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70 years ago today the UN went on the counteroffensive in Korea.
The majority of the forces were US but there was a large Commonwealth, ROK, French & Dutch naval forces as well. Interestingly there was also a Japanese presence.
After World War 2 ended, the Japanese merchant marine fleet was wiped out thanks to both the efficacy of the US Pacific Fleets Submarine Forces and USAAF mining campaigns during the war. To provide inter-island communications the Japanese were provided 37 surplus LSTs to use to move personnel, equipment and goods throughout Japan. When the planning began for Inchon the US PAcific Fleet realized they were desperately short of LSTs. Because of the huge tidal shifts at inchon LSTs were critical to the success of the operation. To solve the issue the US Navy leased back the 37 LSTs with Japanese crews and sailed them under UN flags. So while the Japanese did not formally participate in the Korean War there were instances where they contributed. If you see reference to a UN flag vessel during War it's a pretty good bet that it was a Japanese vessel with a Japanese crew.
To no ones surprise the vessels all were immaculate and in a very high state of readiness and reliability.
https://history.army.mil/html/booksh...t02/sec01.html
A ton of material available here on the US Counteroffensive.
The majority of the forces were US but there was a large Commonwealth, ROK, French & Dutch naval forces as well. Interestingly there was also a Japanese presence.
After World War 2 ended, the Japanese merchant marine fleet was wiped out thanks to both the efficacy of the US Pacific Fleets Submarine Forces and USAAF mining campaigns during the war. To provide inter-island communications the Japanese were provided 37 surplus LSTs to use to move personnel, equipment and goods throughout Japan. When the planning began for Inchon the US PAcific Fleet realized they were desperately short of LSTs. Because of the huge tidal shifts at inchon LSTs were critical to the success of the operation. To solve the issue the US Navy leased back the 37 LSTs with Japanese crews and sailed them under UN flags. So while the Japanese did not formally participate in the Korean War there were instances where they contributed. If you see reference to a UN flag vessel during War it's a pretty good bet that it was a Japanese vessel with a Japanese crew.
To no ones surprise the vessels all were immaculate and in a very high state of readiness and reliability.
https://history.army.mil/html/booksh...t02/sec01.html
A ton of material available here on the US Counteroffensive.
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