Jinhae Air Base also known as Chinhae Air Base is a naval airfield of 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 i ...

Jinhae Jinhae-gu (Hangul: 진해구, Hanja: 鎭海區) is a district in Changwon City, South Korea. This region is served by the Korean National Railroad, and is famous for its annual cherry blossom festival every spring. The city front is on a shelter ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

History

The airfield was originally established in 1942 as the 51st Navy Aircraft Factory (formerly 21st Navy Aircraft Factory Chinkai Branch) under the

Chinkai Guard District The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in Korea under Japanese rule before and during World War II. Located in southern Korea (at present-day Jinhae, Republic of Korea, ), the Chinkai Guard District was responsible for control ...

, which was a major

navy base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...

in Korea under Japanese rule. The

Republic of Korea Marine Corps The Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC; ko, 대한민국 해병대, Daehanminguk Haebyeongdae), also known as the ROK Marine Corps or ROK Marines, is the marine corps of South Korea. The ROKMC is a branch of the Republic of Korea Navy respo ...

(ROKMC) was founded at the airfield (then known as Deoksan airfield) on April 15, 1949.
Korea Jinhae circa 1950

Korean War

During the Korean War the

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

designated the airfield as Chinhae Air Base and K-10 Chinhae. The field was refurbished with a

Marsden Matting Marston Mat, more properly called pierced (or perforated) steel planking (PSP), is standardized, perforated steel matting material developed by the United States at the Waterways Experiment Station shortly before World War II, primarily for the ...

surface over crushed gravel. 18th Fighter-Bomber Group North American F-51D-20-NT Mustang 44-12943 Chinhae Airfield South Korea 1951

USAF units stationed at Chinhae included: *

18th Operations Group The 18th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 18th Wing, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. The 18th OG is the largest combat operations group in the Air Force with eight squadrons ...

from 9 December 1950 – 2 June 1952 * 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing operating F-51s from mid December 1950 Component units were: **

12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

** 67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron ** 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (March 1951 – March 1952) *

75th Air Depot Wing 75th may refer to: * 75th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2002, held on March 23, 2003 * 75th Avenue–61st Street Historic District, a national historic district in Ridgewood, Queens, New York *75th Grey Cup, the 1987 Canadian Football Le ...

(arrived from U.S. in 1952) UN units stationed at Chinhae included: *

2 Squadron SAAF 2 Squadron is a squadron in the South African Air Force which was formed in 1940. The squadron has a long history, having been involved in every single combat action in which the SAAF has taken part. During the Second World War it made a name for ...

operating F-51s attached to the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing (November 1950 – March 1951, April 1951 – June 1953)

Incidents and accidents

*24 August 1950, USAF C-47B #45-1126 was written off in a landing accident. *17 May 1951, F-51D #44-74822 crashed on landing, the aircraft was written off. *8 July 1951, USAF C-47D #44-77269 crashed on takeoff due to an engine failure, the aircraft was written off. *11 July 1951, F-51D #44-74495 crashed, the aircraft was written off. *17 September 1951, F-51D #44-74014 crashed on landing, the aircraft was written off. *8 October 1951, F-51D #44-74592 crashed on takeoff, the aircraft was written off.

History

Korean War

Incidents and accidents

Airlines and destinations

References

External links