Downed pilot with back-up .22 in Viet Nam
April 10th, 2008
I posted this over on Murdoc Online as part of a post on a proposed three-engined interceptor variant of the A-5 Vigilante bomber, but I think GunPundit types who don’t frequent MO will like it, too.
18 RA-5Cs were lost in combat during the war, giving it the highest loss rate of any Navy aircraft in the conflict. 13 Vigilantes were shot down by flak, two were shot down by SAMs, one was shot down by a MiG-21, and the other two were lost to unknown causes over enemy territory.
The loss rate was high because the missions were unusually hazardous. Vigilantes were used for both pre-strike and post-strike reconnaissance. Pre-strike missions were relatively safe, but the North Vietnamese quickly realized after a target was bombed a reconnaissance aircraft would soon arrive to evaluate the damage, and so post-strike missions were generally conducted in the face of an enemy that was thoroughly alert and waiting. Vigilantes flying post-strike reconnaissance missions tried to follow the strike elements in just after the last bombs fell to reduce the risk.
Only 9 of the 36 of the aircrew shot down were rescued, with others either killed or taken prisoner. In one case, the rescue was a grim adventure like something out of an action movie. Lieutenant JG Francis Prendergast was the back-seat RAN on an RA-5C that was shot down over North Vietnam on 9 March 1967. According to one version of the story (there are other versions that differ slightly in details), he was captured near the seashore by North Vietnamese militiamen, with two of them assigned to guard him. One was armed with a rifle, the other with Prendergast’s own 0.38-caliber revolver, standard equipment for aircrew and carried externally in a shoulder holster.
Prendergast carried the revolver with the first two chambers unloaded as a safety measure, and as a backup also had a small 0.22 caliber automatic pistol hidden inside his flight suit. When a rescue helicopter and support aircraft showed up, strafing drove off all the North Vietnamese except the guards, who felt safer staying with Prendergast than running for cover.
This proved a fatal mistake. While the two North Vietnamese were distracted by the noise and confusion, Prendergast pulled out the little automatic, cocked it, and shot the militiaman with the rifle in the head. The other militiaman tried to shoot Prendergast with the revolver, only to find that the hammer fell on an empty cylinder, and was shot himself an instant later. Prendergast swam out to the rescue helicopter and was retrieved.
The .22 you carry is better than the .44 you don’t.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:24 am
As I recall from hearing the tale back then, pistol was a Beretta M71 ‘Jaguar’ alloy frame .22 with 3.5′ barrel. I immediately bought one based on the report, and on the recommedation of our Master Chief who had one and had let me try his. I never used mine in anything quite as exciting, but carried it for alot of years and still own it. Today it rides in the survival ruck I keep in my vehicle. Like the proverbial Timex watch, it works just fine, lasts a long time and shoots MUCH more accurately than the S&W Model 43 Airweight Kit Gun it replaced. Interesting that the Israeli Masaad acquired some of equipped with with supressors. I shot one in the early 1980s. They function with any .22 LR ammo, including the RWS or Eley subsonic HP. Larger capacity magazines from the M76 will ‘work.’ In Europe they sold a two-barrel set which included the 3.5 inch pocket gun with an extra 6′ tube. The smallest, lightest, most accurate .22 pistol for the weight and cube I have ever seen. Every once in a while you will see one used. If you do, buy it.