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Holding the Line: The Naval Air Campaign In Korea Hardcover – March 5, 2019

by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver (Author)

4.5 156 ratings

Part of: General Military (111 books)

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Naval and air power was crucial to the United Nations' success in the Korean War, as it sought to negate the overwhelming Chinese advantage in manpower. In what became known as the 'long hard slog', naval aviators sought to slow and cut off communist forces and support troops on the ground. USS Leyte (CV-32) operated off Korea in the Sea of Japan for a record 93 continuous days to support the Marines in their epic retreat out of North Korea, and was crucial in the battles of the spring and summer of 1951 in which the UN forces again battled to the 38th Parallel.

All of this was accomplished with a force that was in the midst of change, as jet aircraft altered the entire nature of naval aviation. Holding the Line chronicles the carrier war in Korea from the first day of the war to the last, focusing on front-line combat, while also describing the technical development of aircraft and shipboard operations, and how these all affected the broader strategic situation on the Korean Peninsula.

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From the Publisher


A flight of F4U-4 Corsairs over USS Boxer, September 4, 1951. (NARA)	F9F- An Il-10 of the North Korean People’s Air Force (NKPAF)	2 Panthers of VF-721 from USS Boxerover North Korea, July 15, 1951, (NARA)

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"In Holding the Line: The Naval Air Campaign In Korea, author and military aviation historian Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has produced a, meticulously researched, impressively detailed and documented study." - Midwest Book Review

"Cleaver writes well and his book is well documented … Cleaver chronicles the efforts of the USN and USMC in the Korean War in sufficient detail and this book should be considered as a definitive account of same for the general public and a valuable resource for the expert. Definitely recommended." - The Northern Mariner

About the Author

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver has been a published writer for the past 40 years. He is a regular contributor to Flight Journal magazine. He has had a lifelong interest in the Korean War and this work is the product of 25 years of research. He is the author of Aces of the 78th Fighter Group and F4F and F6F Aces of VF-2, as well as Fabled Fifteen: The Pacific War Saga of Carrier Air Group 15 and The Bridgebusters: The True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Group. During his 30 years as a screenwriter in Hollywood, he wrote the cult classic The Terror Within and worked as a supervising producer on a number of TV and cable series. He served in the US Navy in Vietnam and currently lives in Encino, California.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Osprey Publishing; 1st edition (March 5, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1472831721
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1472831729
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.46 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.15 x 1.29 x 9.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,524,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #93 in Korean War Aviation History
- #2,927 in Military Aviation History (Books)
- #3,496 in Naval Military History

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4.5 156 ratings

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Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

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My mother used to enjoy telling people that my first word was "airplane" (said as "o-pane") when a P-38 flew over the park we were in there in Denver, Colorado, where I grew up. My enjoyment of airplanes was also the result of my father's influence. He had worked for Roscoe Turner and met such luminaries as Ernst Udet and Jimmy Doolittle back in the 1930s. The fact my grand nephew can, at age 5, identify all the airplanes that live at the little airport across the street from his school I take as evidence that aeronuttiness is likely genetic.

Having learned to read at an early age, one of my favorite childhood activities was spending a Saturday in the stacks at the main Denver public library, going through the aviation and second world war history sections and devouring everything there. I also spent three years in the Navy in naval aviation as an enlisted sailor in the years immediately prior to and during the outbreak of that waste of 58,000 American lives and God knows how many Asian lives, Vietnam.

I became a pilot myself in the 1970s, and over the 40 years since have spent quite a bit of time in the air, in the airplanes of the Second World War. In that time, I have also had the privilege of meeting many of the participants in that war, and writing about them in Air Enthusiast Quarterly, Air International, Air Force, Aviation History and Flight Journal magazines. Over the past 30 years, I have been involved with the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California.

At the same time, I became a produced screenwriter, and learned to see a story and tell it through the characters. I hope that has slopped over into my non-fiction writing.

In my writing, I am more interested in describing who these people were than in the simple explication of what they did. As a well-known writer said, writing historical non-fiction gives a writer the power to bring the dead back to life, and that is my goal in this work.

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Steve Conradson

B-36 never saw combat and now we know why carriers remained critical

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2021

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In the current age of aerial refueling one forgets the limited range planes had back in 1950. Jet Fighters couldn't fly from Japan to accompany B-29s. The US Navy was just entering the jet age. My uncle was part of Tank regiment part of 45th Division that deployed to Korea in late December 1951 until sometime in later 1952. He talked about the North Korean use of bi-plane they called 10 O'Clock Charlie that would heckle their positions on the ground. This book confirmed that this would happen. My uncle earned a bronze star for efficiency in the war. He always claimed it was because he knew how to type and his commanding officer had working as a first line officer even though he entered service in 1951 as a private, he became a Sgt. A year later.

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geminif4ucorsair

For those unfamiliar with the naval air war during the Korean War, an acceptable read

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2019

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There have been several other good books on the US Navy and Marines air war during the Korean War. Compared with two of the best books, this book rates a "4", which is the result of two critiques regarding the content of the book (especially when compared to two older American published books covering the same subject).

The book is organized into 19 short chapters, including the final "The War Assessed", plus a very short (and incomplete Bibliography) and Index. The chapters are essentially chronological, except those covering the US Marine Corps (Ch. 14, mostly).

The book essentially begins with Ch. 2 Revolt of the Admirals, in which the author spares no criticism of former-US Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson (as a political statement, I would suggest he was the worst SecDef since creation of the cabinet position). Arrogant, ego driven, Secretary Johnson even thought he would be the presidential successor to President Truman! As to final paragraph in this chapter is wroth quoting: "The day before he left office as Secretary of defense, Johnson mad reference to William Shakespeare's Macbeth in his final speech: When the jurly burly's done and the battle is won, I trust the historians will find my record of performance creditable, my service honest and faithful commensurate with the trust that was placed in me and in the best interests of peace and our national defense." To date, no historian has come to that conclusion regarding Louis Johnson." [end quote]

The remaining chapters to Ch. 19 are a textual record of the endless number of carrier deployment and bombing missions aimed at suppression of the initial North Korean Army (KPA) invasions of the South, holding the line at Pusan Perimeter, the next two-plus years of interdiction (Operation Strangle and other less notable, daily attempts at destroying both interdiction and North Korean industrial capability), and operations that involved the US Air Force in this campaign. Chapter 14 takes the reader to the night air campaign, both in support of Air Force B-29 bombing missions, eliminating the pesky "Bedcheck Charlie" flights of Po-2 biplanes, and successes in night interdiction by Navy pilots. Chapter 17 is focused on the USMC aviators and their incredible success at close air support (CAS) in support of their fellow Marines.

Chapter 19 The War Assess (3.5 pages) is wholly inadequate for a air campaign this complex, diverse, etc. The most effective conclusion is this: "......the employment of carrier air power in a "strategic" sense was ultimately only successful in Korea in limiting the enemy's ability to build up their front-line strength."

The author also writes: "As far as the air power in the Korean War is concerned, the facts are that outside of the Pyongyang strikes by VALLEY FORGE and TRIUMPH, and the close air support provided by naval and Marine aviators during the battles in the Pusan Perimeter, turning back the Chinese in 1951 and holding the lines at the end of the war , UN air power did not place a decisive role in the outcome of the war as it had in World War II." Accurate and the one reached by several other writers on the subject in the past.

This review could have been rated a "5" but for the abbreviated Bibliography, which does not represent any where near all the sources used to derive the books text, evident from the pilot narratives, the quoting in the text of historical studies not listed in the biblio, etc. etc.

The book is something of a mix between the (Prof.) Richard Hallion's THE NAVAL AIR WAR IN KOREA and the more personal narrative of pilots and others, in Warren E. Thompson's NAVAL AVIATION IN THE KOREAN WAR, Aircraft, Ships, and Men. The latter is particularly useful for its Appendices (that includes a full record of aircraft losses and enemy aircraft shot down). Warren T. has also written extensively on pilot experiences in professional journals (and, it would appear this book has drawn on some of these narratives).

This reviewer would love to have given the new Osprey Publishing title a "five", but it just does not stand at the same level as the above two book titles published in pats years.

25 people found this helpful

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F-111A

Carrier War in Korea.

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2020

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"Holding The Line" is an account of the naval war during the Korean Conflict in the early 1950's, as the American forces, along with their United Nations allies, attempted to stem the tide of Communist aggression on the Korean peninsula. Aircraft carriers, equipped with slow, propellor-driven attack aircraft, along with early jet-powered aircraft, were the primary means used by the allies, in their oftentimes futile attempts to slow the onslaught of Communist forces, as they overwhelmed the UN and ROK ground forces. This book focuses on the carrier war, but also provides the reader with details of operations by the US Air Force, along with UN allied air forces.
Times were desperate in Korea, and this book definitely gives the reader a sense of the urgency and desperation that surrounded this time and place in history.
This is a good read about a war that is all-but-forgotten by most....

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David Robinson

paradigm shift in naval aviation

Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2022

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Jets, props and straight deck carriers. Radar directed AAA, soviet pilots, hostile country, hostile enemy. Straight wing jets vs. swept wings, these were the challenges for the Korean War naval aviator. Some changes for the good would be established like the angled deck, others not so much, like losing the ability to dogfight. Great history that needs to be remembered and applied.

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2023

Good book

A Lot of Good Historical Perspective

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2022

Verified Purchase

As one who served as a Naval Aviator in the Vietnam era, this is a fresh reminder of the mistakes perpetuated after Korea. That said, this account of the Navy’s role in that war is excellent and filled with detail as Cleaver is wont to do. Be that as it may, there’s an awful lot to learn about the Korean War from Holding the Line. Well worth the time.

One person found this helpful

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gaosmer

A well told tale

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2020

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As a former Marine, I must say I really enjoyed the chapter on Marines. I found the information on enlisted pilots to be exceptional. I didn't know of that, even though I have probably read every Marine history book in the last twenty years. I found this ebook to be excellent and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in military history..

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Hjalmar Sveinsson

Detailed history and excellent lessons learned summary

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2019

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This is an excellent book about a largely forgotten War. Naval and Marine aviation saved the day on many occasions. Too bad that the lessons from the air interdiction campaign against North Korea during 1951-53 were not appreciated when launching the air campaign against North Vietnam some ten years later.

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Excellent Account on Importance of Naval Air during Korean War

Reviewed in Canada on October 27, 2021

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I told the kids what I wanted for my birthday and I’m glad they actually listened!Reading ‘Holding the Line’ was an informative read as T.C. provides many aspects prior to and during the Korean Conflict that were never known to me. Getting to know specific names and circumstances related to the Naval conflict and efforts really puts things in perspective - the sacrifices as frustrations of fighting a war so far from home.

Anzio

Ungewöhnliches Thema.

Reviewed in Germany on July 10, 2021

Verified Purchase

Dieses Buch war für mich aus dem Grunde interessant, da hier ein nicht so bekanntes Kapitel über den Korea-Krieg, nämlich die Marine-Fliegerei behandelt wurde. Ebenso die Entwicklung eigener Ideen seitens der Marines für die Nah-Unterstützung der Bodentruppen war (zumindest für mich) nicht so bekannt.

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Kindle Customer

A superb account of US Naval air operations during the Korean War

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2019

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This is a very well written and detailed account of the operations of the US Navy and Marine Corps from the carriers stationed off the Korean peninsula during the Korean war. The opening chapters relate how the US Navy was languishing post WW2 and fighting to survive political battles as well as budget cuts. The aircraft used are well described and the accounts of the men involved bring relate the humanity of what was called "the forgotten war". This is not a dry text book but is instead engaging and readable as always from Tom Cleaver.

2 people found this helpful

Keith Bratley

Oft Forgotten Conflict Gets Decent Treatment

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2020

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Enjoying the book and getting a good overview of the conflict from a naval aviation perspective, but as a plane buff, would have liked a little more detail.

SPAD

A crash course on the navy pilot in the Korean War

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

The author covers the naval war, both US and British, in the sort of detail that cuts through the political manoevering. An ecellent piece of history - both military and poilitical. Full of personal accounts it puts the reader into the cockpit.

One person found this helpful

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