HISTORY

Ground crew hang napalm

tanks on aircraft already

armed with unguided

rockets. The tanks proved

particularly effective in

combat.

photo: U.S. Air Force

where in a formation of two flying aircraft, one

had radio equipment but lacked a compass,

while the other was in the exact opposite situation. To top it off, there were not nearly enough

required Mustangs in Japan, so FEAF requested

the transfer of more aircraft from the United

States.

Although Mustangs had been withdrawn from

use within USAF units, they did form the bulk of

equipment with the National Guard units, which

made it one of two main sources of Mustangs

for the war in Korea. The other source was the

storage facility at McClelland AB. Selected

units of the National Guard were immediately

ordered to transfer 79 F-51Ds to the naval yard

at NAS Alameda and storage facilities “turned

up” another 66 pieces. All 145 Mustangs were

crated in protective black “cocoons”, and pla-

ced on board the Essex Class carrier USS Boxer

(CV-21). The Boxer had returned to San Diego

after its third postwar cruise in the Pacific on

the same day that war erupted in Korea, June

25, 1950. Instead of planned maintenance and

needed repairs, she left immediately after being loaded up on July 14. The cruise was attached to the previous operation, Task 500717. The

ship’s commander was Capt. John B. Moss, who

was supposed to hand the reigns of the Boxer

over to his successor, Cameron Briggs, but was

required to extend his service for the duration

of this transport mission. The 9,000km (5,600

mile) journey was made in record time, lasting

some eight days and seven hours. Besides the

Mustangs, she also carried seventy National

Guard pilots, five L-5 observation planes and 19

US Navy aircraft.

First Blood

The first Mustangs left Japan for Korea on the

afternoon of June 29. These fell under Bout One

and were ones from these donated to the ROKAF. General MacArthur the same day set out

for Suwon (Base K-13) in his personal C-54

Bataan, in order to familiarize himself with the

tactical situation at an operational briefing.

High cover for his flight was provided by F-80s

from the 8th FBW while F-82s stuck close to his

plane. American pilots in four F-51Ds bearing

Korean markings followed independently, but

only with a small time offset.

Immediately after landing, MacArthur met with

American Ambassador John Mucci and President I Sung-man. During the meeting, the base

was attacked by North Korean Il-10s. Their timing coincided with the arrival of the four afo-

Aircraft belonging

to the 18th FBG

“Truckbusters” at K-10

Chinhae, likely in 1952.

Aircraft 44-12943 in the

foreground carries the

inscription “Was That

Too Fast”.

photo: U.S. Air Force

July 2022

INFO Eduard

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