KOREA TO VIETNAM

jets flew from carriers for the first time in a war situation. Unlike World War II, the enemy didn’t have the capability to strike our carriers, so pilots launched their Corsairs and Banshees on the first sustained ground-support missions in history. The helicopter also came of age during the Korean Conflict. First studied and developed in 1942 when the Navy received four Sikorskys, the choppers were spotters for artillery. In Korea, they flew emergency supply runs and took part in direct combat duties. Later, the helicopter was used as a cargo transport between ships during underway replenishment, search and rescue missions, and ASW exercises. Korea was the testing ground for the helicopter and many other innovations our forces currently use. On September 15, 1950, under massive shore bombardment by U.S. Navy ships, the amphibious landings at Inchon began. The successful operation cut enemy communications, split enemy forces, and dissolved enemy resistance in that area. The shelling of supply roads far inland by the battleship USS Missouri demonstrated a new tactical concept. That concept was the Navy’s ability to intervene successfully in a ground operation far ashore. The Korean Conflict (fig. 5-13 and fig. 5-14) lasted until July 1953. Other events were happening in the Navy while the war was being waged. For example, a program was established giving outstanding enlisted women the opportunity to receive commissions in the Regular Navy. KOREA TO VIETNAM The 1950s was a time of change. By the end of the decade, most operational aircraft in the attack and fighter arsenals of the sea service were jets. More and more angled-deck carriers were authorized, and new deck-edge elevators allowed simultaneous takeoffs and landings. The USS Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, was first put to sea on January 17, 1955. Under Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson, the USS Nautilus transmitted the historic signal, “Underway on nuclear power.” On its shakedown cruise in May 1955, the USS Nautilus steamed submerged from New London, Connecticut, to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It traveled over 1,300 miles in 84 hours—a distance 10 times greater than the record for continuously submerged travel by any previous submarine. After more than 2 years of operation and evaluation, the USS Nautilus was refueled in April 1957. On its first nuclear core, it steamed a total of 62,562 miles; it made more than half of that cruise while totally submerged. A conventionally powered submarine the size of the USS Nautilus would have required over 2 million gallons of fuel oil to duplicate that feat. A train of tank cars over a mile and a half long would have been necessary to transport that amount of fuel. 5-21 Student Notes: Photograph courtesy of Mr. Francis Jeffery. Figure 5-13.—Korean War Memorial. Photograph courtesy of Mr. Francis Jeffery. Figure 5-14.—Korean War Memorial—soldier.