On July 2, 1950, several explosions thundered over the expanses of the Sea of Japan. The episode, which went down in history as the Battle of Chamonchin Chan, was the first case of a confrontation at sea between the DPRK and the Allied fleet during the Korean War.
As is often the case, both sides adhere to strictly opposite points of view on the results and significance of this fight. Citizens of the Jucheseong ideology are sure that at that time they managed to sink a large battleship of the allies - the cruiser "Baltimore". Of course, the Yankees carefully concealed the loss of the heavy cruiser from the rest of the world.
As a result, a whole detective story was born with a conspiracy component and a conspiracy theory. What if the Koreans really crashed Baltimore long before it was “officially written off” in 1971?
North Korean version. Wonderful victory
… The torpedo boat rushes forward, raising fountains of spray. The commander shouts "Fire!" The torpedo rushes forward, where the side of the enemy ship sparkles with a thickness of metal. Hit! Victory!!!
The sculptural group "Guardians of the Motherland's Sea" on one of the squares of Pyongyang demonstrates the courage and courage of the DPRK naval sailors, ready at any moment to fight a numerically superior enemy and overturn the foe into the sea abyss. Just as it happened more than half a century ago - in the hot summer of 1950.
At midnight on July 2, 1950, the 2nd Torpedo Boat Division left Sokhcho Naval Base with the firm intention of locating and attacking an American squadron off the coast of the Korean Peninsula.
"Our sailors were filled with a steely faith in victory and determination to crush the enemy fleet."
A moonless night and heavy bursts of waves. But the Koreans stubbornly continue to search for the enemy in the given square. Without radars and other newfangled devices, relying only on the vigilance of their own eyes and the power of thought. Finally, at about four o'clock in the morning, the dark silhouettes of ships dawned ahead …
"They found the enemy, and their hearts burned even more with hatred of the aggressors."
Like a flock of creeping tigers, the torpedo boats silently approached the enemy cruiser formation. A dark summer night and outnumbering put the watch on watch on US Navy ships to sleep. None of them expected our attack. In vain!
At the signal of the battalion commander, comrade Kim Gong Oka, three tall breakers boiled up on the sea surface: torpedo boats No. 21, No. 22 and No. 23 rushed into the attack. Ahead, the huge "floating island" - the 200-meter cruiser "Baltimore", expanded and grew in size. A mighty steel monster with dozens of guns and 1000 American soldiers on board. They came here to bring grief and destruction to the coast of Korea. There will be no mercy for them!
USS Baltimore (CA-68)
Like a smooth streamlined melon, the torpedo slid into the water and a minute later hit the side of the enemy ship. The confused enemy finally came to his senses and opened a furious return fire. The sea boiled from the explosions of shells of the main, universal and anti-aircraft caliber.
"The fiery wind beat them in the face, but they courageously rushed forward."
No sooner had the heavy hum from the first explosion dissipated over the sea surface, as a new torpedo hit the side of the cruiser. The crew of the torpedo boat # 21 fulfilled their sacred duty to the Motherland to the end.
In panic, the Yankees jumped overboard the sinking ship when two new torpedo explosions finally broke the Baltimore in half, resting its wreckage at the bottom of the deep East Korean Sea.
Building on the success of the attack, the boats put out a smoke screen and, having regrouped the formation, continued the extermination of the enemy squadron. Boat # 21 called out fire from an American destroyer. At this time, his comrades in arms approached the light cruiser and fired a torpedo salvo at full speed. The open sea shook from another explosion - one of the torpedoes hit a light American cruiser.
"In that battle, our brave sailors achieved a victory that has not yet been known in the history of battles at sea."
An enemy heavy cruiser was sunk and another light cruiser damaged. No one thought that such a small force could successfully attack such a large and well-armed group of surface ships.
“The foreign press wrote about this event: a huge cruiser was sunk by torpedo boats. This is not just a fight. It's a miracle."
The cruiser "Baltimore" had a displacement of 17 thousand tons. The length of the cruiser exceeded 200 meters. It had 69 naval guns and 1,100 sailors.
The crew of the torpedo boat consisted of only 7 people. Its displacement was 17 tons, and its armament consisted of an anti-aircraft machine gun and two torpedoes.
The small torpedo boats were like grains of sand against the backdrop of huge warships. In that war between the young DPRK and the United States, there was too great a difference in the balance of forces. But despite brute force and numerical superiority, the American aggressors ultimately had to kneel before the proud people of Korea.
“In memory of that great feat accomplished by our sons on July 2, 1950, a monument was erected here on the square, and one of the three heroic boats that took part in that battle was exhibited on the territory of the stronghold of military glory - the military museum in Pyongyang.
Long live the ideas of Juche and Songun, serving as a beacon for all mankind!"
Allied version
On the night of July 2, 1950, a combination of the American cruiser Juno and two British cruisers, the heavy Black Swan and the light Jamaica, patrolled the coastal waters of the Korean Peninsula.
In the hour before dawn, the ships' radars detected suspicious activity on the horizon. The ship was turned back closer to the shore, and soon the watchmen noticed a convoy of a dozen longboats with cargo for the North Korean army guarded by 4 torpedo (or patrol) boats (it was not possible to identify the enemy exactly). Despite the colossal difference in strength, the Korean boats did not think to retreat. They boldly rushed at the enemy.
In the Juno battle information post, an analog computer hummed, counting the target's position relative to the ship, its speed and course. On the upper deck, the artillery towers began to move - all six paired 5 '/ 38 installations turned to the desired angle, shells fell on the cannon trays with a clang. A second later, in place of the North Korean torpedo boats, columns of water shot up, mixed with wood chips and debris of metal structures.
Light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-119)
When the spray and smoke dissipated, the observers reported the destruction of three enemy boats. The fourth was in full swing behind the horizon. There was no order to pursue.
The North Korean convoy scattered in coastal waters. The UN squadron returned to its previous course without loss.
Subsequently, when the DPRK announced the sinking of the heavy cruiser Baltimore, US officials looked surprised and stated that Baltimore had never fought in the Korean War. In the early 1950s, he operated with the Mediterranean Sixth Fleet. Moreover, from July 1946 to November 1951, the cruiser was in a mothballed state at the reserve fleet parking in Brementon and in no way could take part in a naval battle off the coast of Korea on July 2, 1950.
The truth is somewhere near
Do not rush to laugh at the inventions of the North Koreans and call the whole story with "Baltimore" mediocre propaganda. The DPRK has proved more than once that its threats and statements are not just words. At the slightest opportunity, the leadership of the DPRK takes the most decisive measures to remind the world of its existence and punish everyone who, in Pyongyang's opinion, is guilty of the troubles of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
On the account of the seamen of the naval forces of the DPRK recorded two solid victories - the seizure of the American reconnaissance ship "Pueblo" (1968) and the sinking of the South Korean corvette "Cheonan" (2010, controversial - the DPRK declared its innocence in the incident). So the Koreans do not lack courage and determination, as well as combat skills and ingenuity.
Further, the possibility of sinking a cruiser by a torpedo boat does not cause much surprise. The torpedo is a powerful weapon, and if the boatmen managed to get close to the enemy, then the victory was in their pocket. Suffice it to recall their first combat use - the Russian boats "Chesma" and "Sinop" sank the Turkish steamer "Itinbakh" (1878). So the Koreans even lied about the uniqueness of the attack - there are more interesting cases in history.
The third point: "Baltimore" is not just a battleship, but also a series of the same name of 14 heavy cruisers from the Second World War. The statements about the absence of a ship with such a name in the combat zone does not mean the absence of cruisers of a similar design.
USS Macon (CA-132) - 11th in a series of Baltimore-class cruisers
Finally, the very fact of a military clash on 1950-02-07 is beyond doubt - the Yankees and the British discovered torpedo boats, the Koreans rushed into the attack, despite the numerical superiority of the enemy.
How did that battle end? Was there a torpedo hit on one of the Allied ships? Most likely, the North Korean sailors died a heroic death, trying to attack ships armed to the teeth with rapid-fire cannons and modern fire control systems. Still, if by chance it turns out that one of the Baltimore was damaged by torpedo weapons, it could be quite an interesting turn in the events of the Korean War.
"Baltimore" cut into metal in the vicinity of Portland, 1972
