British Commonwealth carrier operations in the Korean War

Air & Space Power Journal, Winter, 2004 by David Hobbs

Editorial Abstract: The Korean War was also a major maritime effort in which the United Nations depended on control of the sea for the transport of troops, their logistical support, and for the provision of tactical air power. One Australian and five British light fleet carriers alternated to carry out strike operations against tactical targets ashore and to enforce the sea blockade for three years. Their remarkable performance brought many squadrons, and their people, to a high pitch of professionalism and efficiency, the most conspicuous aspect of the Commonwealth contribution to the United Nations.

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Background

In 1950 the Royal Navy (RN) was still recovering from a shortage of manpower following the rundown after World War II. Few ships had their war complement embarked al though those deployed to the Far East were more capable than those on the home station. Naval air squadrons were short of aircrew and maintainers and were still using up stocks of obsolete wartime aircraft as production of new types moved slowly. Fortunately, a number of people with war experience had been retained. The Far East Station covered a vast area with significant responsibilities.

The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) formed its Fleet Air Arm in 1948 with a great deal of British help and only recently had taken delivery of its first carrier and embarked air group. Many of its aircrew had wartime experience with the RN or Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

The Royal Canadian Navy had also recently formed a Fleet Air Arm with a light fleet carrier on loan from Britain but did not deploy it to Korea. A potential plan to embark a Canadian Sea Fury squadron in a British carrier was not acted on.

The Outbreak of War

The North Korean People's Army (NKPA) advanced, almost at will, through the South Korean defences after its surprise attack on 25 June 1950. On 27 June, Pres. Syngman Rhee and his government left Seoul, and it must have seemed to the Communist commanders that the war was already won. However, in their plans they had left one factor out of their calculations that was to prove their ruin--sea power. The reaction of the United Nations (UN) to this aggression was swift and unambiguous, allowing allied navies to exert relentless pressure on North Korea.

In the summer of 1950, the British Far East Station was commanded by Adm Sir Patrick Brind, RN, who flew his flag at a shore headquarters in Singapore. Much of the operational fleet, fortuitously, was in Japanese waters under the operational control of Rear Adm Sir William G. Andrewes, RN, flag officer second in command, Far East Fleet (FO2FEF), in the cruiser HMS Belfast (C35). They had recently carried out a number of exercises with US Navy (USN) warships under the command of Vice Adm C. Turner Joy, USN, commander US Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE). The British Task Force included the light fleet carrier HMS Triumph (R16), the cruiser HMS Jamaica (C44), and a number of destroyers, frigates, and logistic ships including a hospital ship.

On hearing of the invasion, Admiral Andrewes sailed on his own initiative at 0130 on 26 June, giving orders to his force to concentrate in southern Japanese ports. On 27 June, the UN Security Council described the NKPA attack as "a breach of [world] peace" and authorised member nations to assist the Republic of Korea. (1) The British government's decision to support the security resolution was announced by Prime Minister Clement Attlee in the House of Commons on 27 June. On the next day he announced that British naval forces in Japanese waters were placed at the disposal of US authorities to act on behalf of the UN Security Council. The Canadian government immediately offered naval support, followed on 29 June by the governments of Australia and New Zealand. Orders from the Admiralty were sent directing the commander in chief Far East "to place the Royal Navy at present in Japanese waters at the disposal of the US Naval Command." (2) Admiral Brind had already offered the use of his fleet to Admiral Joy for "any humanitarian mission" and warned Admiral Andrewes that he might soon be called on for action under the UN Charter.

Commonwealth naval units were rapidly assimilated into the US command structure. COMNAVFE, Admiral Joy, placed Admiral Andrewes in command of Task Group 96.8, the West Korean Support Group, which comprised mainly Commonwealth and allied ships. Rear Adm John M. Higgins, USN, was placed in command of the mainly USN East Korean Support Group. HMS Triumph joined Task Force 77 of the US Pacific Fleet off Okinawa where Rear Adm John M. Hoskins, USN, commander Carrier Division 3 in USS Valley Forge (CV-45), took tactical command of the force. Planning for a combined strike against targets in North Korea started at once, and the task force moved to the operating area. American signal procedures were adopted at once, and no difficulty was found in working with the USN. Admiral Andrewes later wrote, "It all seemed so familiar as it was just what we had done so often before during the exercises in March with very similar forces." Also, it was only five years since the US and British Pacific fleets had worked together so successfully in the final phase of the war against Japan.