Marine F3D Skynights

During the Korean War, the key to destroying North Korea's factories and other valuable assets was being able to put a large number of 13-29 Superfortresses over these heavily defended targets without incurring significant losses. Since WW 11, the Communists had been able to build a small industrial section in the extreme northwest corner of North Korea close to the Yalu River. U.S. Bomber Command learned quickly that it was very dangerous to send bombers over this area during the day, so the solution was to switch to night operations. This cut down on losses, but another major problem evolved-a problem caused by Soviet-- designed radar systems.

The Soviet Union always aggressively protected Mother Russia, and there's no better example of this than the heroic stance it took against the Germans in WW II. With the development of radar, the Soviets honed their skills even further. With an impressive armada of fighters, they set up a system where the radar controllers on the ground (GCI) guided the interceptors to any intruder aircraft. After WW II, they taught their satellite countries this

technique as well. The system worked very effectively against the B-29s over North Korea, just as it did many years later over North Vietnam.

The first effort to deal with the Soviet radar system was made with the Lockheed's F-94, but its limited radar capabilities only allowed it to fly "barrier patrols" between the bombers and the MiG-15s coming in out of Manchuria. Soviet GCI could direct its interceptors into gaps in the coverage, so the MiGs could make a firing pass on the bombers and then scoot back north of the river before the F-94s could react.

A new Marine twin-jet-engine night fighter soon solved the problem. Brought to Korea to protect the bombers, the new Douglas F3D Skynight with its sophisticated radar could intermingle within the bomber streams. The enemy GCI could not distinguish between the B-29s and the F3Ds. With this advantage, the F3Ds racked up several night kills without a single loss. The stubby little fighter was affectionately referred to as "Willy the Whale."

The Skynights were equipped with three different radars. The AN/APG-26 locked onto hostile aircraft and aimed the guns; it had a range beyond 5,000 yards, but the pilots preferred to get in much closer. The second radar was the AN/APS-21, which could accurately search on the horizontal scan from zero to 170 degrees, and on vertical scan, it searched from 60 degrees above to 30 degrees below; it had a reach of up to 20 miles. The third radar was the AN/APS-28, which was the aircraft's tail warning system to protect against a bogey sneaking up from behind; it had a maximum range of about four miles. The radar observers who operated these systems provided a much-needed answer to the Soviet radar sites across the Yalu River in Manchuria.

Too close for comfort

Pilot Capt. James R. Weaver and his radar observer M/Sgt. Robert Becker flew a large number of these missions with VMF(IN)-513's "Flying Nightmares." On the night of January 28, 1953, the made their mark in the Marine history books. Capt. Weaver recalls that night.

"The MiG-15 action at night against the B-29s was picking up considerably over Sinuiju, up on the Yalu River. On this particular night, the weather was good except for a mid-altitude layer of scattered clouds that didn't have much effect on our visibility. After checking in with our ground-control radar unit, I was vectored into a position between the first flight of B-29s and the river, well above 20,000 feet. I remained in this position until the bombers had completed their runs. It looked like the bombs had impacted right on the target, and everything had been quiet up until this point."

Regardless of the MiG activity or the intensity of the antiaircraft fire, the bombers could not take evasive action when they were locked on their targets. When the bomb runs were uncontested, the B-29s knew they would probably catch hell when they made the turn to head home. The MiGs were laying back, waiting for their chance, and they were aware that there were Marine F3Ds in the formation, so it developed into a cat-andmouse game with very high stakes.

"During the bombing run, apparently there were MiGs trailing the formation, far enough back so as not to attract our attention. As the bombers exited the area, our radar operator on Chodo Island directed me to an unidentified aircraft, and as there were no friendlies in the area, it had to be hostile. My R/O, M/Sgt. Becker, had a solid lock-on at about fifteen miles out. As we got closer, I could make out what appeared to be the glowing tailpipe of a single-engine jet. At that point, I dropped the nose slightly and increased speed to close quickly on the bogey. I had already gone 'guns free, cleared to fire.' My dive was getting steeper and steeper, and the target started moving to my left, at a little less than a mile's distance."

There was a good reason that the enemy interceptors were usually scarce when the B-29s were close to dropping their loads. At this time, the searchlights and antiaircraft would open up, and anything within their range was fair game. In one incident reported by an F3D pilot, the MiG-15 slowed down deliberately to lure him into a flak trap. Fortunately, it did not work, but the Skynight and crew could have disappeared without a trace.