The Wonsan operation presented abundant scheduling and logistics problems. On 1 October 1950, twenty days before the planned landings, Tenth Corps, Wonsan's assault ground force, was heavily engaged in fighting near Seoul. Its two divisions had to disengage, move to the coast and embark on invasion shipping for transportation around the Korean peninsula. The First Marine Division and the heavy vehicles of the Army's Seventh Infantry Division were to leave through tidally-limited Inchon, competing for scarce dock and beach space with supplies arriving to sustain the troops advancing up Korea from Seoul. The rest of the Seventh Division was to embark at Pusan, moving south along combat-damaged routes that were also heavily used by north-bound military traffic.
Careful staff planning and hard work by the forces involved overcame the difficulties, and the Marines were off Wonsan on time. However, the mine clearance situation and the fact that Wonsan, already occupied by South Korean troops, was no longer an assault target, dictated the postponement of the landings. Until 25 October the invasion force steamed back and forth in the Sea of Japan, an exercise its participants called "Operation Yo-Yo".
This page features views of loading for the Wonsan operation and the invasion force underway to the objective area in October 1950.
For a special image selection on the Wonsan Landings, plus
links to additional pictures of that operation, see:
For views of other aspects of the September-November United
Nations' offensive in Korea, see:
For a precis of our Korean War images, and links to more
comprehensive pictorial coverage of that conflict, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: 80-G-421523 Wonsan Landings, October 1950 LSTs loading First Marine Division equipment at Inchon in preparation for the Wonsan operation, 13 October 1950. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 155KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-421526 USS LST-742 Loading vehicles at Wolmi-Do Island, Inchon Harbor, South Korea, on 13 October 1950, while preparing for the Wonsan operation. Note that the ship has been left "high and dry" by the tide. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 131KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 97077 Inchon, Korea U.S. Navy "Seabees" unload supplies from trucks and load them aboard LCMs at a pontoon pier near Inchon's tidal basin, 13 October 1950. LCM closest to the camera is from USS Cavalier (APA-37). This view probably was taken during embarkation for the Wonsan operation. Sowolmi-Do island is in the center distance, with many ships anchored beyond and to the left. LSU-1160 is the nearer of two LSUs at the far left. Photographer: AF3 J.R. Ahern. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97078 Inchon, Korea U.S. Navy "Seabees" unload supplies from trucks and load them aboard LCMs at a pontoon pier near Inchon's tidal basin, 13 October 1950. LCM closest to the camera is from USS Cavalier (APA-37). This view probably was taken during embarkation for the Wonsan operation. Sowolmi-Do island is in the center distance, with many ships anchored beyond and to the left. LSU-1160 is the nearer of two LSUs at the far left. Photographer: AF3 J.R. Ahern. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 96879 USS Gunston Hall (LSD-5) En route to the Wonsan invasion area, 26 October 1950. She was one of many ships in the invasion convoy. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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For a special image selection on the Wonsan Landings, plus
links to additional pictures of that operation, see:
For views of other aspects of the September-November United
Nations' offensive in Korea, see:
For a precis of our Korean War images, and links to more
comprehensive pictorial coverage of that conflict, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."
30 October 1999