A New Era in Aerial Warfare Began During the Korean War

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On November 20, fighting broke out between the 1st Marine Division and a large force of Chinese troops in the region of Hagaru-ri and Yudam-ni. On November 28, the Chinese launched an all-out attack against the U.S. Army X Corps, cutting the 5th and 7th Marines from the rest of their division near the Chosin reservoir and sending the rest of the U.N. forces reeling back in a disorderly rout. For the second time in less than half a year, the course of the war in Korea had entered a new phase.

The complexion of the air war had also undergone a radical change. From December 1950 on, the swept-wing jet became the key factor in the fight for air supremacy. Although the prop-driven planes and the older generation of jets would continue to play a vital role throughout the fighting, their efforts would be largely eclipsed in the public eye by the duel for the sky taking place at the threshold of the speed of sound over "MiG Alley." Also forgotten would be those first five crucial months of the war, when the straight-winged birds were all the air power that was available and the hoary old veterans of another war and another era had their last hurrah.

SIDEBAR

TWO WARS AT ONCE

While the outbreak of the Korean Conflict left most Americans confused as to its importance and even its location, it had no such effect on the British. They were already in the process of withdrawing from their colonial holdings in the Far East as gracefully as possible and, in the interests of leaving behind independent governments that would remain friendly to them, they were already engaged in a low-intensity guerrilla war with Chinese-backed Communist insurgents in Malaya. For the British, the only novel touch to Korea in 1950 was that it was an open, conventional conflict.

The first British aircraft available to assist Korea were the Supermarine Seafires and Fairey Fireflies of the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph, which took station off the Korean coast within days of the outbreak of hostilities. From then until the end of the fighting, at least one British or Commonwealth carrier operated in Korean waters on a rotating basis.

The more effective carrier plane of the two initially fielded by the Royal Navy was the Firefly two-seat fighter, whose Mark 4 and 5 models, endowed with an excess of power from their 2,100 hp Rolls-Royce Grifon 74 engines, could carry up to a ton of bombs and rockets per aircraft for ground attack missions. Moreover, the Firefly crews already had practice in such operations. In October 1949, Fireflies of No. 827 Squadron from HMS Triumph had been deployed at Sembawang to provide air support for Operation Leo, an offensive conducted against "bandits" in the Malayan jungle.

On July 3, Triumph’s aircraft provided top cover for the carriers of Task Force 77 while American carrier planes flew airstrikes against Pyongyang. Other Commonwealth carriers that would serve in Korea included HMS Theseus (October 1950,May 1951), HMS Glory (May 1951,May 1952), HMS Ocean (May,October 1952), and HMAS Sydney (October 1952,July 1953).

Ocean’s tour of duty typified the British carrier effort, with a few unique distinctions. As with most of the others, her aircraft flew strikes against Malayan insurgents prior to turning their rocket, bombing and strafing attacks against the North Korean forces in May 1952. On May 17, her aircraft flew 123 sorties–a record number for a single carrier during the conflict. Several planes were lost to the intense Communist ground fire, a common consequence of making more than one run against the same target. At the end of July, Mikoyan-Gurevich-15s attacked Fireflies of Ocean’s No. 825 Squadron for the first time, one shot-up Firefly having to go down for a forced landing in the engagement. Given their technical differences, the British were grateful to have gotten off that lightly. On August 9, however, four Hawker Sea Fury FB-11s of Ocean’s No. 802 Squadron were jumped by eight MiG-15s. Wisely staying to dogfight it out rather than attempt a futile flight, the skillful Brits again survived and Lieutenant Peter Carmichael scored the first confirmed aerial victory of a piston-engined aircraft over a jet.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Airborne Operations, Historical Conflicts, Korean War

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