The Battle of Korea Strait was a

single ship action A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions. Single-shi ...

fought on the first day of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, 25–26 June 1950, between the navies of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

. A North Korean

troop transport A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

carrying hundreds of soldiers attempted to land its invasion force near

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

but was encountered by a South Korean

patrol ship A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and the ...

and sunk. It was one of the first surface actions of the war and resulted in an important South Korean victory.

Battle

The Korean War began on 25 June 1950 with a massive North Korean invasion of South Korea which nearly overran the country. During the invasion, a North Korean steamer was assigned to insert troops along the peninsula's southeastern coast. The merchant ship of 1,000 tons was armed with

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

s and loaded with 600 soldiers of the 766th Independent Infantry Regiment. It was early morning when the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy in ...

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

ROKS ''Bak Du San'' spotted the lone enemy steamer eighteen miles from Busan. The chaser, also formerly American, was the lead vessel of the South Korean Navy. ''Bak Du San'' first challenged the steamer with signal lights and received no response. But when the South Koreans turned on their searchlights, the North Koreans opened fire, hitting the ''Bak Du San''s bridge. The

helmsman A helmsman or helm (sometimes driver) is a person who steering, steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, other type of maritime vessel, or spacecraft. The rank and seniority of the helmsman may vary: on small vessels such as fishing vessels and yacht ...

was killed and the officer of the deck seriously wounded. ''Bak Du San'' returned fire with her main 3-inch

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

and six .50-caliber machine guns. After the North Koreans began taking hits, they attempted to flee the engagement, but were chased by the ''Bak Du San'' in a running battle that ended with the steamer being sunk near

Tsushima Island is an island of the Japanese archipelago situated in-between the Tsushima Strait and Korea Strait, approximately halfway between Kyushu and the Korean Peninsula. The main island of Tsushima, once a single island, was divided into two in 1671 b ...

, with heavy loss of life. The victory was a major strategic gain. Busan was vital but only lightly defended, and if it had fallen the North Koreans would have been one step closer to completely overrunning the country.

Notes

References

* {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017

Korea Strait The Korea Strait is a sea passage in East Asia between Korea and Japan, connecting the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The strait is split by the Tsushima Island into the Western Channel and t ...

June 1950 events in Asia

Battles and operations of the Korean War in 1950 Battles of the Korean War involving South Korea Battles of the Korean War involving North Korea Naval battles involving North Korea

Battle

See also

Notes

References