Hungnam redeployment, The

Sea Power, Dec 2000 by Winkler, David F

The high-speed transport USS Borger stands offshore as an underwater demolition team destroys port facilities in Hungnam after the evacuation of the last U.N. troops and equipment.

To many historians, the Korean War was a draw. It opened with a North Korean drive that was checked at Pusan and countered at Inchon. Then a U.N. counterthrust was met by a blow, delivered by the Chinese, that sent the allies reeling back behind Seoul. U.N. counterattacks left the two sides fighting at the 38th parallel when a truce came into effect in July 1953.

Former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James L. Holloway III argues that Korea was the first major victory in a Cold War that would last for the next 40 years. Holloway is right, as the story of the Hungnam redeployment shows.

When the massive Chinese intervention on behalf of North Korea started in late November 1950, Commander Naval Forces Far East Adm. Turner Joy alerted his amphibious commander, Rear Adm. James Doyle, to prepare for possible redeployments of his forces on the east and west coasts. Because its retreat was over land, the Eighth Army needed little naval assistance in its move south. However, geography dictated that an "amphibious operation in reverse" would be needed to pull the U.S. X Corps divisions and ROK (Republic of Korea-i.e., South Korea) units from the mountainous regions of northern Korea.

To embark the five divisions of X Corps, Doyle focused on Hungnam on the east coast of North Korea. Although small in size, Hungnam offered an excellent protected port capable of berthing seven ships simultaneously-- more with ships breasted out alongside one another. The nearby beaches were adequately suited for landing operations by LSTs (landing ship tanks). The port also was close to the corps commander's headquarters, and a local landing field helped to facilitate air operations.

After Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur, supreme commander for the Allied Powers, ordered the redeployment, Joy gave Doyle control of all of the gunfire and air units then available to support his amphibious forces.

Operating from the amphibious force flagship USS Mount McKinley, Doyle's staff worked with a beachmaster, a port director, an embarkation control liaison officer, and Military Sea Transport Service officials to coordinate the complex movement of ships and ground forces. The 1st Marine Division, which had just fought its way back from the Chosin Reservoir in the epic "attack in another direction," was the first unit to embark, filling 28 ships with Marines and equipment. After the departure of the Marines on 15 December, Korean regiments left on the 17th, and were followed by the U.S. Army's 7th Division four days later and the last of the U.S. Army's 3rd Division by Christmas Eve.

Covering the redeployment were aircraft from four fleet carriers, a light carrier, and two escort carriers, along with U.S. Air Force planes based in Japan. Offshore, the Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri, two cruisers, seven destroyers, and three rocket ships peppered the advancing Chinese forces with around-theclock gun and rocket fire.

After the last of the U.N. forces had been pulled off the beaches, orders were given to destroy the port. However, tens of thousands of Korean refugees had gathered in the area, seeking escape from the oncoming Communists. In a massive act of compassion virtually unprecedented, the American forces loaded an estimated 91,000 civilians on the ships remaining. One merchant vessel, the SS Meredith Victory, crammed approximately 14,000 of the refugees into her holds.

The redeployment of the U.N. troops-who played a key role in blunting the surprise Chinese intervention down the peninsula-proved to be critical in the months ahead. An even more important long-term role,though, was played by the 91,000 refugees, many of whom would contribute their talents to build a robust South Korean economy that soon would dwarf that of the north.

In the end it was not controlling territory, but winning the hearts of the people that led to the ultimate U.S. victory in the Cold War. The first demonstration of that important truth started in Hungnam in the bitter cold of the first winter of the Korean War.

Material from Malcolm W. Cagle and Frank A. Manson's The Sea War in Korea (Naval Institute, 1957). A symposium on Hungnam is scheduled to be held at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D. C., on 12 December For information, call Dr. Edward J. Marolda, senior historian at the Naval Historical Center: (202) 433-3940.