FlyPast 06.2018

Nightmares

B

efitting its image, the US

Marine Corps was involved

in the Korean War from

its outbreak. In terms of the air

component, the Vought F4U-5N

Corsair was the initial night-

fighter deployed. This was the

first of three types, followed by the

Grumman F7F-3N Tigercat and

the Douglas F3D-2 Skyknight.

By early August 1950 the Corsairs

of VMF(N)-513 (fixed-wing

Marine night-fighter squadron

513), part of Marine Air Group 33

(MAG-33) had started operations.

The unit had crossed the Pacific on

the escort carrier USS Sitkoh Bay

and was immediately assigned to

Fifth Air Force control, temporarily

based at Itazuke, Japan.

The Corsairs set to work south

of the 38th Parallel, the border

between North and South Korea,

mostly going after enemy troops

pushing towards Pusan. There were

lots of targets as the North Koreans

had started to use the roads at night

due to pressure being put on the

them by Douglas B-26 Invaders

during daylight hours.

Twin-engined F7F-3Ns of

VMF(N)-542 soon arrived to

complement the Corsairs. Two

dozen Tigercats were loaded on

the USS Cape Esperance and

headed for Japan. Marine 542

didn’t waste any time getting

into action. With their

greater endurance the F7Fs

roamed far north of the

38th Parallel.

Once the battle lines

stabilised, the Corsairs

and Tigercats went after

everything that was on

the road coming from

the north. Flying over mountainous

terrain was dangerous enough, but

to fly low into treacherous valleys

with little or no moon, the odds

were stacked against the night-

fighters. Nevertheless, Marine

pilots were determined to eliminate

Chinese logistics efforts thus

making it impossible for the enemy

to build up enough supplies for an

effective offensive.

As the winter of 1950-1951 set in,

the main base for the night-fighters

was at Yonpo in North Korea, but

after a push by Chinese forces,

the F7F-3Ns had to operate from

Itami in Japan and the F4U-5Ns

set up shop at Pohang down on the

southern tip of South Korea.

Firepower

Corsair pilot Lt Lynn F Williams

explained some of the firepower

available: “We usually substituted

flares and fragmentation bombs for

rockets and napalm [at] night. We

carried the same type of loads as

the F4U day fighters for daylight

missions except that we loaded

our 20mm guns with straight high

explosive incendiary ammo.

“Tracers tended to destroy night

vision and ball and armour-

piercing rounds were of little

value in the dark. High explosive

incendiary rounds impacting

also affected night vision, but

proved to be valuable in aiding

our pilots during a diving

attack on ground targets.

“We learned to judge

how close we were getting

to the ground by the

time between firing and

impact. When it came

almost immediately

Left

A fl ight of F3Ds over

South Korea in the

spring of 1953.

ED EDELEN

June 2018 FLYPAST 19