart]]
[[Category:Aerial bombing operations and battles]]
[[Category:Military operations involving the United States|Flaming Dart]]
[[Category:Aerial operations and battles of the Vietnam War|Flaming Dart]]