The Naval Air War in Korea

Contents

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pp. v-

Preface

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pp. vii-x

More than thirty years have passed since the signing of a truce agree ment at Panmunjom ended the United States' first experience with modern limited war. Since that time, an uneasy peace has prevailed, punctuated by violations that cost the lives of North and South Koreans, and Americans as well. These violations underscore an important point: ...

Acknowledgments

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pp. xi-xii

1/ Naval Aviation After the Great Pacific War

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pp. 1-25

On August 29, 1945, the battleship Missouri, accompanied by Iowa and South Dakota, entered Tokyo Bay and dropped anchor not far from where Commodore Perry had anchored on a very different mission in 1853. Already Americans were ashore, rescuing prisoners and preparing for the transfer of power from a defeated Emperor to an occupation government headed by General Douglas MacArthur, America's own five ...

2/ The Opening Round: Preserving the Pusan Pocket

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pp. 26-56

The invasion of South Korea shocked the West. As military historian Walter Millis wrote, "To the American people it was a truly and completely unprovoked attack. The reaction was not (as it had been to Pearl Harbor) one of massive unity in defense and retaliation; it was one, rather, of bewilderment. Nothing quite like this had ever happened to us before..."¹ In shape, Korea resembles an appendix of the Asian mainland, 600 ...

3/ Victory—and Retreat

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pp. 57-87

Korea's wartime history separates roughly into four phases: the North Korean invasion, the Allied counterassault beginning in mid-September 1950, the Chinese intervention from early November to the beginning of January 1951, and, finally, the seesaw war of stalemate that followed until the armistice of July 1953. Following General Walton Walker's defense of the Pusan pocket, the second phase of the Korean ...

4/ Interdiction and Attrition

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pp. 88-119

On January 15, 1951, United Nations forces established defensive lines in the south and began to consolidate their position. To hinder North Korea and Chinese resupply, the Navy blockaded Wonsan harbor, and eventually seized control of the harbor islands themselves. This bold move ultimately furnished Allied pilots with a small emergency airstrip on the tiny island of Yo'do. After nearly a month of consolidation, Allied ...

5/ Air Pressure

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pp. 120-150

Starting the summer of 1952, the Korean air war shifted from interdiction for its own sake to an increasing number of creative and well considered "air pressure" strikes aimed at the heart of North Korea's military and remaining industrial strength. TF 77 eagerly accepted the new direction of the air war, and, with the Cherokee strike program, launched one of its more important aspects. The seeds of this change had ...

6/ The Struggle for Air Superiority

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pp. 151-187

FEAF'S Korean experience evokes images: Sabres dueling with MiGs, prowling B-26s striking by night, noisy little FACs, and stately B-29s pressing on to their targets despite MiGs and flak, in the grand tradition of Schweinfurt and Regensburg. The Navy and Marine air war conjurs different ones, mostly of Corsairs on CAS strikes, and ADs, Panthers, and Banshees going after bridges and rail lines. In fact, the naval air war, ...

7/ The Korean Legacy

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pp. 188-209

In August, the North Koreans released their prisoners, and gave the world another perspective on the war. To Western nations shocked at the treatment of prisoners by Imperial Japan during the Second World War, the outright brutality of the North Koreans and, to a lesser extent, the Chinese toward their captives offered appalling testimony to the moral bankruptcy of both the Kim and Mao regimes. The gaunt men ...

Specifications of Selected Naval Aircraft

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pp. 210-212

Notes

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pp. 213-224

Sources and Selected Bibliography

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pp. 225-234

Index

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pp. 235-244