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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- The Korean War, 1950-1953 --

Opening of Chinnampo, November 1950

As the Eighth Army pushed northwards into western North Korea, and farther from the supply port at Inchon, its logistics situation became increasingly difficult. Short of necessities, under pressure to speed its advance and with winter coming on, the Army appealed to the Navy for help. A small port was opened at Haeju, but much more cargo capacity was badly needed. Chinnampo, port city for the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, was a logical answer, but one presenting a full plate of difficulties: it was at the end of a very long, well-mined channel and had the extreme tidal range typical of western Korea. In addition, until late October, available minecraft were largely needed elsewhere.

Opening the route to Chinnampo involved applying the painful lessons of Wonsan and fine teamwork by U.S. Navy patrol planes and helicopters, the British aircraft carrier Theseus, U.S., South Korean and contract Japanese minesweepers, Underwater Demolition Teams, and good intelligence work. In a phased approach, aircraft, small craft and UDT swimmers searched for mines, sinking some. Following the searchers, larger minesweepers cleared a thirty-mile long approach through the Yellow Sea, while smaller minecraft, including converted landing craft, worked through another thirty to forty miles of river channels. Chinnampo also marked the appearance of a mine force "mother ship", as USS Catamount (LSD-17) arrived to provide a home for the smallest minecraft.

A shallow channel to Chinnampo was opened by 3 November and cleared completely by the 10th, allowing smaller ships to start relieving Eighth Army's supply woes. With the completion of a deep-water channel ten days later, the port was ready for full service and was soon handling nearly 5000 tons of cargo daily.

This page features pictures of mine clearance operations off Chinnampo, North Korea, in November 1950.

For visual coverage of other aspects of the September-November United Nations' offensive in Korea, see:

  • The UN Offensive, 15 September -- 25 November 1950.

    For a precis of our Korean War images, and links to more comprehensive pictorial coverage of that conflict, see:

  • The Korean War, June 1950 - July 1953 -- Introductory Overview and Special Image Selection.


    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-422837

    Opening of Chinnampo, North Korea, October-November 1950


    A LCVP bucks in the well of USS Catamount (LSD-17), during mine clearance operations off Chinnampo, circa November 1950.
    USS Forrest Royal (DD-872), flagship for this operation, is in the left background.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-423788

    Opening of Chinnampo, October-November 1950


    A minesweeping boat (MSB, converted from a LCVP) tows sweep gear in the Chinnampo harbor vicinity, during mine clearance operations.
    The original photo is dated 6 November 1950.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 97140

    Mine Clearance off Chinnampo, Korea


    Sailors streaming minesweeping gear from LCVP minesweeping boats, off Chinnampo.
    Photograph is dated 5 December 1950.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the "All Hands" collection at the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-423775

    USS Swallow (AMS-36)
    and
    USS Gull (AMS-16)

    Tied up at Chinnampo, North Korea, in November 1950, after taking part in clearing a channel more that sixty miles from out in the Yellow Sea and up the Taedong River to that city.
    Note flags and sweep gear at the ships' sterns, including depressors hanging over the transoms, otters on deck and floats and cable reels further forward.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 121KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 80-G-423162

    Martin PBM "Mariner" Patrol Bomber


    Explodes Russian-type mines with machine gun fire, in the channel near Chinnampo, North Korea.
    The original photo is dated 20 August 1953, after the Korean War armistice. It may have been taken in October-November 1950, when patrol aircraft were employed to search for and destroy mines to open Chinnampo for the use of advancing United Nations' forces.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     


    For visual coverage of other aspects of the September-November United Nations' offensive in Korea, see:

  • The UN Offensive, 15 September -- 25 November 1950.

    For a precis of our Korean War images, and links to more comprehensive pictorial coverage of that conflict, see:

  • The Korean War, June 1950 - July 1953 -- Introductory Overview and Special Image Selection.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    3 January 2000