Found this via the Republic of Korea Navy page. Hosung Won was VERY gracious in providing a translated context of this video. I found it pretty interesting. He also found some other pictures that Ill share at a later point. While this is longer I think its well worth the read. Thank you Hosung Won! What follows is his translation. On 11 November 1945, when the Republic of Korea Navy was established, ROKN had only LCVPs which the U.S. left and light wooden patrol ships. The first Chief of Naval Operations of the ROKN, Admiral Son Won-il (손원일), emphasized the necessity to have a new naval ship replacing the deteriorated ships. However, South Korea was extremely poor immediately after independence from the Imperial Japan. Neither natural resources nor economic structures was available to support ROKN to afford a new ship. Therefore, ROKN decided to gather money by themselves, organizing ‘Vessel Construct Finance Committee’ in June 1949. From top executives to cadets, they paid 5%~10% of their salary, and some of the midshipmen sold steels and junks to make more money; wives helped to make money by doing laundry and sewing. After four months, ROKN gathered $15,000. However this amount of money was not enough at all to buy a new battleship. After hearing the efforts of ROKN, the South Korean government funded $45,000 more, totaling $60,000. On 17 October 1949, South Korea finally acquired USS PC-823 Ensign Whitehead which was a training ship of the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Fifteen naval officers spent two months in the U.S. to fix her. Her condition was so terrible the only thing worked was the engine. At last, on 26 December 1949 at New York, ROKN’s first naval battleship, Baek-du-san (PC-701) was born. Departing New York, PC-701 attached 3 inch main deck gun at the Hawaii Naval Station and purchased 100 shells at Guam. She finally entered back South Korea on 10 April 1950. With the limits of 100 rounds, the only training the sailors could do was taking aim but not shooting. After about two months, on 25 June 1950, Korean War broke out. On that day 10 AM, she patrolled against infiltrators from the north. About twenty miles from the key port of Busan, its crew sighted an unidentified ship. The PC-701 challenged by flashing light and, receiving no response, turned its searchlight on the intruder. The light revealed a 1,000 ton freighter with an estimated six hundred soldiers crowded on her decks. Heavy machine guns were mounted on the freighter with which the crew quickly opened fire. According to the veterans of PC-701, to increase the accuracy and penetration, PC-701 approached near 400 meter to the freighter. The sailors had to come out with their M1 Garands to prevent North Korean soldiers swimming toward PC-701. After about an hour long battle, the freighter was sunk between Busan and Tsushima Island. This very first ROKN’s victorious battle is known as Battle of Korea Strait (대한해협 해전). Except for the fortuitous position of the PC-701 and the fighting qualities of the crafts crew, the North Korean soldiers might have successfully landed at the vital Busan. The poor state of combat readiness at the port could easily have led to its loss. In such an event, not even the small Allied toehold on the peninsula would have remained to support the U.S. counteroffensive in Korea. This single naval action may well have prevented the fall of South Korea. The mast of Baek-du-san (PC-701) remains in Korean Naval Academy.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 13:18:06 +0000