Holding the Line: The Naval Air Campaign In Korea

353 Pages·2019·26.282 MB·English

by  Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

HOLDING THE LINE
2
T H O M A S
M c K E LV E Y cL E AV E R
H O L D I N G
T H E L I N E
THE NAVAL AIR cAMp AIGN IN KOREA
OSPREY PUBLISHING
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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OSPREY is a trademark of Osprey Publishing Ltd
First published in Great Britain in 2019
This electronic edition published in 2019 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
© Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, 2019
Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
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permission in writing from the publishers.
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB 978 1 4728 3172 9; PB 978 1 4728 3173 6; eBook 978 1 4728 3173 6;
ePDF 978 1 4728 3169 9; XML 978 1 4728 3171 2
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Index by Zoe Ross
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Front cover: Two F2H-2 “Banshee” jets flying over Wonsan Harbor. (© Corbis via Getty Images).
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations 6
Foreword by Dr. Richard P. Hallion 8
Introduction 11
Chapter 1: Climb Angels Two-Five – Buster! 18
Chapter 2: The Revolt of the Admirals 27
Chapter 3: Forging a New Sword 53
Chapter 4: Naval Aviation Saves Itself 74
Chapter 5: Defeat Looms 85
Chapter 6: Inchon 103
Chapter 7: A Whole New War 122
Chapter 8: Disaster 136
Chapter 9: Holding the Line 153
Chapter 10: The Battle of Carlson’s Canyon and the
Hwachon Dam 167
Chapter 11: Weekend Warriors 176
Chapter 12: Operation Strangle 196
Chapter 13: “Death Valley” 209
Chapter 14: Who Owns the Night? 224
Chapter 15: The Cherokee 244
Chapter 16: The West Coast 258
Chapter 17: The Marine War 277
Chapter 18: The End in Sight 296
Chapter 19: The War Assessed 307
Bibliography 311
Index 313
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FJ-1 Fury aboard USS Boxer in 1948.
Convair B-36 intercontinental bomber.
Jesse L. Brown, Jr., the US Navy’s first African-American naval aviator.
Lockheed P2V-3 Neptune on takeoff from USS Midway.
FJ-1 Furies aboard USS Princeton in 1949.
Ryan FR-1 “Fireball” fighter.
McDonnell F2H-2P Banshee.
HMS Triumph and her air group in 1950.
Royal Navy Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 that operated from HMAS Sydney.
F9F-3 Panthers aboard USS Valley Forge, 1950.
VA-195 AD-3 Skyraider aboard USS Princeton, c.1950.
USS Juneau replenishing at Sasebo, summer 1950.
F9F-2 Panther aboard USS Philippine Sea, July 4, 1950.
F9F-2 prepares to launch from USS Valley Forge, July 19, 1950.
Il-10 abandoned at Kimpo airfield, September 1950.
F4U-4B overflying US ships at Inchon, Korea, September 15, 1950.
Ed Jackson landing aboard USS Philippine Sea on September 17, 1950.
USS Valley Forge and USS Leyte at Sasebo, October 1950.
F4U-4 Corsair crashes off Valley Forge, October 22, 1950.
AD-3 Skyraider armed with two 1,000lb bombs and eight 100lb
fragmentation bombs.
Bombs explode around the Sinuiju bridge, November 1950.
North Korean train strafed and bombed by Navy fliers.
VMF(N)-513 plane, November 2, 1950.
VF-31 pilots aboard USS Leyte belting cannon shells, November 7, 1950.
USS Valley Forge prepares to depart San Diego, December 1950.
list of illustrations
Douglas AD-4 Skyraider explodes on USS Philippine Sea, December 12,
1950.
Sikorsky HO3S-1 “Horse”, December 13, 1950.
USS Missouri fires a broadside, December 26, 1950.
VMF-323 Corsairs of USS Sicily during the Pusan Perimeter fighting.
Modified AD-4Q Skyraider aboard USS Essex, 1951.
AD-2 Skyraiders bomb a rail target in North Korea, 1951.
Downed bridge in “Carlson’s Canyon,” March 1951.
VA-195 Skyraider with aerial torpedo, April 1951.
Lt(jg) Ed Phillips of VA-195, April 1951.
Hwachon Dam struck by VA-195, May 1, 1951.
AD-4 Skyraider landing aboard USS Bon Homme Richard, July 3, 1951.
F9F-2 Panthers from USS Boxer over North Korea, July 15, 1951.
F9F-2B and F9F-2P return to USS Boxer, August 6, 1951.
USS Essex on fire off Korea, September 1951.
F4U-4 Corsairs over USS Boxer, September 4, 1951.
Ordnancemen on USS Bon Homme Richard fuse bombs, November 10,
1951.
F4U-4 Corsair ready for catapult launch from USS Bataan.
Two F9F-2 jets from USS Essex over Korea in 1951–52.
USS Buck, USS Missouri and USS St. Paul off the coast of Korea, 1952.
Snowy weather aboard USS Essex, January 18, 1952.
Neil A. Armstrong in his USNR uniform, May 23, 1952.
USS Barton with USS Philippine Sea and USS Missouri, July 1, 1952.
F6F-5K drone and its AD-4 Skyraider control aircraft aboard USS Boxer,
August 1952.
AJ-1 Savage attack plane aboard USS Oriskany, August 29, 1952.
1st Marine Air Wing planes assault hill positions, October 1, 1952.
Four Banshees fly over USS Kearsarge, October 29, 1952.
Grumman F9F-2 Panther bombs a bridge, November 1952.
Ordnancemen load bombs on an AD-4 Skyraider, November 25, 1952.
Two F2H-2 Banshees over North Korea, January 5, 1953.
Snowy flight deck of USS Oriskany, January 10, 1953.
USS Philippine Sea, May 1953.
Skyraiders of VF-194 aboard USS Boxer, June 1, 1953.
Guy P. Bordelon.
USS Valley Forge underway in 1950.
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FOREWORD
It is now almost seven decades since North Korean troops attacked South
Korea in the summer of 1950. Since that time, numerous changes have
taken place both in Asia and in the global strategic environment. The
Cold War, the defining construct for American foreign policy from 1948
through 1989, is over: today’s young Americans have no personal memory
of it, no recollection of the constant threat of global superpower nuclear
exchanges; no recollection of “duck and cover” drills; no recollection of
weekly siren and emergency radio tests; no recollection of a Europe divided
into free and captive camps, and a Berlin split by a grim gray wall with
watchtowers and border guards all too ready to shoot those trying to flee
the faux “workers’ paradise” that was East Germany; and no recollection
of proxy wars around the globe driven by the clash of Communist and
non-Communist ideologies. Communism itself has largely died, with even
those countries still paying homage to it led more by centralized self-serving
dictatorial bureaucrats seeking their market share of the world’s wealth than
Marxist true believers concerned over the fuzzily defined and ever-shifting
proletariat. Indeed, arguably there are more sincerely committed ideologues
extolling Marx, Engels, Lenin, etc. wandering about on American and
European university campuses than in the “real world” realpolitik of Cuba,
North Korea, Vietnam, the People’s Republic of China, etc.
It is well that Thomas Cleaver, a noted military and aviation historian,
has turned his formidable skills to examining one of the most important
of these wars, that fought in Korea from the mid-summer of 1950 to the
mid-summer of 1953. Known for decades as “The Forgotten War,” sand-
wiched between the Second World War that preceded it and the Vietnam
War—more properly the Southeast Asian War—that followed, Korea has
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foreword
now achieved a degree of historical appreciation that it lacked for decades,
thanks to a variety of historians, and the Federally sponsored Korean War
commemoration of 2000–03 that focused much-needed attention upon it.
Still, the war itself is not as well appreciated as it should be, particularly
regarding how air power functioned. Altogether, over the length of the
Korean War, UN coalition airmen flew approximately 1.17 million
sorties, of which 1 million were flown by American airmen. Of these,
nearly 668,000 were combat sorties, over 392,000 flown by the US Air
Force, and nearly 276,000 flown by the Navy and Marine Corps. Navy
and Marine aviators flew 41 percent of all combat sorties, including
nearly 127,000 of all interdiction sorties, almost 66,000 of all close air
support sorties, nearly 45,000 of all counter-air sorties, nearly 27,000
of all reconnaissance sorties, and nearly 12,000 of all maritime patrol
and antisubmarine warfare missions. It is a record that, given the state
of naval aviation technology and the capabilities of aircraft carriers of
the time, still impresses those who study it.
But mere numbers do not convey the heroism, dedication, resolve,
and tenacity of those who flew and fought over Korea’s blue-grey hills
and rocky coasts. After the war, former UN commander General
Matthew Ridgeway stated “Not only did air power save us from disaster,
but without it the mission of the United Nations forces could not have
been accomplished.” Indeed: but it came at the price of hundreds of
airmen killed, wounded, captured, and brutalized. But because of them,
and all those who fought on land, sea, and in the air, South Korea was
saved, and afforded the chance to become what it is today: an immensely
successful nation with a highly educated and influential populace. Today,
from orbit, one looks down at night on a dark world, with the world’s
successful nations clearly illuminated and outlined by lights, a measure
of their prosperity and development. In contrast to these, North Korea
is black, undeveloped, desolate, so much so that, looking from space, it
seems that South Korea is a large island off by itself, separated from the
Asian mainland. The naval and Marine airmen who flew and fought and
too frequently died to preserve South Korea made that picture possible:
a golden legacy for those who wore golden wings.
Dr. Richard P. Hallion
Shalimar, FL
September 2018
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