As of right now, the F-8 has only been officially credited with one confirmed guns-only MiG kill thanks to lt. Cdr. Kirkwood’s aerial win
The U.S. Navy’s first fully operational supersonic aircraft, the F-8 Crusader built by Chance Vought, entered service in 1957. The Crusader, a powerful “MiG Killer” in Vietnam who was capable of Mach 1.8 speeds, achieved the final gun-based U.S. aerial victory in naval aviation history.
According to Peter Mersky’s account in his book F-8 Crusader Units of the Vietnam War, Lt. Cdr. Robert L. Kirkwood recorded this kill on July 21, 1967. Kirkwood really called the kill he achieved with his Colt-Browning Mk 12 20mm cannons on a North Vietnamese MiG-17 that day “a much-desired guns-only” kill.
Kirkwood, the commander of the second section and a Target Combat Air Patrol (TARCAP) pilot from VF-24, locked on to a MiG-17 with an AIM-9D and fired, but VF-24 Executive Officer (XO) Cdr. Marion Isaacks’ missile struck the Fresco first. Kirkwood positioned himself behind a second MiG and fired a third AIM-9. As the Sidewinder exploded, the enemy fighter veered to the left, and Kirkwood engaged the MiG with 20mm cannon fire at a distance of roughly 600 feet before continuing to fire at approximately 300 feet. The MiG crashed, and the pilot could be seen ejecting.
Mersky claims that Kirkwood wrote the account of his engagement as soon as he got back onboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31).
“We only saw the first four MiGs initially; the second four got behind us undetected. I lit my ‘burner, put my nose on a MiG, and selected a missile. In my excitement, I had buck fever, didn’t wait for a tone, and fired. The missile went ballistic,” Kirkwood recalls.
Kirkwood launched the third missile at a third Fresco after firing a second Sidewinder at a second MiG that had been struck by Cdr. Isaacks. “I fired a third missile. It ran hot and true, but after it detonated, the MiG was still flying. The pilot reversed to the right. I cut him off and charged my guns. I was in a good position, at his 6 o’clock, and not pulling too much G. I wanted to shoot from close in. I resisted the temptation to fire until I was at about 600 ft. I squeezed the trigger and closed it to 300 ft. I could see my shells hitting the MiG’s fuselage – patches of skin appeared to dissolve and bright, the white fire seemed to fill the fuselage and leak out through the lacy skin.”
Kirkwood swerved to the left to avoid a collision while examining the MiG. “I didn’t think there was much chance he would turn to attack me, but I couldn’t turn my back on him. The pilot ejected after I passed him.”
He linked up with the other Crusaders as they were heading back to their ship after he had taken the kill. At this time, Isaacks informed Kirkwood that the combat had resulted in the shooting away of three-quarters of Kirkwood’s starboard horizontal stabilator. Kirkwood approached his carrier as usual, but the LSO waved him away when he noticed the missing stabilator. Thus, the remainder of the returning air wing was kept from landing while the severely damaged Crusader was kept from colliding with the flight deck. Following the recovery of the carrier’s other aircraft, the LSO brought Kirkwood in for a routine landing.
As of right now, the aerial victory won by Kirkwood remains the only confirmed guns-only MiG kill credited to the F-8 (despite though previous kills recorded by Crusader drivers during the Vietnam War used a combination of 20mm fire plus a well-placed Sidewinder strike).
Photo by Pete Sakaris / U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force