Made in 1957 by the U.S. Navy about the Seventh Fleet, this historic film shows the activities of the 7th during the Korean War, and during the Formosa Crisis of 1954 — Quemoy. The protection of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea as well as nations in Southeast Asia is described. Korean War end of hostilities are shown at the 6 minute mark, with the signing of a cease fire in July, 1953. This date marked an expansion of the Fleet’s responsibilities to the broader Asian region. Generalissimo Chiang-Kai Shek is shown meeting with a Navy Admiral aboard the USS Wasp at the 7 minute mark, and the evacuation of the Taichung Islands at the 10 minute mark. There’s also coverage of the early stage of the Vietnam War with refugees evacuated as part of “Operation Passage to Freedom” at the 8 minute mark. Operation Passage to Freedom was a term used by the United States Navy to describe its transportation in 1954–55 of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) to South Vietnam (the State of Vietnam, later to become the Republic of Vietnam).

The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet (a military formation) of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Japan, with some units based in Japan and South Korea. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with 60 to 70 ships, 300 aircraft and 40,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel.

Seventh Fleet units participated in all major operations of the Korean and Vietnamese Wars. The first Navy jet aircraft used in combat was launched from a Task Force 77 (TF 77) aircraft carrier on 3 July 1950. The landings at Inchon, Korea were conducted by Seventh Fleet amphibious ships. The battleships Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri and Wisconsin all served as flagships for Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet during the Korean War. During the Korean War, the Seventh Fleet consisted of Task Force 70, a maritime patrol force provided by Fleet Air Wing One and Fleet Air Wing Six, Task Force 72, the Formosa Patrol, Task Force 77, and Task Force 79, a service support squadron.

Over the next decade the Seventh Fleet responded to numerous crisis situations including contingency operations conducted in Laos in 1959 and Thailand in 1962. During September 1959, in the autumn of 1960, and again in January 1961, the Seventh Fleet deployed multiship carrier task forces into the South China Sea. Although the Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese supporting forces withdrew in each crisis, in the spring of 1961 their offensive appeared on the verge of overwhelming the pro-American Royal Laotian Army.

Once again the fleet moved into Southeast Asian waters. By the end of April 1961, most of the Seventh Fleet was deployed off the Indochinese Peninsula preparing to initiate operations into Laos.

In June 1962 the Seventh Fleet held ‘Flagpole ’63,’ a joint naval exercise with the Republic of Korea.

Seventh Fleet represented the first official entrance of the United States into the Vietnam War, with the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Between 1950 and 1970, the U.S. Seventh Fleet was known by the tongue-in-cheek nickname “Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club” since most of the fleet’s operations were conducted from the Tonkin Gulf at the time.

The Fleet has three major assignments: Joint Task Force command in a natural disaster or joint military operation, Operational command of all naval forces in the region, and Defense of the Korean Peninsula. In 1994, 7th Fleet was assigned the additional responsibility as Commander, Combined Naval Component Command for the defense of South Korea.

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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 and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com