Shot by an anonymous U.S. sailor, this 16mm silent home movie shows operations in the 1950s off of North Korea. The sailor was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex, CV-9, and must have had some pull as he was allowed to film flight operations and even shot the ship from the rescue helicopter. Most likely this was in 1953 as part of the so-called “Peace Patrol”. The aircraft in use in this period include Douglas A-1 Skyraiders as well as the McDonnell F2H Banshee. At 5:46 an aircraft makes repeated passes on the carrier before the barrier is raised at 5:58. At 7:15 a heavy cruiser or battleship passes close by and at 7:34 some brass arrive on the ship via helicopter. At 7:56 a bos’ns chair is used to move personnel between the carrier and a destroyer. At 8:46 the ship is in port, although it’s unclear precisely where, it’s clearly somewhere in South Korea based on the flags flying. At 9:30 a parade is seen. At 10:30, street scenes in South Korea. At 10:45, a civilian who appears to be a journalist boards the ship. At 11:00 a title card announces “back to Tokyo and hence to Okinawa”. At 11:38 the Kadena Air Base is seen on Okinawa. At 12:00, there is a brief visit to Hong Kong with its bustling streets and rickshaws.
The ship served three tours in Far Eastern waters during the Korean War. She served as flagship for Carrier Division 1 (CarDiv 1) and Task Force 77. She was the first carrier to launch F2H Banshees on combat missions; on 16 September 1951, one of these planes, damaged in combat, crashed into aircraft parked on the forward flight deck causing an explosion and fire which killed seven. After repairs at Yokosuka, she returned to frontline action on 3 October to launch strikes up to the Yalu River and provide close air support for U.N. troops. Her two deployments in the Korean War were from August 1951 – March 1952 and July 1952 – January 1953.
On 1 December 1953, she started her final tour of the war, sailing in the East China Sea with what official U.S. Navy records describe as the “Peace Patrol”. From November 1954 – June 1955 she engaged in training exercises, operated for three months with the United States Seventh Fleet, assisted in the Tachen Islands evacuation, and engaged in air operations and fleet maneuvers off Okinawa.
USS Essex (CV/CVA/CVS-9) was an aircraft carrier and the lead ship of the 24-ship Essex class built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after the town and county of Massachusetts, and was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in December 1942, Essex participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning the Presidential Unit Citation and 13 battle stars. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), eventually becoming an antisubmarine aircraft carrier (CVS). In her second career, she served mainly in the Atlantic, playing a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. She also participated in the Korean War, earning four battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation. She was the primary recovery carrier for the Apollo 7 space mission.
She was decommissioned for the last time in 1969, and sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrap on 1 June 1975.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
