Battle of Chumonchin Chan

This article has multiple issues. Please help or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources:  –  ·  ·  · scholar · JSTOR (January 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Battle of Chumonchin Chan
Part of the Korean War
Torpedo boat No.21 on display at the Museum of Victory of the Fatherland Liberation War, Pyongyang. North Korean propaganda mistaking a United Nations forces ship for USS Baltimore (CA-68) which was never deployed to the Korean War. It also claims the heavy cruiser was sunk by North Korean torpedo boats during the battle.
Date July 2, 1950 Location off Chumonchin Chan, Sea of Japan Result United Nations victory
Belligerents
United Nations:  United Kingdom  United States	North Korea
Commanders and leaders
	unknown
Strength
2 cruisers 1 frigate	4 motor torpedo boats 2 gunboats 10 ammunition ships
Casualties and losses
None	Unknown human casualties, 3 torpedo boats sunk

The Battle of Chumonchin Chan or the action of 2 July 1950 was the battle fought between surface combatants during the main phase of the Korean War. It began after an Allied flotilla encountered a Korean People's Navy supply fleet.

Battle[]

On 2 July 1950, USS Juneau, HMS Black Swan, and HMS Jamaica were sailing along the coast of the Sea of Japan (East Sea) when they encountered four North Korean torpedo and gunboats that had just finished escorting a flotilla of ten ammunition ships up the coast. The North Korean torpedo boats began an attack on the allied ships.

Before their torpedoes could be fired however, they were met with a salvo of gunfire from the United Nations ships which destroyed three of the torpedo boats. The surviving North Korean craft fled. Later in July, Juneau encountered the same ammunition ships and destroyed them.

Sinking USS Baltimore[]

The Victorious War Museum in Pyongyang, North Korea, has several exhibits that claim the Baltimore was sunk by the motor torpedo boats belonging to the Korean People's Navy. Exhibits include a poster and the "actual" boat which supposedly sank the American cruiser. However, the ship was in the U.S. Navy’s decommissioned reserve from 1946 to 1951 before being recommissioned and assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. In 1955, the Baltimore was transferred to the Pacific Fleet two years after the end of the Korean War.[3]

Sources[]