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221.2:K 84 Naval Leadership Korea in The Months First Six Thomas B. Buell The U.S. Navy and the Korean War Naval Historical Center r ;lare i l\bs; Naval Leadership Korea in The Months First Six Thomas B. Buell The U.S. Navy and the Korean War Edward Marolda J. Series Editor Naval Historical Center Department of the Navy Washington 2002 Secretary ofthe Navy’s Advisory Subcommittee on Naval History Dr. David Alan Rosenberg (Chair) Commander Wesley A. Brown, CEC, USN (Ret.) Dr. Frank G. Burke Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn, USN (Ret.) Vice Admiral George W. Emery, USN (Ret.) Dr. Jose-Marie Griffiths Captain R. Robinson Harris, USN (Ret.) Dr. Beverly SchreiberJacoby Rear Admiral John M. Kersh, USN (Ret.) Dr. James R. Reckner Dr. William N. Still Jr. Ms. Virginia S. Wood CoverdesignbyMorganI. Wilbur BookdesignbyJohnA Grier Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Buell, Thomas B. Naval leader—ship in Korea : the first six months / Thomas B. Buell p. cm. (The U.S. Navy and the Korean War) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-945274-46-7 (alk. paper) — 1. Korean War, 1950—1953 Naval operations, American. 2. United States. — Navy History. I. Title. II. Series. DS920.A2 B84 2002 951.904’245—dc21 2001055890 © The paper used in this publication meets the requirements for permanence established by the American National Standard for Information Sciences “Permanence ofPaper for Printed Library Materials’’ (ANSI Z39.48—1984). Forsalebythe SuperintendentofDocuments, U.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice Internet:bookstore.gpo.gov Phone:tollfree(866)512-1800; DCarea(202)512-1800 Fax:(202)512-2250Mail:StopSSOP,Washington.DC20402-0001 ISBN 0-16-051080-5 To the Sailors whofollowed the naval leaders 80-G-423716 NA RearAdmiralJaynes H. Doyleawards the Silver Stardecorationfor braveryatInchon to landingcraft Sailors, leftto right, Seaman ChanceyH. Vogt, Seaman William H. Tagan, Engineman Fireman RichardP. Vinson, andSeamanApprenticePaulJ. Gregory. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries https://archive.org/details/navalleadershipiOOwash 1 Contents Foreword vii Preface viii Prologue 1 North Korea Attacks 7 Inchon 18 To the Yalu and Back 3 Epilogue 48 Sidebars The Inspector Generals Raid 6 Blue Flag Messages 12 Truman and the Marines 20 Doyle’s Army Passengers 27 Maggie Higgins at Inchon 30 About the Author 49 Sources 49 Suggested Reading 50 V KN-13813 Collection, Arc Navy On thecover, Korean Warnavalleaders, rightto left, AdmiralForrestP. Sherman, ChiefofNavalOperations; ViceAdmiralC. TurnerJoy, CommanderNavalForces, FarEast;andRearAdmiralArleighA. Burke,Joy’s deputychiefofstaff. Herbert C. Hahn’s coloredpencil draining “A Hit”depicts a U.S. Navy battleship strikingtargetsat Wonsan. Foreword HIS MONOGRAPH IS THE SECOND Marine, Army, and Air Force counterparts in the study in the Naval Historical Center’s new planning and successful execution ofsome ofthe series commemorating the 50rh Anniversary most demanding operations of the Korean War. ofthe Korean War. The series recognizes and We are grateful to Tom Buell for taking on the remembers the contributions and sacrifices ofour project and so ably setting the record straight on the Sailors and Marines in the undeclared war on the complex command and control relationships Korean peninsula. While most monographs in the wrought by the Korean War. His extensive use of series focus on operational aspects ofthe war, Naval oral histories brings to the reader an insider’s view of Leadership in Korea illuminates the role ofthe Navy’s the difficulties surrounding much of the operational top flag officers in Washington, in the Pacific area, planning in the early months. During that time, and in the Korean theater ofoperations before and when staffs were limited and activity was high, these during the first chaotic six months ofwar. naval leaders also had to contend with operational To set the stage, naval veteran and historian restrictions imposed by the military chiefs and civil- Thomas B. Buell describes the contentious ian leaders in Washington. post—World War II debates in Congress over the I wish to express my appreciation to Dr. Edward roles and missions ofthe services in our nation’s J. Marolda, the series editor, and to the Naval national security. The future ofthe Navy’s aircraft Historical Foundation, the Marine Corps History carrier arm remained uncertain after the establish- and Museums Division, and Lieutenant Colonel ment ofan independent Air Force. The infighting Ward E. Scott, USMC, Navy-Marine Corps Korean between the Navy and the Air Force led to the firing War Commemoration Coordinator, for their gener- ofa ChiefofNaval Operations and a public relations ous support that made the publication ofthis work war that the Navy was losing. However, when North possible. As with all the works in the series, the views Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950, the expressed are those of the author and do not neces- threat to carrier aviation quickly dissipated. sarily reflect those ofthe Department of the Navy or Thanks to the leadership ofsix influential naval any other U.S. government agency. officers, U.S. forces were mobilized and in South Korea within three weeks. During the remainder of William S. Dudley that year, these six naval leaders interacted with their Director ofNaval History ; Preface W HEN DR. EDWARD MAROLDA Far East; Vice Admiral Arthur D. Struble, Com- J. ofthe Naval Historical Center invited mander Seventh Fleet and Commander Joint Task me to write about naval leaders ofthe Force 7; Rear Admiral James H. Doyle, Commander Korean War, I gladly assented. The experience was Task Force 90 and CommanderAmphibious Group 1 challenging and interesting for me, as I had only a and Rear Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, Deputy Chiefof basic knowledge of the war and its naval leaders. Staff, Naval Forces, Far East. For example, I knew C. Turner Joy largely as the I have focused on the command relationships chiefnegotiator at the armistice talks, and as a very among these six men, and their interaction with tired and subdued superintendent ofthe U.S. Marine, Army, and Air Force leaders. The war fol- Naval Academy during my plebe year. I knew lowed immediately after the bitter service unification nothing of his accomplishments as Commander hearings ofthe late 1940s in which Sherman, Naval Forces, Far East. Similarly, James Doyle was Radford, Struble, and Burke had all been intimately just a name and a picture. I knew he was the prin- involved at one time or another. Now, in this extra- cipal amphibious commander in the early months ordinary national emergency, past animosities had to ofthe war, but not much more. I now realize those be put aside so that the services could pull together. two men were chiefly responsible for preventing It would not be easy. the defeat ofUnited Nations forces in the first six I have discovered and provided herein new infor- months of the war. mation not in the literature and have refrained from As this work is intended as a monograph, I neces- covering operational details published elsewhere. To sarily had to limit its scope. I decided upon the first the point, I focused on the preludes to the opera- six months ofwar ending on 31 December 1950, the tions rather than the operations themselves, empha- period ofthe most intense and decisive naval opera- sizing the influence each ofthe six protagonists tions. Other monographs in the series will address exerted on the way things were to be done. The naval activities during the remainder ofthe war. reader will discover, as I did, that the protagonists While there were many distinguished naval leaders often disagreed with their Army and Air Force in this period, I could not write about them all, so colleagues, and among themselves, and that relations I chose six protagonists who were intimately were often antagonistic regardless ofuniform. They involved in the strategy, planning, and execution of were, after all, human, with egos and prejudices that the most critical operations. They are Admiral influenced behavior and relationships. But their Forrest P. Sherman, ChiefofNaval Operations; professionalism transcended personalities. These were Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander in Chief, the naval leaders who turned back the invaders. Pacific and Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet; Vice I want to express my gratitude to those who Admiral C. TurnerJoy, Commander Naval Forces, helped me, beginning with two historians at the viii