Ch'o do Airport is an

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

in Ch'odo island,

Hanggu-guyok Hanggu-guyŏk is a ''kuyŏk'' in Namp'o Special City, South P'yŏngan province, North Korea. Choe Thae-bok, the chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly, was born in Hanggu-guyŏk. Administrative divisions Hanggu-guyŏk is divided into 18 nei ...

Nampo Nampo (North Korean official spelling: Nampho; ), also spelled Namp'o, is the second largest city by population and an important seaport in North Korea, which lies on the northern shore of the Taedong River, 15 km east of the river's mouth. ...

South Pyongan Province South Pyongan Province (Phyŏngannamdo; ) is a province of North Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the southern half of the former Pyongan Province, remained a province of Korea until 1945, then became a province of North Korea. Its ca ...

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 ...

Facilities

The airfield has a single grass runway 11/29 measuring 3020 x 141 feet (920 x 43 m).Landings database page
"Landings.Com", accessed 25 Aug 2010 However, other sources state the airfield is 3500 feet long. It is sited on Ch'o do island off the west coast of North Korea in the

Korea Bay The Korea Bay, sometimes the West Korea Bay (; ; or ), is a bight and the northern extension of the Yellow Sea, between the southeastern coastline of China's Liaoning province and the western coastline of North Korea's North Pyongan, South P ...

History

Korean War

During 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 ...

, the

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air 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 of the United States Army Sign ...

designated the airfield as K-54, but it was often listed as incomplete or not built.GlobalSecurity.org
"Air Bases - Ch'o-do", accessed 25 Aug 2010 An element of the USAF

3rd Air Rescue Squadron The 563rd Rescue Group is a United States Air Force unit stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The group also controls the rescue squadrons at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. It is assigned to the 355th Wing. The group direc ...

operating

Sikorsky H-5 The Sikorsky H-5 (initially designated R-5 and also known as S-48, S-51 and by company designation VS-327Fitzsimons, Bernard, (general editor). ''Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare'' (London: Phoebus, 1978), Volume 20, ...

s and later

Sikorsky H-19 The Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (company model number S-55) was a multi-purpose helicopter used by the United States Army and United States Air Force. It was also license-built by Westland Aircraft as the Westland Whirlwind in the United Kingdom ...

s was based on the island from January 1952. Cho-do was regarded as an ideal forward operating base particularly for the rescue of pilots of F-86s damaged over

MiG Alley "MiG Alley" was the name given by United Nations (UN) pilots during the Korean War to the northwestern portion of North Korea, where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea. It was the site of numerous dogfights between UN fighter pilots and ...

as the F-86 could usually glide to an ejection location near Chodo, often the rescue forces would have to wait for the damaged F-86 to arrive at the rescue location. On 4 April 1953, an H-19 rescued Captain

Joseph C. McConnell Joseph Christopher McConnell Jr. (30 January 1922 – 25 August 1954) was a United States Air Force fighter pilot who was the top American flying ace during the Korean War.Farris, Phillip1990/0690jetwar.aspx "Jet War."''Air Force Magazine,'' Air ...

the future top-scoring US ace in Korea after he ejected from his F-86 just north of Chodo. On 30 April 1953 an H-19 rescued future double-ace Captain

Lonnie R. Moore Lonnie R. Moore (13 July 1920 – 10 January 1956) was a United States military aviator who flew 54 combat missions in Martin B-26 Marauders during World War II, and whom became a double jet Flying ace, ace during the Korean War, downing ten MiG-15 ...

after his F-86F crashed at sea north of Cho-do. In mid-February 1952 the USAF installed early-warning radar on Cho-do which could detect aircraft taking off and landing at Chinese airfields along the

Yalu River The Yalu River, known by Koreans as the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between North Korea and China. Together with the Tumen River to its east, and a small portion of Paektu Mountain, the Yalu forms the border between ...

. In May a tactical control center was added and this was used vector F-86s against MiG-15s The base was later used for communications interception duties including providing advance warning of an air attack on Taehwa-do on 30 November leading to a USAF ambush that resulted in the destruction of 12 communist aircraft. On 5 September 1952 communist artillery shelled the base, injuring six civilians. On 13 October the radar on Cho-do detected six aircraft heading towards the base; these aircraft, believed to be Po-2s, dropped 14 bombs, which killed four civilians. Similar attacks occurred on 26 November and 5 and 10 December causing minimal damage. Another attack took place on 15 April 1953, killing two gunners and destroying one anti-aircraft gun. UN forces withdrew from Cho-do under the terms of the

Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement ( ko, 한국정전협정 / 조선정전협정; zh, t=韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a complete cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United Sta ...

that ended the Korean War on 27 July 1953.

References

{{authority control Airports in North Korea South Pyongan Nampo Korean War air bases