The Sea War in Korea

Foreword by Admiral Arleigh A. Burke. The end of the Cold War, the anniversary of the Korean War, and the constant challenges of limited war we face today make this resurrection of a classic work both timely and relevant. Originally published in 1957 just a few years after the war ended, the book was the first--and remains the only--full accounting of the U.S. Navy's role in the Korean conflict to be written for the general public. It is a subject that has not received the attention it deserves mostly because the larger, more dramatic naval operations of World War II overshadowed Korea. Authors Malcolm Cagle and Frank Manson show that sustaining the war would have been impossible without the U.S. Navy. Once the navy won command of the sea, United Nations forces were able to slow and eventually stop the communist invasion. They argue that without American naval dominance in the waters around Korea and the vital logistics tail that stretched halfway around the world, the tide-turning amphibious landing at Inchon would never have materialized, and the countless insertions, extractions, naval gunfire support operations, and naval aviation missions would not have occurred. They further argue that in the heightened tensions of the time, the Seventh Fleet served as a deterrent to the temptation of widening the war elsewhere in the Pacific.

Their rigorous analysis of the war, their presentation of lessons learned, and even their list-filled appendix of ships lost, enemy aircraft destroyed, patrol squadrons, and more, make this book as valuable a reference today as when it was first offered.