Argentine Navy Skyray

[comrade harps]

Douglas F4D-2 Skyray
a/c 16, 3 Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Luchador (3EL), Comando de la Aviación Naval Argentina (Argentine Naval Aviation Command)
ARA Independencia, Atlanic Ocean, May 1960



Having replaced its F9F-2B Panthers, the Argentine Navy's first combat deployments with the F4D-2 Skyray were a series of Atlantic crossings in 1959. Protecting UN convoys transiting the South Atlantic to and from Africa, the Independencia's force of de Havilland Canada-built CS2F-2 Trackers and Sikorsky HSS-1N (SH-34J) Seabats were kept busy on ASW duties, engaging several Red Navy Whiskey class submarines.  Meanwhile, the pilots of the carrier's two fast jet squadrons of Douglas A4D-2N (A-4C) Skyhawks and Douglas F4D-2 (F-6B) Skyrays had little to do other than train, test convoy air defences and fly armed patrols.




ARA Independencia was a Commonwealth Class carrier built in Canada and based on a modernised and enlarged British Centaur class design. Commonwealth Class carriers were used by Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa. ARA Independencia entered service in 1956 and was mostly used to escort convoys across the South Atlantic. That changed in early 1960, when, after transiting the South Atlantic to Libreville, Gabon, the carrier cruised north. The Skyhawks conducted 17 bombing sorties against insurgent positions in Guinea and Mauritania during the first week of March, the Skyrays practising top cover. After a stopover in the Canaries, the Independencia joined Task Force 62.5.3 (TF 62.5.3), which, after a period of training, moved out to provide defence against Red naval air, surface and subsurface activities in the North Atlantic.




TF 62.5.3 was subjected to a series of coordinated, high-intensity air and submarine attacks between 10 April and 3 May 1960 as part of the Reds' Operacio Botelo Du. The Independencia's Skyrays (backed by the Sidewinder-armed Skyhawks flying under visual flight rules) were in the thick of the air action, intercepting the Red's large, long-range, conventionally-armed anti-shipping missiles launched by Tu-16 Badgers. Despite missile attacks often being supported by jamming, 3EL's pilots became adept at using their combination of APQ-50B radar, Aero 13G fire-control radar and AN/AAS-15 IRST to find, track and target the missiles with their armament of AAM-N-7 Sidewinder IA (AIM-9B) Sidewinders, GAR-3A (AIM-4F) Falcons and four 20mm Colt Mk 12 cannon. Small but predictable, the subsonic AS-1 Kennel could be shot down with some ease once found, but the new, supersonic AS-2 Kipper came as a surprise and was difficult to down. The Badger-launched Kennels and Kippers had to run the gauntlet of fighters, SAMS, naval anti-aircraft fire, decoys and jamming, but were launched en masse and backed with stand-off EW. The missiles caused considerable harm to TF 62.5.3, resulting in significant human casualties, four sinkings and several vessels receiving heavy damage.




3EL's aircraft 16 is seen here as photographed in early May 1960, after the badly mauled Task Force had been ordered to recover to North America. The Skyray features 5 red star kill markings and was 3EL's highest-scoring plane during TF 62.5.3. Lieutenant Commander Lionel Messi downed seven Red missiles, three of which while flying a/c 16: two Kennels (one each with Sidewinder and Falcon) and a Kipper with a Falcon. Lieutenant Pedro de Ciancio capped a single Kennel with a Sidewinder while flying a/c 16 (and was credited with two more Kennels flying other Skyrays) and Lieutenant Ernesto Grillo used a/c 16 to bag a Kipper with a Falcon (to which he added three Kennels flying a/c 14).




At no point were the Argentine Skyray pilots vectored against the Badgers that were launching the missiles and conducting EW. This was the exclusive purview of USN aviators, who claimed 36 Badgers during TF 62.5.3, although Red records indicate only seven losses to TF 62.5.3 fighters. It is said that the Argentine pilots on TF 62.5.3 had nicknames for names for their American counterparts, none of which were complimentary.

[zenrat]

Good job Comrade.

[chrisonord]

That really suits that colour scheme, very nice  indeed. The back story is excellent  too, I  could  quite  happily read more of that 
Chris

[TomZ]

Looks very good!

TomZ

[PR19_Kit]

An excellent model and an intriguing backstory. 

[sandiego89]

Well done, I like it

[Old Wombat]

Looks excellent in that scheme, comrade!

[Weaver]

That's a pretty scheme on a pretty plane!  Great backstory too - well done.

[sandiego89]

I think LtCdr Messi would have been better off leaving the Falcons at home 

[comrade harps]

Thanks for your positive responses. I really like this one. The Skyray is a tidy looking plane and I wanted to respect that with an elegant colour scheme, simple markings and a neat loadout. Let the beauty of the airframe shine.

Actually, the Skyray's nose reminds me of the Skyhawk (which is a bit like a tailed delta evolution of the Skyray's tailess delta - both Douglas, so that makes some sense) but also of a duck or goose head.

I think LtCdr Messi would have been better off leaving the Falcons at home 

I did think about popping on some Sparrows as AIM-7Ds, but the Falcon is compact and looked neater. I think where the Falcon gets a bad name, from what I've read, is with the IR versions; they took too long to cool and there wasn't enough coolant. Anyway, it might be a case where the Americans were offloading their AIM-4Fs to export customers. To put a positive spin on it, the Falcon was by comparison a mature technology and possibly more reliable. In the story, Falcons do appear to be doing the trick.

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice! 

[Hotte]

Nice bird 
Lieutenant Commander Lionel Messi 

Hotte

[AndrewF]

Neat.

[zenrat]

Heh heh.  Smoke me a kipper Lionel, i'll be back for breakfast...

[comrade harps]

Nice bird 
Lieutenant Commander Lionel Messi 

Hotte

Most of my aircrew are soccer players from the relevant nation.