Battle of Inchon | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Korean War | |||||||
Four tank landing ships unload men and equipment on Red Beach one day after the amphibious landings on Inchon. |
|||||||
|
|||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
North Korea | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Douglas MacArthur Arthur Dewey Struble Edward M. Almond Oliver P. Smith Paik In-yeop Shin Hyun-joon |
Kim Il-sung Choi Yong-kun Wol Ki Chan Wan Yong |
||||||
Strength | |||||||
40,000 infantry 4 cruisers 7 destroyers 1 armed sampan and an unknown number of naval and air forces |
6,500 infantry 19 aircraft 1 fortress 1 patrol boat and an unknown number of artillery |
||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Land: US: 222 killed 800 wounded Sea: 2 killed 9 wounded 2 cruisers damaged 3 destroyers damaged 1 armed sampan damaged 1 LST lost and 3 damaged Air: 1 aircraft destroyed |
Land: 1,350 killed 1 fortress damaged Sea: 1 patrol boat sunk Air: 1 aircraft destroyed |
The Battle of Inchon (Hangul: 인천상륙작전; Hanja: 仁川上陸作戰; RR: Incheon Sangnyuk Jakjeon) was an amphibious invasion and battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations. The operation involved some 75,000 troops and 261 naval vessels, and led to the recapture of the South Korean capital of Seoul two weeks later. The code name for the operation was Operation Chromite.
The battle began on 15 September 1950 and ended on 19 September. Through a surprise amphibious assault far from the Pusan Perimeter that UN and South Korean forces were desperately defending, the largely undefended city of Incheon was secured after being bombed by UN forces. The battle ended a string of victories by the invading North Korean People's Army (NKPA). The subsequent UN recapture of Seoul partially severed the NKPA's supply lines in South Korea.
The United Nations and South Korean forces were commanded by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur of the United States Army. MacArthur was the driving force behind the operation, overcoming the strong misgivings of more cautious generals to a risky assault over extremely unfavorable terrain.