Return to Aviation
Historical Chronology
Return to Aviation
Historical ChronologyKOREAN OPERATIONS
The outbreak of war in Korea caught U.S. military services in
the midst of a transition. The establishment of the Department
of Defense in 1947 and its reorganization in 1949 required readjustments
within the services to which none had become completely acclimated.
Successive decreases in the military budget and the prospect of
more to come had reduced the size of all services, and a reorganization
of operating forces to keep within prescribed limits was in process.
New weapons and equipment had not been completely integrated and
tactical doctrine and new operating techniques for their most
effective employment were still being evolved. This was particularly
apparent in naval aviation where the introduction of jet aircraft
had created a composite force in which like units were equipped
with either jet or propeller-driven aircraft having wide differences
in performance characteristics, maintenance and support requirements,
and tactical application.
Combat requirements in Korea were quite different from those of
the island-hopping campaign of World War II. Only the landings
at Inchon, 2 1/2 months after the shooting began, followed the
familiar pattern. The natural result of conditions imposed by
the United Nations intention to confine the battle area to the
peninsula, was to limit air operations to support of troops. This
was a normal enough mission for carrier air, but the need to sustain
it for extended periods over a land mass which by previous experience
was extremely large, made quite a difference. Carrier forces also
flew deep support missions, attacked enemy supply lines, roamed
over enemy territory looking for targets of opportunity, bombed
enemy bridges, interdicted highways and railroads, attacked refineries,
railroad yards and hydroelectric plants, and escorted land-based
bombers on special missions. All were carried out effectively,
but were new experiences for units trained to interdict enemy
sea-lines of communication and ward off attack by enemy naval
forces.
The see-saw action on the ground as the battle line shifted and
as action flared up and quieted again, required great flexibility
of force and demanded the ability to carry out a variety of missions,
but after the first 6 months of the war, the overall air campaign
developed into a monotonous, although serious routine. It was
a battle described by Commander Task Force 77 in January 1952
as "a day-to-day routine where stamina replaces glamour and
persistence is pitted against oriental perseverance."
In comparison to the forces engaged in World War II, Korea was
a small war. At no time were more than four large carriers in
action at the same time. Yet in the 3 years of war, Navy and Marine
aircraft flew 276,000 combat sorties, dropped 177,000 tons of
bombs and expended 272,000 rockets. This was within 7,000 sorties
of their World War II totals in all theaters and bettered the
bomb tonnage by 74,000 tons, and the number of rockets by 60,000.
In terms of national air effort, the action sorties flown by Navy
and Marine Corps aircraft rose from less than 10 percent in World
War II to better than 30 percent in Korea.
There was another and perhaps greater difference between the two
wars. Support of forces in Korea required major attention from
the planners and of units assigned to logistic supply, but action
in Korea was only a part of the total activity of the period.
Outside the combat area fleet forces continued their training
operations on the same scale as before, and fleet units were continuously
maintained on peaceful missions in the eastern Atlantic and in
the Mediterranean. Research and development, although accelerated,
did not shift to emphasize projects having direct application
to the war effort but continued on longer range programs directed
toward the progressive modernization of fleet forces and their
equipment with ever more effective weapons. New facilities for
test and evaluation were opened. Advances in guided missiles reached
new highs indicating their early operational status, and ships
to employ them were being readied. Firings of research missiles
like Loon, Lark and Viking, from shore installations and from
ships, provided both useful data and experience. Terrier, Talos,
Sparrow, Sidewinder, and Regulus, passed successive stages of
development. Research in high-speed flight, assisted by flights
of specially designed aircraft, provided data leading to new advances
in aircraft performance. The carrier modernization program continued
and was revised to incorporate the steam catapult and the angled
deck, together representing the most significant advance in aircraft
carrier operating capability since World War II.
In a period when naval aviation was called upon to demonstrate
its continuing usefulness in war and its particular versatility
in adapting to new combat requirements, it also moved forward
toward new horizons.
JANUARY
10--Norton Sound departed Port Hueneme on a 19-day cruise
in Alaskan waters where it launched two Aerobees, one Lark, and
one Loon, and tested an auxiliary propulsion system for the Lark
under severe conditions. In addition to its crew, the ship carried
27 observers representing the Army, Navy, and Air Force, including
eight scientists connected with the Aerobee upper atmosphere research
program.
13--In the first successful automatic homing flight of a surface-to-air
guided missile, a Lark, CTV-N-10, launched at the Naval Missile
Test Center, passed within lethal range of its target, an F6F
drone, making the simulated interception at a range of 17,300
yards and an altitude of 7,400 feet.
FEBRUARY
7--In a demonstration of carrier long-range attack capabilities,
a P2V-3C Neptune, with Commander Thomas Robinson in command, took
off from Franklin D. Roosevelt off Jacksonville, Fla.,
and flew over Charleston, S.C., the Bahamas, the Panama Canal,
up the coast of Central America and over Mexico to land next day
at the Municipal Airport, San Francisco, Calif. The flight, which
covered 5,060 miles in 25 hours, 59 minutes, was the longest ever
made from a carrier deck.
MARCH
8--Operation Portrex, the largest peacetime maneuvers in history
and the first to employ airborne troops in an amphibious operation,
was brought to a climax with a combined amphibious and airborne
assault on Vieques Island. The Joint Armed Service Exercise, which
began 20 February and extended through 14 March, was staged to
evaluate joint service doctrine for combined operations, to service
test new equipment under simulated combat conditions, and to provide
training for the defense forces of the Caribbean Command.
10--Lightweight Metal Alloy Developed--The Secretary of Defense
announced that the Bureau of Aeronautics, under a research program
begun in 1946, had developed a new lightweight titanium alloy
for use in jet aircraft engines. The alloy was described as being
as strong as high-strength steel and only half as heavy, highly
resistant to corrosion, and so composed as to retain its basic
properties at high temperatures.
22--The submarine Cusk (SS 348) from a position off the Naval
Air Missile Test Center, launched a Loon guided missile and, at
the midway point of a 50-mile flight, surrendered control to the
guidance station on San Nicolas Island. This station completed
the first successful operation involving transfer of guidance
by splashing the missile 360 yards from the center of the target,
Begg Rock.
APRIL
1--The Naval Air Rocket Test Station, Lake Denmark, N.J., was
established, superseding the Naval Aeronautical Rocket Laboratory,
for the purposes of testing and evaluating rocket engines, components
and propellants, and training service personnel in handling, servicing
and operating rocket engines.
8--A PB4Y Privateer of VP-26, with 10 men on board, was lost over
the Baltic Sea after being attacked by Soviet aircraft.
18--The experimental model of the Consolidated Vultee P5Y, a 60-ton
seaplane, passed its initial flight test at San Diego. The plane
was equipped with four Alison T-40 turboprop engines each rated
at 5,500 hp and each turning 15-foot contra-rotating propellers.
21--The first carrier takeoff with the AJ-l heavy attack plane
was made from Coral Sea by Captain J. T. Hayward, commanding VC-5.
21--The heaviest aircraft ever launched from a carrier, a P2V-3C,
piloted by Lieutenant Commander R. C. Starkey of VC-6, took off
from Coral Sea with a gross weight of 74,668 pounds.
MAY
3--The submarine Cusk (SS 348) launched a Loon guided missile,
and after submerging, tracked and controlled the missile's flight
to a range of 105 miles.
11--A Viking missile was successfully launched from Norton Sound
near Christmas Island, south of Hawaii. It was the first Viking
launched from a ship and set a new altitude record for American-built
single-stage rockets of 106.4 statute miles.
15--The Navy announced the completion of a new test chamber at
the Ordnance Aerophysics Laboratory, Daingerfield, Tex., making
it possible for the first time to conduct tests of full scale
ramjet engines up to 48 inches in diameter at simulated altitudes
up to 100,000 feet.
JUNE
19--The Caroline Mars completed the 2,609-mile flight from Honolulu
to San Diego with 144 men aboard for the largest passenger lift
over the Pacific on record.
25--The U.S. Government asked for an emergency meeting of the
UN Security Council to consider the invasion of the Republic of
South Korea launched by North Korean forces early in the morning
of the 25th (Korean time). The Council, meeting later the same
day, adopted a resolution calling for the cessation of hostilities
and the withdrawal of North Korean forces above the 38th parallel,
and also calling on all members to assist the United Nations in
the execution of the resolution.
27--The President announced that he had ordered sea and air forces
in the Far East to give support and cover to Republic of Korea
forces and had ordered the Seventh Fleet to take steps to prevent
an invasion of Formosa.
27--In a night meeting the UN Security Council adopted a resolution
calling upon all its members to assist the Republic of Korea in
repelling the armed attack upon its territory.
30--President Truman announced that, in keeping with the UN Security
Council request for support to the Republic of Korea in repelling
the invaders and restoring peace, he had authorized the USAF to
bomb military targets in North Korea, the use of Army ground troops
in action to support ROK forces, and had directed a naval blockade
of the entire Korean coast.
JULY
3--Carrier aircraft went into action in Korea for the first time.
Valley Forge, with Air Group 5, and HMS Triumph operating in the
Yellow Sea, launched strikes on airfields, supply lines, and transportation
facilities in and around Pyongyang, northwest of Seoul. This was
the first combat test for the Grumman F9F Panther and the Douglas
AD Skyraider. It was also the occasion for the first Navy kills
in aerial combat during the war and the first shoot-down by a
Navy jet, as F9F pilots of VF-51, Lieutenant (jg) L. H. Plog and
Ensign E. W. Brown shot down two Yak-9's on the first strike over
Pyongyang.
8--To obtain maximum effectiveness in the employment of all air
resources in the Far East Command and to insure coordination of
air efforts, Commander in Chief, Far East, approved and adopted
as policy the agreement of Commander Naval Forces, Far East and
Commanding General, Far East Air Forces. Under it, the Navy controlled
the operations of its carrier aircraft whenever they were on missions
assigned to Commander Naval Forces, Far East, and of its shore-based
aircraft whenever they were on naval missions. On all other missions,
the operations of naval aircraft, both carrier And shore-based,
were under the Air Force. For shore-based Marine air this control
was direct, but for naval aircraft the control was of a coordination
type. The selection of targets and their priority by a General
Headquarters Joint Service Target Analysis Group insured that
the air campaign was coordinated with the overall objectives.
12--The command Naval Air, Japan was set up in Tokyo to provide
an interim staff to administer the expanding aviation forces in
the Far East, and on 9 August was formally established as Fleet
Air, Japan, with Rear Admiral G. R. Henderson in command.
16--Fleet Air Wing 1 headquarters moved from Guam to Naha on Okinawa
to direct patrol squadron operations in Formosa Strait.
18--Valley Forge and HMS Triumph returned to action with strikes
on airfields, railroads and factories at Hungham, Hamhung, Numpyong,
and Wonsan, and did particularly heavy damage to the oil refinery
at Wonsan. For the remainder of the month, this force struck deep
behind enemy lines and flew close support missions as required
while shifting entirely around the peninsula from the Sea of Japan
to the Yellow Sea, in operations intended to relieve the pressure
on UN forces which were fighting a delaying action while withdrawing
toward Pusan.
20--Fourteen squadrons of the Organized Reserve were activated
for duty with naval aviation forces. Included were eight carrier-fighter
and two carrier-attack squadrons, one antisubmarine squadron,
two patrol squadrons, and one Fleet Aircraft Service Squadron.
22--Badoeng Strait arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, with elements of
the First Marine Aircraft Wing on board. Four days later, Sicily
arrived at the same port with a load of ammunition, and on 1 August
Philippine Sea reported to Commander Seventh Fleet in Buckner
Bay, Okinawa. These were the first carrier reinforcements to arrive
in the Far East and the beginning of carrier deployment to the
combat area that, by the wars end, totalled 11 attack, one light
and five escort carriers sent into action--some for two or three
tours.
23--Boxer arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, with a load of 145 P-51
and 6 L-5 Air Force aircraft, 19 Navy aircraft, 1,012 passengers,
and 2,000 tons of additional cargo, all urgently needed for operations
in Korea. In making this delivery, Boxer broke all existing records
for a Pacific crossing, steaming from Alameda to Yokosuka in 8
days and 16 hours.
27--To meet the requirements of supporting combat forces in Korea,
Fleet Logistic Air Wing, Pacific, was established as a unit of
the Pacific Fleet and independent from the existing Fleet Logistic
Air Wing.
AUGUST
3--Elements of Marine Corps Observation Squadron, VMO-6, equipped
with HO3S helicopters and OY observation planes, began operations
in Korea, supporting the First Provisional Marine Brigade in the
vicinity of Changwon. Among the services rendered by the helicopters
on their first day in a combat area were the delivery of rations
and water to troops on a mountain and the evacuation of the more
severe heat casualties.
3--Marine Fighter Squadron 214, operating from the escort carrier
Sicily in Tsushima Strait, began the combat operations
of the First Marine Aircraft Wing in Korea with a rocket and incendiary
bomb attack on Chinju. Badoeng Strait, with VMF-323 on
board, joined the action 3 days later and thus began a long service
of close air support by Marine squadrons from light and escort
carriers.
4--Fleet Air Wing 6 was established at Tokyo, Japan, under Acting
Commander, Captain John C. Alderman, and assigned operational
control over all United States and British patrol squadrons in
the Japan-Korea area.
5--Valley Forge and Philippine Sea began what was
to become almost 3 years of continuous fast carrier operation,
with attacks on enemy lines of communications in southwestern
Korea and close support missions on the Pusan perimeter.
7--ZP2K-1 (subsequently redesignated ZSG-2), a K-Class airship
modernized and equipped with in flight refueling equipment and
attachments for picking up sea water as ballast, was delivered
to the Navy.
7--Flight of a helicopter under automatic control was made at
Mustin Field, Philadelphia using an HO3S-1 helicopter equipped
with a single axis automatic pilot. Successful test of this instrument
confirmed the feasibility of a helicopter automatic pilot which
was being developed under the leadership of L. S. Guarino at the
Aeronautical Instrument Laboratory, Naval Air Material Center.
24--In a test conducted at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, Inyokern,
Calif., a Terrier, surface-to-air guided missile, intercepted
an F6F drone at a range of more than 11 miles from the point of
launch.
31--Pilots of Composite Squadron 5 completed carrier qualifications
on board Coral Sea in the AJ-1 Savage, marking the introduction
of this long-range attack bomber to carrier operations.
SEPTEMBER
15--Landings at Inchon--Under heavy support by naval gunfire and
aircraft, elements of the First Marine Division landed on Wolmi
Island at 0630 and, after landing craft were regrouped and the
tide was again favorable, followed up with a successful assault
of the mainland at Inchon.
JANUARY
16--As a step in the implementation of a program providing for
early service evaluation of the Terrier and Sparrow 1 air-defense
missiles, together with the development of production engineering
information and the establishment of production facilities, an
advance order was placed with the Sperry Gyroscope Company for
1,000 Sparrow 1 air-to-air missiles.
29--Task Force 77 began a series of air attacks against rail and
highway bridges along the east coast of northern Korea. When the
force was assigned additionally the task of bombing highways and
lines of communication in northeast Korea it had responsibilities
for interdiction which occupied a major share of its attention
until the end of the war.
FEBRUARY
1--The first of the heavy attack wings, HATWING-1, was established
at Norfolk Captain Robert Goldthwaite commanding. Its first squadron,
VC-5, reported for duty the next day.
5--Six AJ-1 and three P2V-3C aircraft, of VC-5 departed Norfolk
for Port Lyautey, French Morocco, via Bermuda and the Azores.
Completion of the flight on the 8th by all but one AJ, which was
grounded at Lajes, Azores, by lack of spare parts, was the first
trans-Atlantic flight by carrier type aircraft.
8--Marine fighter squadrons returned to Korea after a period in
Japan, and began support operations from the airfield at Pusan.
MARCH
6--A Talos missile, powered by a ramjet engine, was launched by
the Naval Ordnance Test Station, and operated two minutes in the
longest full-scale ramjet flight yet achieved.
29--Carrier Air Group 101, composed of Reserve squadrons called
to active duty from Dallas, Glenview, Memphis, and Olathe, flew
its first combat missions from Boxer -- the first carrier strikes
by Reserve units against North Korean forces.
29--A Regulus, XSSM-N-8 test vehicle, operating under airborne
command, took off from the lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base,
Muroc, Calif., circled the field, and landed successfully.
31--A program for development of a propeller-driven vertical takeoff
fighter was initiated with issuance of a contract to Convair for
the XFY-1. A somewhat similar aircraft, the XFO-1 (later redesignated
XFV-1), was ordered from Lockheed three weeks later as an alternate
solution to the design problems.
APRIL
2--Two F9F-2B Panthers of VF-191, each loaded with four 250- and
two 100-pound general purpose bombs, were catapulted from Princeton
for an attack on a railroad bridge near Songjin. This was the
first Navy use of a jet fighter as a bomber.
8-15--When reports indicated the possibility of an amphibious
attempt on Formosa from the China coast, Task Force 77 left the
Korean area temporarily to make a show of strength in Formosa
Strait. From 11 to 14 April the force steamed off the China coast
and flew aerial parades outside the international limit off the
mainland.
MAY
1--In the first and only use of aerial torpedoes in Korean combat,
eight Skyraiders and 12 Corsairs from Princeton made an attack
on the Hwachon Dam. Destruction and damage to the flood gates
released the waters of the reservoir into the Pukhan River and
prevented Communist forces from making an easy crossing.
JUNE
1--The First Marine Aircraft Wing inaugurated the policy of basing
one squadron immediately in the rear of the First Marine Division
to provide ground alert aircraft which were on call through the
Joint Operations Center for close air support missions.
12--Two PB4Y-2's of VP-772 were transferred from NAS Atsugi, Japan,
to Pusan to fly flare dropping missions for Marine Corps night
attack aircraft. The success of the operation, which was conducted
as an experiment, was such that the practice of assigning specially
equipped patrol aircraft for this purpose was continued.
17--Postwar research on high-speed, jet-propelled seaplanes had
progressed to the point that a contract was issued to Convair
for development of a delta-winged, hydro-ski equipped research
seaplane with fighter characteristics. Through subsequent redesign,
the aircraft became the XF2Y-1.
18--The ZPN-1 airship made its first flight.
JULY
1--The Naval Air Turbine Test Station was established at Trenton,
N.J. Its mission was test and evaluation of turbojet, turboprop,
ramjet, and pulsejet engines, accessories and components.
10--The United Nations military representatives, headed by Vice
Admiral C. T. Joy, arrived at Kaesong, Korea, for armistice discussions
with Communist leaders. Thus began many trying months in which
negotiations were alternately suspended and reopened while hostilities
continued unabated.
AUGUST
7--The McDonnell XF3H-1 Demon, an experimental model of a Navy
shipboard jet fighter, completed its first flight at St. Louis.
7--A Viking high-altitude sounding rocket, developed by the Naval
Research Laboratory and launched at the White Sands Proving Grounds,
achieved an altitude of 135.3 miles.
7--The Navy's sonic research plane, the D-558-2 Skyrocket, piloted
by Douglas test pilot William B. Bridgeman, set an unofficial
world speed record of 1,238 m.p.h. over Muroc, Calif.
8--The Secretary established the classification AVM for Auxiliaries,
Guided Missiles Ships, and changed the designation of Norton
Sound from AV 11 to AVM 1.
15--The Douglas Skyrocket D-558-2, the Navy's sonic research plane,
piloted by William B. Bridgeman, reached 79,494 feet over Muroc,
Calif., the highest altitude achieved by man to that date.
23--Essex, veteran of World War II and first of the postwar
converted carriers to go into action joined Task Force 77 off
the east coast of Korea and launched her planes in combat. On
this strike, F2H-2 Banshees flown by pilots of VF-172, went into
action for the first time.
25--F2H Banshees and F9F Panthers from Essex, operating
with Task Force 77 in the Sea of Japan, provided fighter escort
for Air Force B-29's on a high altitude bombing mission against
the marshalling yards at Rashin on the extreme northeast border
of Korea.
SEPTEMBER
2--Marine Helicopter Transport Squadron 161, equipped with HRS-1s,
arrived Pusan, Korea, aboard Sitkoh Bay and flew ashore prepared
to perform transport, assault, and supply missions for the First
Marine Division. On 13 September it began its support of the First
Marine Division with Operation Windmill I. In this initial combat
test of transport helicopter capabilities, the squadron lifted
one day's supplies for the First Marine Battalion on a 7-mile
carry from its base to the forward area.
7--In its first shipboard launching, a Terrier surface-to-air
missile was fired from the Norton Sound and simulated an interception
of an F6F target drone.
15--The Department of Defense Joint Parachute Test Facility, consisting
of Navy and Air Force parachute units was established under the
management control of the Bureau of Aeronautics at NAAS El Centro,
Calif.
21--As activity on the front quieted down and the lines remained
fairly stable, the Fast Carrier Task Force was relieved of its
close air support duties and ordered to concentrate its attack
on railroad tracks as a part of the interdiction program.
OCTOBER
3--Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron 1 (HS-1), first of its kind
in the Navy, was established under the command of Commander J.
T. Watson at NAS Key West, Fla.
NOVEMBER
6--A Neptune patrol bomber of VP-6 failed to return from a weather
reconnaissance mission over international waters off Siberia after
Soviet planes fired upon it.
DECEMBER
1--The U.S. Naval Aviation Safety Activity was established at
Norfolk under the Chief of Naval Operations to promote the aviation
safety program and to direct specific effort toward maintaining
the highest practicable level of aviation safety throughout the
Navy. In April 1955, this activity was redesignated the Naval
Aviation Safety Center.
11--Air Task Group 1 (ATG-1), operating from Valley Forge, flew
its first combat mission, attacking coastal rail lines and bridges
in northeast Korea. This was the first of the ATGs formed after
experience in Korea had demonstrated that five squadrons then
in Carrier Air Groups could not be operated effectively in combat
from Essex Class carriers. Temporary withdrawal of one squadron
from each group scheduled for deployment provided the units with
which ATGs were formed. These groups, which were not formerly
established and temporary in nature, existed from 1951 to early
1959. As many as eight were in existence by 1955.
12--The Kaman K-225 helicopter, equipped with a Boeing YB-502
turbine engine, made its first flight at Windsor Locks, Conn.
This Navy sponsored development was the first demonstration of
the adaptability of gas-turbine engines to helicopters.
19--A test of emergency assembly capabilities with nuclear weapons
was conducted aboard Philippine Sea at San Diego, marking the
initial and successful introduction of special weapons in the
Pacific fleet.
JANUARY
4--The new classifications CAG and CLG were established for heavy
and light cruiser guided missile ships and the classification
of Boston (CA 69), and Canberra (CA 70), was changed to (CAG 1)
and (CAG 2) respectively.
FEBRUARY
1--The Chief of Naval Operations approved a modification of the
Project 27A carrier conversion program which provided an increase
in the capacity of deck operating equipment. Changes included
use of more powerful arresting gear, higher performance catapults
and a replacement of the number three centerline elevator with
a deck-edge type of greater capacity. Conversion of three Essex
Class carriers incorporating these modifications was completed
in 1954 under Project 27C (Axial Deck).
APRIL
1--Guided Missiles Service Unit No. 211 was formed at the Naval
Mine Depot, Yorktown, Va. This, the first of six scheduled Terrier
units, was made up of personnel who had been trained by Guided
Missiles Training Unit No. 2 at the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft
Corporation, San Diego.
28--Following tests of the British developed steam catapult conducted
during the first three months of the year at the Naval Shipyard,
Philadelphia, the Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, and at sea, in
which U.S. naval aircraft were launched by this device from the
HMS Perseus, the Navy announced that this catapult would
be adopted for use on U.S. aircraft carriers, with the first installation
on the Hancock.
MAY
8--The Fleet Air Gunnery Unit was established as an integral part
of the operating forces of the Pacific Fleet under Commander Air
Force, Pacific Fleet. Its mission was to provide air gunnery training
on an individual and tactical unit basis for units of the Pacific
Fleet.
16--Two Terrier missiles were fired separately at F6F-5K target
drones and each destroyed its target, thereby culminating the
Terrier developmental program and permitting emphasis to be shifted
to production of the first tactical model.
26--The Navy's first, and for many years the world's largest,
wind tunnel was disestablished at the Naval Gun Factory, Washington,
D.C. Completed in 1914, the wooden 8- by 8-foot tunnel served
the Navy for over 30 years as an aerodynamic laboratory for research
in aircraft design.
26-29--The feasibility of the angled deck concept was demonstrated
in tests conducted on a simulated angled deck aboard Midway by
Naval Air Test Center pilots and Atlantic Fleet pilots, using
both jet and prop aircraft.
JUNE
17--The Aviation Medical Acceleration Laboratory was dedicated
at the Naval Air Development Center. This laboratory, which featured
a Human Centrifuge with a 110-foot arm and capable of producing
accelerations of up to 40 g's, was designed and constructed as
a research tool for investigating pilot reactions to accelerations
encountered in high-speed flight at various temperatures and altitudes
and later also proved useful in the astronaut training program.
20--A contract was issued for the construction of a slotted throat,
7 foot by 10 foot, transonic wind tunnel at the David Taylor Model
Basin.
23-24--Combined elements of Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps virtually
destroyed the electric power potential of North Korea with attacks
on prime military targets which had been by-passed through almost
2 years of war. On the 23rd, the main effort was directed against
the hydroelectric plant at Suiho, 40 miles up the Yalu River from
Antung, Manchuria. The attacks continued next day with more attention
being given to the plants at Chosen, Fusen and Kyosen. This 2-day
attack, which involved over 1,200 sorties, was the largest single
air effort since the close of World War II and the first to employ
planes from all the U.S. services fighting in Korea.
JULY
1--To provide the fleet with officers and enlisted personnel trained
in the operation, maintenance and control of surface and submarine
launched guided missiles, the Naval Guided Missile School was
established at the Fleet Air Defense Training Center, Dam Neck,
Virginia Beach. The Naval Air Guided Missile School (advanced)
was also established at the Naval Air Technical Training Center,
NAS Jacksonville, to provide aviation personnel trained in the
maintenance of air-launched guided missiles.
11-12--In one of the major coordinated air efforts of the war,
Navy, Marine, Air Force, Australian, and British air elements
launched a round-the-clock attack on the railroad yards and industrial
facilities at Pyongyang.
14--The keel of Forrestal , first of the 59,900-ton aircraft
carriers, was laid at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock
Company, Newport News, Va.
AUGUST
1--The Naval Air Special Weapons Facility was established at Kirtland
Air Force Base, Albuquerque, N. Mex., thereby providing for naval
participation in various programs involved in the application
of nuclear weapons to aircraft.
28--In the first of six attacks on North Korean targets, Guided
Missile Unit 90, based aboard Boxer, launched an explosive-laden
F6F-5K drone under control of two ADs, against a railroad bridge
at Hungnam.
29--The new UN philosophy of mass air attack was again demonstrated
in the record breaking around-the-clock raid on Pyongyang. In
this the entire carrier air force of TF-77 teamed up with the
Fifth Air Force, First Marine Aircraft Wing, ROK Air Force, and
the British to spread destruction on the supply concentrations
in and about the city.
SEPTEMBER
1--Mississippi (EAG 1), having been outfitted with Terrier
surface-to-air missiles at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, reported
to the Commander, Operational Development Force, to participate
in the missile's evaluation.
3--The Naval Ordnance Test Station, Inyokern, fired the first
fully configured Sidewinder air-to-air missile, thereby initiating
an extensive period of developmental testing.
15--Air Development Squadron 4 was established as a unit of Air
Force, Pacific Fleet, at the Naval Air Missile Test Center to
conduct operational evaluation tests of air-launched missiles.
The squadron's initial test assignment was to assist NAMTC with
tests of Sparrow I.
OCTOBER
1--Aircraft carriers designated CV and CVB were reclassified as
Attack Carriers and assigned the designation CVA.
NOVEMBER
3--A Regulus Assault Missile (RAM) was launched from the Norton
Sound off the Naval Air Missile Test Center and landed on San
Nicolas Island in the first shipboard demonstration of the RAM
missile system.
12--The final configuration of the ZP3K (later ZSG-3) non-rigid
airship was flown and accepted at NAS Lakehurst. The airship was
a modernized antisubmarine configuration of the "K"
model and was designed especially for carrier-based operation.
Thirty "K" Class airships were so configured.
18--The feasibility of using a helicopter as an aerial minesweeper
was demonstrated in the first of a series of tests conducted by
VX-1 pilots flying an HRP-1 helicopter off Panama City, Fla.
DECEMBER
16--Princeton, operating in the Sea Test Range of the Naval
Air Missile Test Center, catapulted F2H-2P control planes and
then launched a Regulus assault missile. The pilots of the control
planes guided the missile to a target point on San Nicolas Island,
where they transferred control to other pilots who successfully
landed the missile.
JANUARY
12--In the initiation of test operations aboard the Navy's first
angled deck carrier, Antietam, Captain S. G. Mitchell, the ship's
Commanding Officer, landed aboard in an SNJ. During the next four
days, six aircraft models made landings, touch-and-go landings,
night landings, and takeoffs in winds of varying force and direction.
18--A P2V of VP-22, conducting patrol of Formosa Strait, was shot
down off Swatow by Red Chinese AA fire. Rescue operations were
hampered by shore battery gunfire and high seas, the latter causing
the Coast Guard rescue plane to crash on takeoff. Total losses
from the incident were 11 men, seven of them from the P2V crew.
FEBRUARY
9-10--A maximum effort strike against supply concentrations and
transport targets from Wonsan through Songjin to Chongjin was
launched by the carriers of Task Force 77.
13--The first full guidance flight of a Sparrow III missile was
conducted at the Naval Air Missile Test Center.
MARCH
1--Aircraft from Task Force 77 heavily damaged the hydro-electric
plant at Chosen and 4 days later repeated the attack, cutting
the penstocks and destroying sections of the main powerplant.
6--Tunny (SSG 284), outfitted at the Mare Island Naval
Shipyard to launch Regulus surface-to-air missiles, was commissioned.
19--Task Force 77 launched a heavy strike against the city of
Chongjin completely ravaging the industrial section of the city.
20--The ZP2N-1 (later ZPG-2) airship made its first flight at
Akron, Ohio. The airship was the production model of the "N"
Class non-rigid but with an envelope of 975,000 cubic feet. It
was originally designed for mid-ocean antisubmarine warfare and
convoy-escort operations and contained provisions for in flight
refueling, reprovisioning and servicing. A total of 17 of these
airships were procured in ASW and AEW configurations, the latter
being designated ZPG-2W.
APRIL
9--The XF2Y-1 Sea Dart, an experimental delta-wing jet seaplane
equipped with hydro-skis, made its first flight at San Diego.
MAY
3--The Commanding General, Far East Air Forces, listed 30 major
North Korean airfields to be maintained unserviceable in order
to limit Communist air action and to prevent augmentation of their
air arm preceding the date of a possible armistice. Responsibility
for six of these fields was assigned to Task Force 77 and periodic
attacks upon them featured the naval air campaign until the end
of the war.
21--An AD-4 Skyraider took off from NAS Dallas with a bombload
of 10,500 pounds. Combined with the weight of its guns, ammunition,
fuel and pilot, its total useful load of 14,491 pounds was 3,143
pounds more than the weight of the aircraft.
JUNE
7-19--The major effort of carrier air was directed on a round-the-clock
basis against Communist frontline and supporting positions to
counter an apparent effort by the enemy to gain ground prior to
a possible armistice.
23--Lieutenant Commander George H. Whisler, Jr., while attached
to VR-31, completed the "first" transcontinental round-trip
solo flight between sunrise and sunset. Lieutenant Commander Whisler
departed NAS Norfolk at 0518 in an F9F-6 Cougar (bureau number
127432) and landed at NAS North Island at 0905 local time, after
stops at NAS Memphis and Webb AFB, Texas. After 50 minutes on
the ground Lieutenant Commander Whisler departed NAS North Island
in an F3D-2 Skyknight (Bureau Number 127076) headed for NAS Norfolk.
He refueled at NAS Dallas and arrived at NAS Norfolk at 1921,
local time.
25--Task Force 77 deployed four F4U-5N Corsairs to Kimpo to operate
under the Fifth Air Force for an indefinite period. The purpose
was to intercept night attacks being made on the field by aircraft
flying too slowly to be intercepted by jets.
30--The Research and Development Board and three other activities
of the Department of Defense were abolished as President's Reorganization
Plan No. 6 became effective. The functions of these activities
were assigned to the Secretary of Defense, six new Assistant Secretaries
of Defense were created, and the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff
was given managerial control of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
JULY
8--The classification Antisubmarine Support Aircraft Carrier,
designation CVS, was established for attack carriers assigned
to antisubmarine warfare, and five CVA's, assigned the new mission
were redesignated effective 1 month from date.
10--The Naval Air Development Unit was established at South Weymouth,
Mass., to participate in development and test of equipment designed
for antisubmarine warfare and air defense.
11--Major John F. Bolt, USMC, downed his fifth and sixth MiG's
while operating with the Fifth Air Force in Korea, becoming the
first Naval Aviator to attain five victories in jet aerial combat.
15--The submarine Tunny (SSG 284) launched a Regulus missile off
Naval Air Missile Test Center. This, the first submarine launching
of a Regulus, was completed with a simulated attack after which
the missile was successfully recovered on San Nicolas Island.
25--Pilots of Task Force 77 flew 538 offensive and 62 defensive
sorties--their record for 1 day of operations in the Korean War.
27--On the final day of the Korean War, Task Force 77 expended
its major effort on transportation facilities with airfields a
secondary target. The attacks destroyed or damaged 23 railroad
cars, 11 railroad bridges, one railroad tunnel, nine highway bridges,
and numerous buildings.
27--United Nations and Communist representatives signed an armistice
at Panmunjom, bringing hostilities to halt in Korea.
AUGUST
12--In the first successful shipboard launching of a fully guided
Terrier, the missile was fired from Mississippi (EAG 1),
and collided with its target, an approaching F6F drone.
21--Lieutenant Colonel M. E. Carl, USMC, piloted the D558-2 Skyrocket
to a new altitude mark of 83,235 feet over Edwards AF Base, Muroc,
Calif.
SEPTEMBER
2--A conversion plan for Midway Class carriers, titled
Project 110, was promulgated. Basic changes were the same as those
for the angled-deck version of Project 27C but with the addition
of a modified C-11 steam catapult in the angled-deck area.
11--In its first successful interception, a Sidewinder air-to-air
missile, test fired at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, Inyokern,
sent an F6F drone down in flames.
OCTOBER
1--Hornet completed conversion at the New York Naval Shipyard;
the last of nine Essex Class carriers modernized under Project
27A.
3--A new official world speed record, over a 3-kilometer course
of 752.943 m.p.h., was set by the F4D Skyray at Muroc, Calif.
Piloted by Lieutenant Commander James F. Verdin, this was the
first carrier aircraft to establish such a record in its normal
combat configuration.
16--A Douglas F4D-1 carrier fighter, flown by Test Pilot R. O.
Rahn, broke the 100-kilometer closed course speed record with
728.114 m.p.h.
NOVEMBER
19--The Chief of Naval Operations endorsed the common utilization
of the Fleet Air Gunnery Unit, by the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets
and the Marine Corps, "as a step towards increased emphasis
and standardization in the combat employment of aircraft armament."
DECEMBER
3--The Steam Catapult Facility, NAMC, Philadelphia, was established
by Hon. James H. Smith, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air,
with an attendant launching of F9F and AD aircraft.
3--The first successful test of super circulation (boundary layer
control) on a high speed airplane, an F9F-4 Panther, took place
at the Grumman Aircraft Corporation field at Bethpage, Long Island.
John Attinello, a BuAer engineer, was credited with developing
this practical application of long known aerodynamic principle.
19--The Navy and Bureau of Standards announced that, under a joint
project with the code name "Tinkertoy," methods had
been developed for the automatic manufacture of electronics equipment
and that a sonobuoy assembled by this method was in production.
Tinkertoy was a technique for utilizing automatic machinery to
attach basic electronic components to ceramic wafers and to build
the wafers up into modules which could be readily assembled into
complete units. Its importance at the time was viewed as breaking
an electronics production bottleneck. In a broader view it was
a step towards the development of microelectronics and solid state
circuitry.
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Historical Center home page30 June 1997