Yankee Station - Definition

Yankee Station was a point in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam used by U.S. Navy aircraft carriers to launch raids in the Vietnam War.

The name derived from it being the geographic reference point "Y", pronounced "Yankee" in the NATO phonetic alphabet. It was located 160 km (100 mi) from the coast, at 16° N latitude and 110° E longitude.

Normally there were three carriers at the station, each conducting air operations for twelve hours, then off for twelve hours. One of the carriers would operate from noon to midnight, another from midnight to noon, and one during daylight hours, which gave 24-hour coverage plus additional effort during daylight hours, when sorties were most effective.

The first aircraft carrier at Yankee Station was USS Kitty Hawk, which was ordered there in April 1964, joined by Constellation in June. (The incidents leading to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution happened only months later.)

There was a corresponding Dixie Station in the southern Gulf.