February 18, 2019
In this niche but accessible history, aviation writer Winchester (American Military Aircraft) recounts a Broken Arrow incident (code for the loss of a nuclear weapon) that occurred onboard the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga in December 1965. During a drill to test preparing a nuclear strike from an aircraft carrier, an A-4E Skyhawk fighter bomber loaded with an unarmed one-kiloton nuclear weapon slipped off the elevator of the aircraft carrier and landed in the water upside down, sinking more than 16,000 feet along with its pilot, Lt. Doug Webster. Winchester devotes attention not only to Webster’s background and the process of notifying his family of his death, but also to why the incident occurred and why the military kept some crucial details quiet—namely that a nuclear weapon was involved. (This later caused public uproar about potential health hazards, particularly in Japan, when Greenpeace disclosed the payload’s location in 1989.) Other aspects of naval aviation are also explored, including carrier operations against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War and the Navy’s role in overall U.S. national nuclear strategy. Despite occasionally wandering away from its center subject, this informative account will appeal to readers interested in the details of Cold War nuclear strategy or air operations during the Vietnam War.