Working
the Night Shift
Cdr. Guy P. ("Lucky
Pierre") Bordelon was the only naval aviator to attain ace status
during the war in Korea. Piloting "Annie Mo," his F4U-5N night
fighter version of the Corsair, Bordelon recorded five aerial victories.
In so doing Bordelon became the last Corsair ace, and the last pilot to
become an American ace while flying a propeller driven aircraft. Navy and
Marine aviators were primarily focused on ground support and ground attack
missions during the war, leaving the job of "mig killing" to the
USAF. During three years of combat in Korea, naval aviators flew more than
250,000 combat sorties, delivering more than 326 million pounds of bombs
to their targets. Naval aviation is generally credited with destroying
2,600 enemy vessels, 2,000 bridges, 250 tanks, and 74 aircraft destroyed
on the ground. These missions were not without a price as more than 500
aircraft were lost to ground fire during the war. The U.S. Navy utilized a
wide array of aircraft in Korea, as it transitioned from prop to jet
power. In addition to the Corsair other prop aircraft included the Douglas
AD-2, AD-3 and AD-4 Skyraiders, the twin-engine Grumman F7F Tigercat, the
TBM and TBF Avenger, the Convair PB4Y Privateer, and the PBM Mariner. In
the jet aircraft department the Navy's primary vehicle was the F9F
Panther. F2H Banshees and Douglas F3D Skynights also saw service. Night
attacks by North Korean forces on ground positions held by UN forces were
referred to as "Bed Check Charlies" by the US pilots. In July of
1953 one of these Bed Check Charlie missions hit a fuel dump at Inchon,
which resulted in the loss of five million gallons of fuel. The attack was
made by slow flying Yak 18s which were difficult targets for the much
faster jets. The Navy dispatched a pair of night fighting Corsairs from
the USS Princeton under the leadership of Guy Bordelon to an airfield just
south of Seoul. In a three week period Bordelon flew three night
interdiction missions and bagged five Bed Check Charlies. Bordelon's
Corsair, "Annie Mo" was left behind when his unit returned to
the Princeton. Unfortunately, the aircraft was destroyed, and therefore
did not survive the war. As depicted by Stan Stokes, in the artist's
highly-detailed painting entitled Working the Night Shift, Bordelon's
Annie Mo returns to the Princeton at daybreak after a late night mission
in June of 1953. In the background can be seen a Sikorsky HO3S-1 which
provided plane guard duties for returning naval aviators in Korea. |
