KOREAN WAR US MARINE CORPS
24 FLYPAST June 2018
KOREAN WAR US MARINE CORPS
Cat and mouse
A victory by Captain James R
Weaver and RO M/Sgt Robert
Becker on January 28, 1953 added
to the fame of VMF(N)-513, which
had become known as the ‘Flying
Nightmares’. Weaver: “The MiG-
15s’ actions against the B-29s
were picking up considerably over
Sinuiju. On this particular night,
the weather was good except for
a mid-altitude layer of scattered
clouds that didn’t place any adverse
effects on our visibility.
“I was vectored into a position
between the first flight of B-29s
and the river, well above 20,000ft.
I stayed in that position until
the bombers had completed
their runs.Everything had been quiet up until
this point. When the bomb runs
were uncontested, that meant they
would probably catch hell as they
turned to return to base.
“In this case, the MiGs were laying
back waiting for their chance and
they were also aware that Marine
F3Ds were in the formation. So,
it developed into a cat-and-mouse
game with very high stakes.
“Apparently there were MiG-
15s trailing the formation, far
enough back as not to attract our
attention. As the bombers exited
the area, our radar operator back
on Chodo Island directed me to an
unidentified aircraft and since there
were no friendlies in the area, it had
to be hostile.“My RO had a solid lock on at 15
miles out. In the distance, I could
make out what appeared to be the
glowing tailpipe of a single engine
jet. At that point, I dropped the
nose slightly and increased speed
to close fast on the ‘bogey’. I had
already gone ‘gun free-ready to fire’.
“The dive was getting steeper
and steeper and the target started
moving to my left, at a little less
than a mile’s distance. There was
a good reason that the enemy
interceptors were usually scarce
when the B-29s were close to
dropping their loads. It was at
this time that the searchlights and
anti-aircraft would open up and
anything within their range was fair
game!
“There was one incident reported
by an F3D pilot where the MiG-15
slowed down deliberately to lure
him into a flak trap. Fortunately,
it did not work, but the Skyknight
and crew could have disappeared
without a trace.
“I closed the gap to within easy
firing range. Using three-second
bursts and yelling to M/Sgt Becker
to keep his lock on even though I
had a good visual, it was hazy, and
we didn’t want to lose him. The
tailpipe fire was growing in size and
becoming ragged as we pursued the
MiG toward the ground.
“By this time, I had probably
fired five or six bursts. Suddenly
there was a huge explosion and
ground fire in front of us. We
levelled out of a steep dive and
were in a slight turn and passing
by the fire on our left. We were so
low that only luck prevented us
from either hitting the ground or
drawing a lot of anti-aircraft fire
from very close range.
“The damaged MiG had hit the
ground at a very high speed in a
massive explosion. Fortunately, we
were far enough behind him that
we had time to pull out.”
As a postscript to this account,
Weaver was talking with the radar
unit on Chodo Island and relaying
what had happened. A B-29 crew,
flying in the area, was listening in
and they complimented Weaver and
his RO for successfully protecting
one of the formations from
suffering any losses.
The bomber pilot stated that their
formation had not been as lucky
as they lost one of their B-29s.
Once Weaver and Becker finished
debriefing, they drank a toast to the
B-29 crew that had been shot down
before celebrating their victory.“The MiGs were laying back waiting for their chance
and they were also aware that Marine F3Ds were in the
formation. So, it developed into a cat-and-mouse game
with very high stakes”Above
An F3D returns from an
early morning fl ight over
‘MiG Alley’ in the spring
of 1953. E J LLOYD