1950-Contin ued

21 April The heaviest aircraft ever launched from a

carrier, a P2V-3C, piloted by Lieutenant Commander

Robert C. Starkey of VC-6, took off from Coral Sea

with a gross weight of 74,668 pounds.

3 May The submarine Cusk (SS 348) launched a

Loon guided missile, and after submerging, tracked

and controlled the missile's flight to a range of 105

miles.

11 May A Viking missile was successfully launched

from Norton Sound near Christmas Island, south of

Hawaii. It was the first Viking launched from a ship

and set a new altitude record for American-built sin-

gle-stage rockets of 106.4 statute miles.

15 May The Navy announced the completion of a

new test chamber at the Ordnance Aerophysics

Laboratory, Daingerfield, Tex., making it possible for

the first time to conduct tests of full-scale ramjet

engines up to 48 inches in diameter at simulated alti-

tudes up to 100,000 feet.

19 June The Caroline Mars (JRM-2) completed the

2,609-mile flight from Honolulu, T.H., to San Diego,

Calif., with 144 men aboard for the largest passenger

lift over the Pacific on record.

25 June The U.S. Government asked for an emergen-

cy meeting of the UN Security Council to consider the

invasion of the Republic of South Korea launched by

North Korean forces early in the morning of the 25th

(Korean time). The council, meeting later the same day,

adopted a resolution calling for the cessation of hostili-

ties and the withdrawal of North Korean forces above

the 38th parallel, and also calling on all members to

assist the UN in the execution of the resolution.

27 June The president announced that he had

ordered sea and air forces in the Far East to give sup-

port and cover to Republic of Korea forces and had

ordered the Seventh Fleet to take steps to prevent an

invasion of Formosa.

27 June In a night meeting the UN Security Council

adopted a resolution calling upon all its members to

assist the Republic of Korea in repelling the armed

attack on its territory.

30 June President Truman announced that, in keep-

ing with the UN Security Council request for support

to the Republic of Korea (ROK) in repelling the

invaders and restoring peace, he had authorized the

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

185

USAF to bomb military targets in North Korea, the use

of Army ground troops in action to support ROK

forces, and had directed a naval blockade of the entire

Korean coast.

3 July Carrier aircraft went into action in Korea for

the first time. Valley Forge with Air Group 5, and HMS

Triumph operating in the Yellow Sea, launched strikes

on airfields, supply lines and transportation facilities in

and around Pyongyang, northwest of Seoul. This was

the first combat test for the Grumman F9F Panther and

the Douglas AD Skyraider. It was also the occasion for

the first Navy kills in aerial combat during the war and

the first shoot-down by a Navy jet, as F9F pilots of VF-

51 Lieutenant (jg) Leonard H. Plog and Ensign Elton

W. Brown, Jr. shot down two Yak-9s on the first strike

over Pyongyang.

8 July To obtain maximum effectiveness in the

employment of all air resources in the Far East

Command and to ensure coordination of air efforts,

Commander in Chief, Far East approved and adopted

as policy the agreement of Commander, Naval Forces,

Far East and Commanding General, Far East Air

Forces. Under it, the Navy controlled the operations of

its carrier aircraft whenever they were on missions

assigned to Commander, Naval Forces, Far East and of

its shore-based aircraft whenever they were on naval

missions. On all other missions, the operations of

naval aircraft, both carrier and shore-based, were

under the Air Force. For shore-based Marine air this

control was direct, but for naval aircraft the control

was of a coordination type. The selection of targets

and their priority by a General Headquarters Joint

Service Target Analysis Group ensured that the air

campaign was coordinated with the overall objectives.

12 July The command Naval Air, Japan was set up

in Tokyo to provide an interim staff to administer the

expanding aviation forces in the Far East, and on 9

August was formally established as Fleet Air, Japan,

with Rear Admiral George R. Henderson in command.

16 July Fleet Air Wing 1 headquarters moved from

Guam to Naha on Okinawa to direct patrol squadron

operations in the Formosa Strait.

18 July Valley Forge and HMS Triumph returned to

action with strikes on airfields, railroads and factories

at Hungham, Hamhung, Numpyong, and Wonsan, and

did particularly heavy damage to the oil refinery at

Wonsan, North Korea. For the remainder of the

month, this force struck deep behind enemy lines and

flew close support missions as required while shifting

entirely around the peninsula from the Sea of Japan to