The U.S. 7th Fleet sent carrier planes to support American forces in South Vietnam and to attack designated targets in North Vietnam. Fleet warships supporting operations near the coast occasionally used their big guns. The largest gun, shown here on the battleship New Jersey in October 1968, fired 16-inch shells. The war’s most notable naval gun was the technologically advanced 5-inch/54-caliber Mark 42, introduced in 1953. The enemy seldom endangered American warships; however, on April 19, 1972, two MiG-17s attacked the fleet. Pilot Nguyen Van Bay dropped two bombs that nearly hit the light cruiser Oklahoma City, causing slight damage, while Le Xuan Di dropped one bomb on destroyer Higbee, knocking out a 5-inch gun turret and wounding four men. The destroyer Sterrett claimed to have downed one of the MiGs with an air-to-air missile, but, in fact, both Vietnamese pilots returned unscathed. (Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)