Yankee Station

Yankee Station (officially Point Yankee) was a fixed coordinate off the coast of Vietnam where U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and support ships operated in open waters over a nine-year period during the Vietnam War. The location was used primarily by aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 to launch strikes over North Vietnam. While the coordinate's official designation was "Point Yankee", it was universally referred to as Yankee Station. Carriers conducting air operations at Yankee Station were said to be "on the line" (in combat) and statistical summaries were based on days on the line. Yankee Station was initially located at 16° 00′ N, 110° 00′ E, however with a massive increase in operations over North Vietnam in 1966 the station was moved about 145 miles (230 km) northwest to 17° 30′ N, 108° 30′ E, placing it about 90 miles (145 km) from the North Vietnamese shore. Yankee Team beginnings The name derived from it being the geographic reference point "Y", pronounced "Yankee" in the NATO phonetic alphabet. In turn the term Point Yankee derived from the launch point for "Yankee Team" aerial reconnaissance missions over Laos conducted in 1964. The first ship operations at Point Yankee took place in April 1964. Starting 13 April 1966 Yankee Station was moved further toward the Gulf of Tonkin at 17° 30' N and 108° 30' E, about 190 km due east of Đồng Hới. Early missions were flown in the Kingdom of Laos during the Laotian Civil War. Begun 19 May 1964 as medium and low level U.S. Navy photo reconnaissance missions over the Plain of Jars, it was soon ramped up to "armed reconnaissance" covered by U.S. Air Force F-100 Super Sabre fighter escorts from Tan Son Nhut. The classified operation was dubbed Yankee Team on 25 May 1964. Notice of their non-emergency sorties was forwarded from CINCPAC to Washington 36 hours in advance for possible cancellation. A command post was set up in 2nd Air Division headquarters. A U.S. Air Force liaison officer was posted to to coordinate the naval aviators with Air Force operations; in turn, a party of five naval personnel were detailed to the command post.