McDonnell F-4B Phantom II, part four

The F-4B Phantom II also served with the United States Marines Corps, when the VMFA-314 "Black Knights" squadron received the F-4B in June 1962 at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, in California. The first ones to be deployed in a conflict were the ones of the VMFA-531 "Gray Ghosts" when, on 10th May 1965 they were assigned to Da Nang air base, in the Republic of Vietnam, in order to provide air defence for the USMC.
The main role of the F-4B there was to provide close-air-support missions and soon later, more squadrons, VMFA-314, VMFA-232, VMFA-323 and VMFA-542 arrived at the Da Nang airfield.
Three MiGs were claimed by the USMC's F-4Bs, two of them while in an exchange duty with the Unites States Air Force, at the cost of 75 airplanes lost, most of them to anti-air fire and ground accidents.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II#United_States_Marine_Corps
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II, part three

There's not any doubt that the Phantom II was the most successful fighter design of the 1960s. It was powered by two General Electrics J79-GE 8A, 8B or 8C, depending on the sub-variant, rated all of them at 10900lb st of thrust (48.49Kn).
Six hundred and forty-nine F-4Bs were built between June 1961 and March 1967 both for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.
These featured the APQ-72 fire control radar and was armed with four or six AIM-9 Sidewinders, but could carry a wide load of bombs and air-to-ground missiles.
The famous airplane with the Japanese flag in the tail, served with the VF-111 Squadron, on board of the USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and it was delivered on 6th May 1966. It served until 1976 when it was upgraded to F-4N.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II, part two

When the gulf of Tonkin incident happened, 13 of 31 of the navy squadrons, were equipped with the F-4B from the USS Constellation (CV-64) where they departed from to make their first combat sortie on the Vietnam War on 5th August 1964, escorting A-4 Skyhawks on the operation Pierce Arrow. In this context, the first aerial victory of a F-4B took place on 9th April 1965, when a F-4B from the VF-96 "Fighting Falcons" squadron manned by Lt. (JG) Terence M. Murphy and his RIO, Ensign Ronald Fegan, shot down a Chinese MiG-17, however, shortly after the F-4B was shot down too, by am AIM-7 Sparrow from one of their wingmen. There is controversy however, as if it's not completely clear if it was shot down by an Sparrow missile or by the guns of the MiG.
Anyway, later, on 17th June 1965 an F-4B piloted by Cdr. Louis Page and Lt. John C. Smith shot down the first North Vietnamese MiG of the war.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II#United_States_Navy
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

McDonnell Douglas F-4B Phantom II, part one

The VF-121 Peacemakers squadron became the first operational units to be equipped with the F-4A, at NAS Miramar, California on 30th December 1960 while the VF-74 Be-Devilers squadron was the first deployable Phantom one when, on 8th July 1961 received the F4H-1s (F-4B) and, after completing carrier qualification operations in October 1961, the first full carrier deployment was completed between August 1962 and March 1963 on board of USS Forrestal (CV-59). The second Atlantic Fleet squadron to receive the F-4B was the VF-102 Diamondbacks, while the first one in the Pacific Fleet to receive them was the  VF-114 Aardvarks that took place in the September 1962 cruise on board of USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63).

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F-4_Phantom_II
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters