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to remember
Knapp, Herman Ludwig (Herm), Col.
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On April 24, 1967, Charles Austin was serving as bombardeir / navigator on board Major Herman L. Knapp's F-4C phantom fighter bomber. The aircraft was lead in a flight of four dispatched from Udorn Airfield, Thailand on a strike mission over North Vietnam. The strike was on a five span bridge four miles north of the center of Hanoi. The raids purpose was to sever North Vietnam rail links with communist China. An electrical transformer station was seven miles north of Hanoi and was also attacked.
During the strike, Knapp and Austins aircraft was struck by a flak burst, disintergrated, and two large pieces of flaming wreakage were seen to strike the ground in a fireball. No parachutes were seen and no beepers were heard. Nevertheless, it was apparently believed that Knapp and Austin may have exited the aircraft, as both men were classified Missing In Action rather than Killed In Action, Body Not Recovered. Eleven years later, based on no information to indicate the two men were alive, they were administratively declared dead.
Other Comments:
Herman Ludwig Knapp
Colonel
PERSONAL DATA
Home of Record: Roselle, NJ
Date of birth: 04/11/1929
MILITARY DATA
Service: United States Air Force
Grade at loss: O4
Rank: Colonel
Note: Promoted while in MIA status
ID No: 150204721
MOS: 1115F: Pilot
Length Service: 26
Unit: 433RD TAC FTR SQDN, 8TH TAC FTR WING, 7TH AF
CASUALTY DATA
Start Tour: 09/23/1966
Incident Date: 04/24/1967
Casualty Date: 06/07/1978
Age at Loss: 49
Location: Province not reported, North Vietnam
Remains: Body not recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died while missing
Casualty Reason: Fixed Wing - Pilot
Casualty Detail: Air loss or crash over land
1965-1967, F-4 Phantom
From Year 1965
To Year 1967
Personal Memories
Major Knapp was lead in a four ship attack on a 5 span bridge north of Hanoi
Image
F-4 Phantom Details
Aircraft/Missile Information
From Wikipedia: The F-4 Phantom was designed as a fleet defense fighter for the U.S. Navy, and first entered service in 1960. By 1963, it had been adopted by the U.S. Air Force for the fighter-bomber role. When production ended in 1981, 5,195 Phantom IIs had been built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft.[7] Until the advent of the F-15 Eagle, the F-4 also held a record for the longest continuous production with a run of 24 years. Innovations in the F-4 included an advanced pulse-doppler radar and extensive use of titanium in its airframe.[8] Despite the imposing dimensions and a maximum takeoff weight of over 60,000 pounds (27,000 kg),[9] the F-4 had a top speed of Mach 2.23 and an initial climb of over 41,000 ft per minute (210 m/s).[10] Shortly after its introduction, the Phantom set 15 world records,[11] including an absolute speed record of 1,606.342 mph (2,585.086 km/h), and an absolute altitude record of 98,557 ft (30,040 m).[12] Although set in 1959?1962, five of the speed records were not broken until 1975 when the F-15 Eagle came into service.[11] The F-4 could carry up to 18,650 pounds (8,480 kg) of weapons on nine external hardpoints, including air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, and unguided, guided, and nuclear bombs.[13] Since the F-8 Crusader was to be used for close combat, the F-4 was designed, like other interceptors of the day, without an internal cannon;[14] In a dogfight, the RIO or WSO (commonly called "backseater" or "pitter") assisted in spotting opposing fighters, visually as well as on radar. It became the primary fighter-bomber of both the Navy and Air Force by the end of the Vietnam War. Due to its distinctive appearance and widespread service with United States military and its allies, the F-4 is one of the best-known icons of the Cold War. It served in the Vietnam War and Arab?Israeli conflicts, with American F-4 crews achieving 277 aerial victories in South East Asia and completing countless ground attack sorties.[15] The F-4 Phantom has the distinction of being the last United States fighter to attain ace status in the 20th century. During the Vietnam War, the USAF had one pilot and two WSOs,[16] and the USN one pilot and one RIO,[17] become aces in air-to-air combat. It was also a capable tactical reconnaissance and Wild Weasel (suppression of enemy air defenses) platform, seeing action as late as 1991, during Operation Desert Storm.[4][5] The F-4 Phantom II was also the only aircraft used by both of the USA's flight demonstration teams.[18] The USAF Thunderbirds (F-4E) and the USN Blue Angels (F-4J) both switched to the Phantom for the 1969 season; the Thunderbirds flew it for five seasons,[19] the Blue Angels for six.[20] The baseline performance of a Mach 2-class fighter with long range and a bomber-sized payload would be the template for the next generation of large and light/middle-weight fighters optimized for daylight air combat. The Phantom would be replaced by the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon in the U.S. Air Force. In the U.S. Navy, it would be replaced by the F-14 Tomcat and the F/A-18 Hornet which revived the concept of a dual-role attack fighter.[21]
