page_title: Battle of Inchon
section_title: Bombardments of Wolmido and Inchon
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Inchon / Prelude / Bombardments of Wolmido and Inchon
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Rochester (CA-124) at anchor in 1956. Rochester was deployed to the Western Pacific from 29 May to 16 December 1956.
context_page_description: The Battle of Inchon was an amphibious invasion and battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command. The operation involved some 75,000 troops and 261 naval vessels, and led to the recapture of the South Korean capital of Seoul two weeks later. The code name for the operation was Operation Chromite.
  The battle began on 15 September 1950 and ended on 19 September. Through a surprise amphibious assault far from the Pusan Perimeter that UN and Republic of Korea Army forces were desperately defending, the largely undefended city of Inchon was secured after being bombed by UN forces. The battle ended a string of victories by the North Korean Korean People's Army. The subsequent UN recapture of Seoul partially severed the KPA's supply lines in South Korea.
  The UN and ROK forces were commanded by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of the United States Army. MacArthur was the driving force behind the operation, overcoming the strong misgivings of more cautious generals to a risky assault over extremely unfavorable terrain.
context_section_description: On 10 September 1950, five days before the Inchon landing, 43 American warplanes flew over Wolmido, dropping 93 napalm canisters to "burn out" its eastern slope in an attempt to clear the way for American troops.
  The flotilla of ships that landed and supported the amphibious force during the battle was commanded by Vice Admiral Arthur D. Struble, an expert in amphibious warfare. Struble had participated in amphibious operations in World War II, including the Normandy landings and the Battle of Leyte. He got underway for Inchon in his flagship, the heavy cruiser USS Rochester, on 12 September 1950. Among his ships were the Gunfire Support Group, consisting of Rochester, the heavy cruiser USS Toledo, the British light cruisers HMS Jamaica and HMS Kenya, and the six US destroyers of Task Element 90.62, made up of USS Collett, USS De Haven, USS Gurke, USS Henderson, USS Lyman K. Swenson, and USS Mansfield.Royal Canadian Navy destroyers HMCS Cayuga, HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Sioux also participated in the invasion task force.
  At 07:00 on 13 September, the US Navy's Destroyer Squadron 9, headed by Mansfield, steamed up Flying Fish Channel and into Inchon Harbor, where it fired upon KPA gun emplacements on Wolmido and in Inchon. Between them, 2 British cruisers and 6 American destroyers fired almost a thousand 5-inch (127-mm) shells onto the fortifications. The attacks tipped off the KPA that a landing might be imminent, and the KPA officer in command on Wolmido assured his superiors that he would throw their enemies back into the sea. North Korea's 918th Coastal Artillery Regiment returned fire, hitting Collett 7 times, Gurke 3 times, and Lyman K. Swenson twice. One sailor was killed, LTJG David H. Swenson, and 8 wounded on the Lyman K. Swenson.
  The American destroyers withdrew after bombarding Wolmido for an hour and Rochester, Toledo, Jamaica, and Kenya proceeded to bombard the KPA batteries for the next three hours from the south of the island. Lieutenant Clark and his South Korean squad watched from hills south of Inchon, plotting locations where KPA machine guns were firing at the flotilla. They relayed this information to the invasion force via Japan in the afternoon.
  During the night of 13–14 September, Struble decided on another day of bombardment, and the destroyers moved back up the channel off Wolmido on 14 September. They and the cruisers bombarded the island again that day, and planes from the carrier task force bombed and strafed it.
  At 00:50 on 15 September 1950, Lieutenant Clark and his South Korean squad activated the lighthouse on the island of Palmido. Later that morning, the ships carrying the amphibious force followed the destroyers toward Inchon and entered Flying Fish Channel, and the US Marines of the invasion force got ready to make the first landings on Wolmido.
caption: USS Rochester in 1956. She was the flagship of Vice Admiral Arthur D. Struble off Inchon in 1950.
exif: {}