Pre-Landing Bombardment
On September 13, 1950, Joint Task Force 7, commanded by Vice Admiral Arthur D. Stuble, USN, began the assault on Wolmi-Do, the landing point for Inchon, with air and gunfire bombardment. USS De Haven (DD-727), USS Mansfield (DD-728), USS Lyman K. Swenson (DD-729), USS Collett (DD-730), USS Gurke (DD-783), USS Henderson (DD-785), USS Rochester (CA-124) - Struble's flagship, and USS Toledo (CA-133), along with Royal Navy light cruisers HMS Jamaica (44) and HMS Kenya (14) began the initial bombardment by steaming up the channel on the flooding tide. Also assisting were the Canadian Navy destroyers HMCS Cayuga, HMCS Athabaskan, and HMCS Sioux.
Fast Carrier Task Force 77 aircraft covered the warships whilst also bombing the artillery batteries at Wolmi-Do and areas further inland to isolate the enemy reinforcement. Lyman K. Swenson, Collett, and Gurke were all damaged by North Korean counterbattery gunfire while the ships anchored for bombardment off Wolmi-Do. An officer onboard Lyman K. Swenson, Lieutenant Junior Grade David H. Swenson, a nephew of Captain Lyman K. Swenson - the ship's namesake, was killed during one of these attacks. The following day, the targets were again hit to prepare for landings on the morning of September 15.
Image: 80-G-419905: Inchon Landing, 1950. Pre-landing bombardment, September 13, 1950. Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
