Holding the Line

Holding the Line
Author: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2019-03-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472831691

This is the gripping story of Task Force 77, the US Navy carrier commitment to the Korean War that was vital to the success of the UN forces battling the Chinese and North Koreans. Naval and air power were crucial to the United Nations' success in the Korean War, as it sought to negate the overwhelming Chinese advantage in manpower. In what became known as the 'long hard slog', naval aviators sought to slow and cut off communist forces and support troops on the ground. USS Leyte (CV-32) operated off Korea in the Sea of Japan for a record 93 continuous days to support the Marines in their epic retreat out of North Korea, and was crucial in the battles of the spring and summer of 1951 in which the UN forces again battled to the 38th Parallel. All of this was accomplished with a force that was in the midst of change, as jet aircraft altered the entire nature of naval aviation. Holding the Line chronicles the carrier war in Korea from the first day of the war to the last, focusing on front-line combat, while also describing the technical development of aircraft and shipboard operations, and how these all affected the broader strategic situation on the Korean Peninsula.

History of United States Naval Operations

History of United States Naval Operations
Author: James A. Field, Jr.
Publisher: University Press of the Pacific
Total Pages: 520
Release: 2001-12-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780898756753

Americans think of the Korean War as death and hardship in the bitter hills of Korea. It was certainly this, and for those who fought this is what they generally saw. Yet every foot of the struggles forward, every step of the retreats, the overwhelming victories, the withdrawals and last ditch stands had their seagoing support and overtones. The spectacular ones depended wholly on amphibious power -- the capability of the twentieth century scientific Navy to overwhelm land-bound forces at the point of contact. Yet the all pervading influence of the sea was present even when no major landing or retirement or reinforcement highlighted its effect. When navies clash in gigantic battle or hurl troops ashore under irresistible concentration of ship-borne guns and planes, nations understand that sea power is working. It is not so easy to understand that this tremendous force may effect its will silently, steadily, irresistibly even though no battles occur. No clearer example exists of this truth in wars dark record than in Korea. Communist-controlled North Korea had slight power at sea except for Soviet mines. So beyond this strong underwater phase the United States Navy and allies had little opposition on the water. It is, therefore, easy to fail to recognize the decisive role navies played in this war fought without large naval battles.

Naval Aviation in the Korean War

Naval Aviation in the Korean War
Author: Warren Thompson
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2012-10-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 1783031484

A history of the conflict in Korea with an emphasis on the crucial role of aviation. This in-depth history covers the role of US aircraft carriers and aircraft in stopping the North Korean initial push to the south; their role in the famous Inchon Landing and Pusan Perimeter break out; naval operations during the Marines’ Chosin Reservoir march to the sea in December 1950; and the stabilization of the front lines after the Chinese entered the war during 1951. At this time, the emphasis for naval air operations was centered on interdiction behind the lines. The focus was on trying to stop road and rail traffic from resupplying the communist troops and allowing them to build up to a major offensive. Also described is the entry of the F2H Banshee into carrier operations, which gave the US four major types of aircraft with which to wage the war. During 1952, most carrier air groups spent their time off the coast of North Korea while hitting targets up along the Yalu River, putting them well within the range of MiG-15s. Navy F9F Panthers were used as top cover, while the Corsairs and Skyraiders went after major targets such as the dam complexes upriver and marshaling yards north of Pyongyang. During 1953, naval air operations were stepped up in an effort to get the communists back to the truce talks. The number of MiG-15s had grown to a figure many times that of the UN for overhead protection; the deep missions were more dangerous than ever; and the Chinese brought in state-of-the-art antiaircraft automatic weapons. This comprehensive book brings you into the action as the stakes get higher and higher before the conflict eventually draws to a close.

Revolt of the Admirals

Revolt of the Admirals
Author: Jeffrey G. Barlow
Publisher:
Total Pages: 452
Release: 1994
Genre: History
ISBN:

Chronicles in compelling detail the historic showdown between the U.S. Air Force and the Navy over the role of carrier aviation in the national security framework of the United States.

Such Men As These

Such Men As These
Author: David Sears
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
Total Pages: 714
Release: 2010-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 145876026X

In 1951, James Michener went to Korea to report on a little known aspect of America's stalemated war: navy aviators. His research-inspired novel about these pilots became an overnight bestseller and, perhaps, the most widely read book ever written about aerial combat. Using Michener's notes, author David Sears tracked down the actual pilots to tell their riveting, true-life stories. From the icy, windswept decks of aircraft carriers, they penetrated treacherous mountain terrain to strike heavily defended dams, bridges, and tunnels, where well-entrenched Communist anti-aircraft gunners waited to shoot them down. Many of these men became air combat legends, and one, Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to walk on the moon. Such Men As These brims with action-packed accounts of combat and unforgettable portraits of the pilots whose skill and sacrifice made epic history.

Within Limits

Within Limits
Author: Wayne Thompson
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
Total Pages: 65
Release: 1997-07
Genre: Korean War, 1950-1953
ISBN: 0788140094

Despite American success in preventing the conquest of South Korea by communist North Korea, the Korean War of 1950-1953 did not satisfy Americans who expected the kind of total victory they had experienced in WW II. In Korea, the U.S. limited itself to conventional weapons. Even after communist China entered the war, Americans put China off-limits to conventional bombing as well as nuclear bombing. Operating within these limits, the U.S. Air Force helped to repel 2 invasions of South Korea while securing control of the skies so decisively that other U.N. forces could fight without fear of air attack.

AD Skyraider Units of the Korean War

AD Skyraider Units of the Korean War
Author: Rick Burgess
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2016-02-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472812654

The Douglas AD Skyraider is considered the most effective naval aircraft of the Korean War despite the emergence of new jet fighters that captured public imagination. Built to replace the World War 2 workhorses like the Dauntless, Helldiver and Avenger diveand torpedo-bombers, the Skyraider operated numerous combat missions from carrier decks and from US Marine Corps land bases throughout the conflict. Drawing from personal interviews with AD pilots, the authors paint a harrowing picture of the deadly combat of this often forgotten air war as pilots took on Chinese and North Korean forces during daring night attacks and whilst outnumbered in daytime attacks.

Devotion

Devotion
Author: Adam Makos
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2015-10-27
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0804176590

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • From America’s “forgotten war” in Korea comes an unforgettable tale of courage by the author of A Higher Call. “In the spirit of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat comes Devotion.”—Associated Press • “Aerial drama at its best—fast, powerful, and moving.”—Erik Larson Devotion tells the inspirational story of the U.S. Navy’s most famous aviation duo, Lieutenant Tom Hudner and Ensign Jesse Brown, and the Marines they fought to defend. A white New Englander from the country-club scene, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighters for his country. An African American sharecropper’s son from Mississippi, Jesse became the navy’s first Black carrier pilot, defending a nation that wouldn’t even serve him in a bar. While much of America remained divided by segregation, Jesse and Tom joined forces as wingmen in Fighter Squadron 32. Adam Makos takes us into the cockpit as these bold young aviators cut their teeth at the world’s most dangerous job—landing on the deck of an aircraft carrier—a line of work that Jesse’s young wife, Daisy, struggles to accept. Deployed to the Mediterranean, Tom and Jesse meet the Fleet Marines, boys like PFC “Red” Parkinson, a farm kid from the Catskills. In between war games in the sun, the young men revel on the Riviera, partying with millionaires and even befriending the Hollywood starlet Elizabeth Taylor. Then comes the conflict that no one expected: the Korean War. Devotion takes us soaring overhead with Tom and Jesse, and into the foxholes with Red and the Marines as they battle a North Korean invasion. As the fury of the fighting escalates and the Marines are cornered at the Chosin Reservoir, Tom and Jesse fly, guns blazing, to try and save them. When one of the duo is shot down behind enemy lines and pinned in his burning plane, the other faces an unthinkable choice: watch his friend die or attempt history’s most audacious one-man rescue mission. A tug-at-the-heartstrings tale of bravery and selflessness, Devotion asks: How far would you go to save a friend?

MiG Alley

MiG Alley
Author: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2019-11-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1472836065

Following the end of the Korean War, the prevailing myth in the West was that of the absolute supremacy of US Air Force pilots and aircraft over their Soviet-supplied opponents. The claims of the 10:1 victory-loss ratio achieved by the US Air Force fighter pilots flying the North American F-86 Sabre against their communist adversaries, among other such fabrications, went unchallenged until the end of the Cold War, when Soviet records of the conflict were finally opened. Packed with first-hand accounts and covering the full range of US Air Force activities over Korea, MiG Alley brings the war vividly to life and the record is finally set straight on a number of popular fabrications. Thomas McKelvey Cleaver expertly threads together US and Russian sources to reveal the complete story of this bitter struggle in the Eastern skies.

Sailors in the Sky

Sailors in the Sky
Author: Jack Sauter
Publisher:
Total Pages: 328
Release: 1995
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

For every bomber pilot in the Korean War, there were enlisted aircrewmen maintaining the aircraft and its equipment. One of those men was Aviation Electronics Technician Second Class Jack Sauter. AT2 Sauter was assigned to the USS Lake Champlain, part of Task Force 77. As an aircrewman, Sauter flew 21 early warning and anti-submarine (ASW) missions from the backseat of a Douglas Skyraider. When not flying, he maintained the equipment that protected his plane and its crew. This is an enlisted man's story of service in the Korean air war. There was the excitement of serving in a combat zone, but there was also the boredom and tedium with which to contend.