Description
Officially Licensed US Navy RVAH-13 Bats Squadron Sticker — Fifteen Years of Flying Into the Fire
The Bats flew the most dangerous reconnaissance missions of the Vietnam War — and paid the price that proved it.
Reconnaissance Attack Squadron 13 — the Bats — was established as Heavy Attack Squadron Thirteen (VAH-13) on 3 January 1961 at NAS Sanford, Florida, initially equipped with the A3D-2 Skywarrior. After completing initial training, the squadron deployed aboard the newly commissioned USS Kitty Hawk for her shakedown cruise, then transferred to the Pacific Fleet. With the escalation of the Vietnam War, RVAH-13 transitioned to the RA-5C Vigilante and was redesignated in November 1964, joining the growing roster of RVAH squadrons tasked with the most hazardous mission in naval aviation: pre- and post-strike photographic reconnaissance over the most heavily defended airspace in North Vietnam. The Vigilante would suffer the highest loss rate of any U.S. Navy combat aircraft during the war, and RVAH-13’s experience reflected that grim reality. In December 1965 alone, the Bats lost two aircraft — one crew killed in action, another’s navigator captured and held as a POW until 1973. On 3 February 1966, yet another RA-5C was downed by anti-aircraft fire; the pilot, Lieutenant Gerald Coffee, was captured and endured seven years as a prisoner of war before repatriation. The Bats deployed repeatedly to Vietnam aboard USS Kitty Hawk and other carriers, flying combat sorties through the heaviest concentrations of SAMs, AAA, and MiGs in Southeast Asia. After Vietnam, RVAH-13 continued Cold War Mediterranean deployments before being disestablished on 30 June 1976 at NAS Key West, Florida after more than fifteen years of active service — a legacy defined by extraordinary courage in the face of extraordinary danger.
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