Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

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Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

• Lesson 13 The Navy in the Early Cold War,
• 1945-1953

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Learning Objectives

• Know the reasons for the post World War II
  decline of the U.S. Navy.
• Comprehend the impact of the defense
  reorganizations in 1947 and 1949 on the role of
  the U.S. naval service.
• Know the impact of the balanced force strategy on
  the role of U.S. naval service.
• Know the factors which provided the impetus for
  change in national military strategy in 1950.
• Know the major contributions of the Navy and
  Marine Corps during the Korean War.

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Yalta Conference

• February 1945

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The Cold War
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The Cold War1947-1989

• Constant global confrontation between the Soviet
  Union and United States.
• Avoidance of direct armed conflict between the
  two Superpowers.

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End of World War II

• United Nations established
• MacArthur commands U.S. army of occupation in
  Japan
• Germany divided into zones of occupation
• Federal Republic of (West) Germany - 1949
• U.S. initially enjoys atomic bomb monopoly
• Neglect of conventional military forces begins
• Communist control of Eastern Europe.
• Puppet states dominated by the Soviet Union.

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U.S. Naval Forces after WW II

• Rapid demobilization begins.
• Postwar tasking
• Return troops, POWs, and refugees to the U.S.
• Minesweeping.
• Must make do with still-new World War II
  equipment.
• Drastic reduction in size of force - 1945 to
  1950
• Personnel 4 million to less than 500,000
• Ships 1,200 to less than 250
• Small numbers of ships stationed in the Far East
  and Mediterranean.

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Truman inspects Navy Ship, 1945
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Reduction in Force Navy and Marine Corps

• Personnel Navy
• Personnel Marines
• Major Combatants
• Aircraft

• 1945 1950
• 3,400,000 5,000
• 475,000 75,000
• 1,200 237
• 40,000 4,300

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Search for New Roles

• Austerity
• No weapons systems except nuke
• Navy makes do with WWII equipment
• Instability
• Pacific
• U.S. ambivalence toward China
• Role of 7th Fleet and Naval forces Far east
• Europe
• Instability in Turkey, Greece, Italy and France
• Gradual withdrawal of Brits
• Groundwork for U.S. role in Med.

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National Security Act of 1947

• Created DOD as cabinet-level agency
• SECDEF with SECNAV underneath
• Added Air Force to Armed Forces
• Created Joint-Chiefs-of-Staff
• Created Unified Geographic Commands
• Created CIA

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Effects for Navy and USMC

• Preserves naval aviation and the Marine Corps
• Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal becomes
  Secretary of Defense
• Defense Reorganization Act - 1949 Department of
  Defense
• Strengthens Secretary of Defense Johnson
  replaces Forrestal.

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Unified Commands
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The Air Force

• Massive Retaliation Strategy
• Deterrence
• Air Force strategic bombing
• New first line of defense to replace Navy
• No need for naval air (carriers) or Marines
• Massive reduction of the Department of the Navy
  proposed
• B-36 introduced
• Air Force long-range atomic bomber.

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Revolt of the Admirals - 1949

• SECDEF Louis Johnson cancels construction of USS
  United States.
• First Super Carrier of the fleet.
• Secretary of the Navy John Sullivan resigns in
  protest.
• Marine Corps squadrons cut
• CNO Admiral Louis Denfeld relieved of duties by
  Truman.
• Balanced forces strategy eventually accepted.
• Soviets detonate atomic bomb - 1950.

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Containment of Communism

• I believe that it must be the policy of the
  United States to support free peoples who are
  resisting attempted subjugation by armed
  minorities or outside pressure.
• - Harry S Truman evincing the Truman Doctrine

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Geographic Concerns

• Pacific
• China - Civil War between Communists and
  Nationalists.
• Leaders Mao Tse Tung and Chiang Kai Shek.
• Japanese Constitution adopted - relies on U.S.
  for defense.
• Europe
• Communist threat to Turkey and Greece
• Economic and Military aid to Greece and Turkey.
• Non-communist governments secured.

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Containment Scorecard 1947-49

• Marshall Plan - June 1947
• U.S. economic aid to rebuild western Europe
• Berlin Airlift June 1948 - May 1949
• Communist Coup in Czechosolovakia - February 1948
• 1949 - Chinese Nationalists evacuate to Formosa.
• Communist Peoples Republic established on
  mainland China under Mao
• Pact signed with Soviet Union
• U.S. supports Chiangs Nationalist government on
  Formosa (Taiwan) as legitimate government of China

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NATO

• Established in 1949.
• Military Alliance between U.S., Canada, and
  western Europe with a formal command structure.
• Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (Brussels,
  Belguim)
• U.S. Commander in Chief, European Command
• Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic (Norfolk,
  Virginia)
• U.S. Commander in Chief, Atlantic Command
• Warsaw Pact established by the Soviet Union to
  counter NATO in 1955 - includes eastern European
  communist states.

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• The Korean War

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The Korean War

• 25 June 1950 -- North Korea invades South Korea
• Truman orders U.S. troops from Japan to defend S.
  Korea
• United Nations Security Council Resolution - 27
  June
• Called upon member nations to render such
  assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be
  necessary to repel the armed attack and to
  restore international peace and security to the
  area.
• No veto - Soviet Union boycotts Security Council
  meeting
• General Douglas MacArthur
• Commander in Chief - United Nations Command.
• Includes ships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.

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Course of the War - 1950

• Fall of Seoul to North Korean Army.
• U.S. conventional forces inadequate to stop
  advance.
• Truman orders U.S./U.N. military response
• 2-3 July 1950 Navy first on the scene
• USS Juneau
• USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph
• Establishes control of SLOC
• Watched Taiwan/PRC straits
• General Douglas MacArthur is United Nations
  Commander
• Conceives of Inchon landing

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Pusan Harbor July 1950U.S. Navy -Establishes
control of sea lines of
communication.
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Inchon Landing

• 15 September 1950
• North Korea surprised
• Kimpo Airfield and Seoul within 10 days
• North Koreans forces cut off in south, forced to
  fight their way back
• MacArthurs forces follow North Koreans north of
  38th parallel

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Inchon
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Inchon
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Frozen Chosin FirstMarine Division

• Advances to the Chosin Reservoir
• Attacked by seven Communist Chinese divisions
• Soviet supplied mines sunk naval vessels/delayed
  7th fleet
• Legendary retreat to Hungnam.
• General O.P. Smith
• Gentlemen, we are not retreating. We are merely
  advancing in another direction.
• Chesty Puller, We have the Chinese right where
  we want them. Theyre all around us. Makes it
  easier for us to get them and kill them.
• 100,000 troops and equipment evacuated by Seventh
  Fleet ships.
• Chinese intervention fear of Nuke War!!!

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Course of the War -- 1951-53

• Truman Refuses to use nukes.
• Are nukes practical in limited wars?
• MacArthur relieved of duty by Truman - 11 April
  1951.
• Threatened bombing of China.
• Policy contradicted instructions from Truman.
• General Matthew Ridgway replaces MacArthur.
• Peace talks begin at Panmunjom.
• 1953 Armistice yields permanent division of
  Korea.
• Death of Stalin
• Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) established near 38th
  parallel.
• Marines lost 4,267 dead and 23,744 wounded. 42
  receive Medal of Honor.

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Korea Divided

• Peoples Democratic
• Republic of Korea
• (North Korea)
• Closed society under communist dictatorship.
• Soviet and Chinese aid.

• Republic of Korea
• (South Korea)
• U.S. Ally - Large military presence maintained.

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Public Law 416

• 1952
• Define Marine Corps as separate service within
  DON.
• Sized it as min. 3 divisions and 3 air wings
• Awarded Marine Corps primacy in Amphibious warfare

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Impact of Korean War on the Navy

• MacArthur The Navy and Marines have never
  shone more brightly than this morning. (Invasion
  of Inchon)
• Personnel
• Research and development
• Groundwork for post 1953 modernized navy
• Procurement

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Forrestal-class Attack Carrier (CVA)

• USS Forrestal (CVA 59)

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USS Nautilus (SSN 571)

• Commissioned September 1954.
• First nuclear-powered submarine.
• First submarine to cruise under the North Pole.

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Discussion
Next time US Navy in the Strategy of
Containment, 1953-1963