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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 --

Navy Planes in action with MiG-15s, November 1950

Navy F9F "Panther" jets had shot down two propeller-driven North Korean fighters in early July 1950, demonstrating the superiority of jets over "prop" planes. However, in November, the enemy raised the ante considerably by introducing the swept-wing MiG-15 jet interceptor to the Korean War. Fast, agile and high-flying, the MiG-15 was markedly superior to any U.S. Navy or Air Force plane then in the combat zone. Fortunately, Communist MiG pilots, including many Russians, were not generally up to the standard set by their plane.

The Air Force first encountered MiG-15s on 1 November, and a F-80 "Shooting Star" jet downed one on the 8th. The next day, as Navy planes came to northwestern Korea to attack the Yalu River bridges, a "Panther" from USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) scored the first MiG kill by a carrier plane. On 18 November, as the bridge campaign continued, F9Fs from USS Leyte (CV-32) and USS Valley Forge (CV-45) each got another MiG-15, bringing the Navy's total to three.

There the aircraft carrier Navy's score remained for nearly two more years, since carrier planes soon returned to their usual eastern Korean "beat", where MiGs were a happily rare commodity. In December an initial shipment of advanced Air Force F-86 "Sabre" jet fighters arrived on board the light carrier USS Bataan (CVL-29) and the escort carrier USS Bairoko (CVE-115). By year's end, the "Sabres" and their experienced pilots had established a mastery over the MiGs that would last to the end of the Korean War.

This page features pictures of air-to-air combat involving Navy planes and Communist MiG-15s in November 1950.

For related views, showing the air strikes on the Yalu River bridges in November 1950, see: Carrier Air Strikes, 15 September - 25 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-424090

    Soviet MiG-15 Jet Fighter


    Photographed during an air battle in which a MiG-15 was shot down over North Korea by F9F-2 "Panther" fighters from USS Leyte (CV-32).
    Photograph is dated 23 November 1950.

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

    Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 625 pixels

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

     
    Photo #: 80-G-424091

    Soviet MiG-15 Jet Fighter


    Photographed during an air battle in which a MiG-15 was shot down over North Korea by F9F-2 "Panther" fighters from USS Leyte (CV-32). Note puff of smoke behind the MiG.
    Photograph is dated 23 November 1950.

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

    Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 620 pixels

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

     


    For related views, showing the air strikes on the Yalu River bridges in November 1950, see: Carrier Air Strikes, 15 September - 25 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.


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    19 December 1999