Naval History and Heritage Command

"The Korean War was a watershed in the 20th-century history of the United States Navy. During that conflict and for the next 50 years, U.S. naval forces conducted operations that maintained control of the world's oceans and brought sea power to bear against enemies ashore. Freed by friendly control of the sea from the threat of hostile fleets, American carrier squadrons, shore bombardment ships, and amphibious units engaged North Korean and Chinese Communist forces on the Korean peninsula. Navy and Marine Corps aviation units executed the majority of United Nations close air support missions in the war, shot down numerous Communist aircraft, and disrupted the enemy's resupply and reinforcement efforts. Fleet amphibious forces turned the tide of battle in 1950 at Inchon and threatened the enemy's vulnerable coastal flanks for the rest of the war. The Seventh Fleet ensured that American ground forces got the men and supplies they needed to fight and win far from American shores. The Korean War experience helped the Navy fight more effectively during the later conflict in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.... The conflict was also America's first 'limited war' of the modern age. Naval leaders had to learn how to carry on the battle when all-out victory was not the national objective, constrain their use of naval power, and maintain the morale and fighting strength of their sailors year after bloody year."

—James A. Field, History of U.S. Naval Operations: Korea