HOW IT WAS! KUNSAN AIRBASE OTHER UNITS (1951-1954) 22nd Crash Rescue Boat Squadron

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During the Korean War, the crash boat and crew sitting unnoticed at Kunsan Harbor, South Korea belonged to the 22nd Crash Rescue Boat Squadron (CRBS) of the Far East Air Force (FEAF). The unit was headquartered at Fukuoka harbor, Japan and fell administratively under the 6160th Air Base Wing at Itazuke, Japan. As they were deployed to Kunsan on a rotating basis, very little was known of these folks. Living on a barge in the harbor with quick access to their rescue boats, there was very little interaction between them and other military units -- that is until a plane went down in the sea.

The unit was positioned at Kunsan harbor for its missions starting in 1951. From early 1952 on, the unit used the barge facilities at Kunsan harbor as its mooring dock. However, after an incident involving the loss of an aircrew in December 1952, the rescue boat was prepositioned off of Kunsan Air Base and remained on station for three-day stretches. In early 1953, the barge was relocated to a point between two islands off of Kunsan Air Base where the boat was docked. After the Armistice, the flying mission was greatly reduced, but the unit continued to use Kunsan as a provisioning/repair area until the unit's deactivation in 1956.

The unit was never permanently assigned as a detachment, but rather "permanently positioned" by FEAF directives. For this reason, there was very little interaction between the unit and permanent party personnel stationed at Kunsan harbor. They used Kunsan to support rescue operations for Kunsan and Osan AB, while providing a refueling point for clandestine "spook" missions to the north.

Very little was known of the unit because it kept to itself and performed its function apart from any local support unit. When Travis Hughlett of the 21st Transportation Port Co. in 1954 was asked about this unit, he didn't remember them -- even though they were just down docks from his unit in Kunsan Harbor. Les Adams commented that all the 22nd CRBS personnel in Korea were TDY. The orders were renewed every 90 or 180 days as needed. He continued, "None of the 22nd people were there under PCS orders, thus they did not belong to any base they served. The main reason for this was these boats were moved frequently by radio orders from the 5th AF Combat Ops Center in Seoul, depending upon each days strike mission targets to position them at the most advantageous location for recovery of any downed air crew that might be hit and have go down in the water. In addition, the Sqdn. Hqs. in Japan was frequently shifting these boats back & forth for maintenance work." Thus no one really knew that they were around except for the flight crews whose lives depended upon their swift rescue - especially in winter.

The men who manned these boats were ex-fishermen, tug boat operators, or prohibition era rum-runners, with a few former yacht owners added to the mix. They were neither recruited nor trained to be artists with pen and paper. As a result, a lot of the flowery written history found in other military units is missing. The history of this unit was not well documented, primarily because of the some of the very unorthodox missions it undertook in Korea. During the war their clandestine missions were best left unpublicized. In fact, most people never realized that the rescue boats also supported the "spook" business in North Korea and Manchuria.

Mike Hass, Col USAF (Ret) wrote that information on Kunsan and the 22nd CRBS could be found in his book, "Apollo's Warriors, United States Air Force Special Operations during the Cold War" in the section entitled "Special Operations by USAF "Sailors" (p66). However, Bob Hoffer stated in the "Crash Boat News" Quarterly newsletter (Oct 00), "The book just doesn't tell everything. (We had) Bullet holes in the bulkheads where slugs went thru and into the fuel (avgas) tanks. The tanks leaked, so we had to pull the inspection cover and crawl into the tanks to repair 'em. Being the smallest, guess who went, plugged holes and picked about 12 lead slugs out of the bottom of the tank."

Prior to 1953, only the 63 foot boats were painted in the peacetime colors of orange superstructures, yellow decks, and white hulls. The 85' boats that went on missions north of the 38th parallel were painted gray. No 63' boat every went on missions to the north. After the Armistice of July 1953, all the 22nd CRBS boats were painted in peacetime colors.

Les Adams, former Commander of the 22d CRBS, wrote, "The crash boat or boats assigned for duty at Kunsan AB were kept tied up to a flat deck barge which was tied up to the floating piers in the Kum River in downtown Kunsan City immediately adjacent to the Army Port unit. This barge had a Quonset hut built upon it to use as billets, mess, latrine, radio station, and wharf for the boat or boats."

To many of these Air Force sailors returning from North Korean duty, Kunsan was considered an R&R location -- while most other folks considered Kunsan a "podunk" place in a backwater town. Les Adams said, "It was the site of a warm bed in that quonset hut and a good hot meal without water rationing for bathing, shaving, etc., plus the chance to go to the base PX or see a movie occasionally. Our crews from "up North" looked forward to a 30 day "R & R" at Kunsan before going back up to P-Y-do or Cho-do."

He later wrote, "Kunsan was a boat station operated by the 22nd CRBS during the Korean War with a triple mission. It was to provide rescue boat support for both Kunsan and Osan-ni, (then known as K-8 & K-55). It was also a refueling point for boats going "North," performing missions for the 6004th AISS at Pyongyang-do and Cho-do Islands, then known as K-53 & K-54. If you have a copy of Mike Haas book, "Apollo's Warrior's," he has written a short chapter about our outfit, which to this day continues to cause many Air Force men to disbelieve much of it, including some high level brass."

Les Adams continued, "If you have been anywhere on the western coast of Korea for more than 24 hours, you know what the tidal flow is at those latitudes in the Yellow Sea. Because of this tidal rise & fall, there was no fixed wharf or dock to which we could tie our boats. We took a flat deck steel barge and built a Quonset hut on it for use as a billet, mess, latrine, radio room, office, supply storage, etc, for boat crews stationed there or in transit. This barge could rise & fall with the tide with our boats secured safely alongside, yet be ready to go on instant notice."

He went on, "If the line of floating concrete box caissons along the river front are still in place in the Kum River in Kunsan City, we had our barge tied to the western most caisson in the line. These caissons were held by some big chains to anchor points on the shore and had a ramp walkway connected by a hinge at the dock leading down to the caissons. These caissons would also rise & fall with the tide but rested in the mud at low tide. Our barge, being outboard of these caissons, would always be in deep water and the boats were always on the outboard side of the barge." (NOTE: The barge was relocated to a position off of Kunsan Air Base in early 1953 until after the Armistice in July 1953 when flying mission was reduced to just about nil.)

Pontoon Dock (1954) (Click on image to enlarge) (Courtesy Travis Hughlett)

Pontoon Dock (2000) (Click on image to enlarge) (Courtesy Kalani O'Sullivan)

Les added, "This was tough duty for boat crews there as none of our boats were heated, thus the quonset hut was a welcome relief. We alternated the 85' boats at K-53 & K-54 every 30 days and exchanged them with the 85' boat at Kunsan. Those guys had to live aboard their boat for their "sentence up North," and when they came to Kunsan, they considered the quonset hut to be the next best thing to R & R. Kunsan got the nickname at the time of being " the Riviera of Korea." This rotation of boats & crews was a constant process as we had no maintenance capability in Korea at the time and boats had to be brought back to Japan for almost anything a crew could not perform. Any underwater work or significant engine work had to be done in Japan as there was no marine railway in Korea to haul one of our boats out of the water. Engine changes could not be done with the available special tools and lift equipment we had except in Japan. With commitments laid on us to cover K-3, K-8, K-9, K-10, K-53, K-54, & K-55, our banjo string was drawn pretty tight."

Later, after a tragic incident involving the loss of a Marine aircrew in December 1952, the boat was prepositioned off of Kunsan Air Base as the aircraft were flying round the clock missions. After a three-day stretch on station, the boat would return to Kunsan harbor for reprovisioning and fresh water. In early 1953 the barge was relocated between two islands off Kunsan Air Base so that the crash boat could react promptly to an aircraft emergency -- while at the same time, the crew did not have to suffer the deprivations of unheated boat facilities in winter.

Les explained about the complement of boats prepositioned at Kunsan. "The normal complement for that station at the time (1952) was for 2 ea. 63' boats and 1 ea. 85' boat. With the shortage of boats in theater to meet the other demands in Korea plus Japan, Okinawa, and Guam, it was rarely possible to even have 2 boats of any size at Kunsan." In fact, the normal complement was one 63-footer for rescue missions.

Operations of the Boats at Kunsan: As was mentioned before, the boats were 63-footers that were docked on a floating wharf attached to the pontoon bridges in Kunsan harbor. The boat crews were struggling to heroically perform their mission with malfunctioning equipment in run-down boats leftover from WWII.

A tragic incident in December 1952 sheds some light on the rescue operations of this unit and the handicaps they had to operate under. At that time, an aircrew from the Marine VMF(N)-513 went down just off the runway. The aircrew was lost due to hypothermia. Many of the Marine veterans not privy to the facts questioned the failed rescue attempt by this unit.

The skipper, SSgt Robert J. Frankovich, was an experienced sailor. He had joined the USNR on active duty during World War II and was discharged in June 1946. He enlisted in the Army Air Corp. in January 1947 with a boat MOS (Specialty identifier). He had served as a boat skipper on various crash rescue boats from 22-footers to 85-footers. (He retired from the USAF in 1966 as a T/Sgt. He currently resides in Six Mile, SC.)

Les Adams provided the following additional information. "With boats standing by at this wharf, there is considerable running time required for any boat of whatever speed to reach the open sea and get under the traffic pattern approaches to Kunsan AB runways. ... Sgt. Frankovich's boat had been operating with only one engine for several weeks." Though SSgt Frankovich had requested a relief boat he was ordered to remain on station as there were no spare engines available anywhere west of San Francisco.

Les wrote later, "Our boat skipper at Kunsan with a half powered boat was trying to go bear hunting with a switch. With one engine, he could do 10 or 12 knots if the tide was running with him; less if he was bucking an incoming tide." He laid the blame on the inability of the USAF logistics system to provide parts for repair -- but in truth, the problem was Korea-wide for all transportation units. The lack of spare parts was of horrendous proportions for all services.

The Marines reported that the aircraft was a mile off-shore, but this was refuted by the living crash crew members as being only a few hundred yards off-shore -- making the task of recovery all the more difficult. Les continued, "There are several men yet living who were members of his boat crew at the time and place and all are of the opinion the aircraft hit the water just a few hundred yards short of the beach, NOT a mile off shore. To perform any search and recovery would require him to run his boat in a back & forth course parallel to the beach with limited ability to control his boat under one engine."

The skipper,Robert Frankovich, wrote the following account. "I arrived in Japan in May 1952 as a S/Sgt Boat Skipper. I was made skipper of the R-2-1196, a 63' boat and went to K-9 in Korea for 3 months for rescue duty for the Air Force. We were so short of personnel that I had 3 Japanese crewmembers on my boat at K-9. From there, I went to K-3, for about 3 months for rescue duty with the first Marine Air Wing. I went back to Japan to get the bottom of the boat painted and change engines for 2 new rebuilt engines just received from the states. The engines in the 1196 had over 1200 hours on them. I also tried to get two spotlights, but none were available."

He continued, "After changing engines and having great difficulty getting them running correctly, I departed for K-8 Korea about the latter part of November. I first went to K-10 where we refueled and spent the night. I departed the next day and was only gone for a few hours when one engine was smoking and running so badly that I had to shut it down. I requested by radio to return to Japan for a new engine or even to get the old ones back, but was ordered to proceed to K-8 with the engines installed as is, because no others were available. Through further radio communications with Japan and our observations, we determined we had lost the tops of some pistons in the one engine."

He went on, "It took me two days to make K-8 from K-10 on one engine instead of the normal one day with two engines. I tied up at an Army caisson and reported to Kunsan AB by Army telephone that I had arrived. Kunsan AFB was several miles from the Army base. I then spent the next few days familiarizing myself with the area and getting some times and courses running on one engine. I also talked to either the operation officer or Col. LeBailly's Adjutant about how effective I could be in a rescue in the event of a plane crash considering the condition of my boat and the temperature of the water. Mine was the only boat between K-10 and K-55 or sometimes even further north. I believe there are six islands not far off the end of the runway at Kunsan. We talked about getting a barge permanently anchored between the two nearest islands where I could tie up. I could not anchor there without the barge because with only one engine, I would lose my boat if a storm blew up." (Note that the "Army" that Robert is referring to was the 14th Trans Port Co. (later the 21st Trans Port Co.) of the U.S. Army that handled the Kunsan port operations, as well as the railroad links and all freight/cargo coming in and going out of Kunsan.)

He added, "Before anything could be implemented, a Marine plane went down off the end of the runway. I was notified by telephone by the Army. I proceeded down the river with both engines running, but had only run a little while when the gas leaking into the crankcase through the bad cylinders blew up and blew oil all over the engine room. I had the engine shut down, filled with more oil and started again. The same thing happened again so I shut down the engine and didn't try that again. If the engine blew down instead of up, it could blow the bottom out of the boat causing us to sink. As the tide was running out, I went about 5 miles into the sea and turned south toward the end of the runway." It should be noted here that his boat was not equipped with any surface search radar. His search for the crew was strictly visual. The Air Force did not start equipping the 63' boats with that device until mid 1953. Neither was the boat equipped with a fathometer (depth gauge) though operating in shallow waters.

Robert continued, "I then turned toward shore and ran about 10 minutes when we saw lights from the life jackets of the two crewmen. We dropped the rescue nets and I also had a metal litter with four lines attached, which we dropped over the side to scoop up an injured man. It had taken me almost 2 hours to reach the men, who were still alive and talked to us. We used the litter and tried to pick up one man but discovered that they were tied together. The litter could not pick up both men together so I went into the water and cut the men apart. The first man got into the litter and the crew got him into the boat. I helped by holding onto the rescue net with one hand and lifting the litter with the other hand. When we got the litter on board, my crew took the man, wrapped him in blankets and got him to the dispensary."

Robert's account graphically illustrates the effects that the freezing water has on the body. "I tried to climb on board by grabbing the lifeline, but my hand would not close because it was so frozen. I fell back into the water and I don't believe the crew even noticed because they were so busy. I swam to the stern of the boat where there was a wooden ladder and I climbed on board by hooking by arms through the rungs since I could not use my hands to hold on. I went through the dispensary to the engine room and lay on top of the running engine with my soaked clothes on to get warm. The heat and the wet clothes steamed me and probably saved my life. The crew was busy getting the second man on board and didn't miss me. That was the only heat in the boat. The 1196 had no heating system of any kind installed on it for either crew protection or medical aid to survivor."

He added, "I threw on some dry clothes and we returned to Kunsan Army docks. I notified the Air Force that I had the two men on board and they met us at the docks with an ambulance and a doctor. I believe the doctor pronounced the two men dead on arrival. Neither aircrew member was wearing a survival suit. At the flight surgeon's request, we went out the next day and measured the temperature of the water at the rescue site. It was 25° F."

As in many tragic cases, preventive measures are implemented AFTER the disaster. Robert continued, "After the accident, I received one survival suit and two rubberized electric blankets from the air base at K-8. Men came from Japan to replace the blown pistons in the bad engine. This was almost an impossible job while the engine was in the boat because the men couldn't get to the bottom of the engine. When reinstalling the blocks, the men couldn't put back the bottom rings on some of the pistons. This wasn't perfect, but at least I could run the engine at cruising speed. One of the men from Japan was W.O. Donald Slessler and I think a T/Sgt Johnson. I don't recall the names of the other men."

He continued, "There were nine men on my crash rescue boat. After the engine was reparied, we would anchor between the two islands. We only carried 150 gallons of water and had a 3-burner alcohol stove to cook on and heat the galley. We would stay out for 3 days and then come in for showers and supplies at the Army docks. I would only let the men brush their teeth with fresh water once a day and nothing else as we needed the rest for cooking and drinking. The only heat we had on the boat was the alcohol stove in the galley so the crew took turns getting warm in the galley because it was not big enough to hold all the men at one time. I could not get extra blankets, but did get extra mattresses so we slept with our clothes on with one mattress under us and one mattress on top of us. When we woke up from the cold, we would go into the galley and a warm person would have to go to his cold bunk."

As a result of the tragedy, there was a Board of Inquiry convened that included the 3rd Bomb Wing Commander, Col. LeBailley; his adjutant (a Lt. Col.); the USAF Flight Surgeon; and two Marine Colonels from the 1st Marine Air Wing at K-3 (Pohang). Robert wrote, "One morning while at anchor between the islands, I was called on the radio and told a board of inquiry about the accident would convene at 1200 hrs. that day at Kunsan AFB. I told them I would be at the dock at 1000 hrs. and be ready to be picked up by 1100 hrs. I was available for pick up at 1100 hrs. but no transportation was there to pick me up. None came until 1630 hrs. The board consisted of two Marine Colonels from K-3 and several Air Force Officers. The Marine Colonels did most of the questioning and were rather sharp with their questions. One Marine Colonel made the remark that the Marines should get the Navy to pull their rescues at K-8 like they did at K-3 and not the Air Force. I told the Colonel that the Air Force runs the crash rescue boats at K-3 and that I had just pulled 3 months duty there from mid-August to mid-November. The Colonel was confused because we wear Navy uniforms and I had one on then. His attitude markedly changed toward me when he learned that we were Air Force and ran all the crash rescue boats in Korea. The flight surgeon testified that because of the time the crewmen spent in the water, there was nothing I could have done to save them. The board absolved me of all blame."

He went on, "I left Kunsan, I believe the first part of February 1953. A barge was installed between the closest 2 islands after I left. I don't know exactly when but a few months after I left K-8, I noticed the barge as I was bringing an 85' from up north the Japan for repairs. I stopped at K-8 to drop off some clothes to a man who had been assigned to the 85', but was now on the 63' at Kunsan."

Upon learning of the real circumstances surrounding this incident, the Marine veterans of the VMF(N)-513 extended their heart-felt appreciation to Robert Frankovich and his crew for their valiant rescue attempt so many years before. Some noted that it was a shame that the thanks had to be 50 years late simply because they were not privy to the facts at the time.

After the war, the unit remained at Kunsan until the 3rd Bomb Wing departed for Japan in 1954. After the unit left, the 6170th Air Base Wing took over with one C-47 for resupply missions. The 22nd CRBS ceased having an active mission at Kunsan but continued to use the harbor as a reprovisioning stop. Joe Smuts of the Marine MACS-1 (a Ground Control Intercept (GCI) station located just outside Kunsan AB) in 1954-1955 remembers seeing the rescue boat. His Marine GCI unit was periodically called upon to repair the surface radar that the boat had on board. (NOTE: The surface radar was not installed on CRBS boats until after the war.) Joe recollects the boats being painted in "peacetime colors". He said about the slide of the boat in his possession, "Detail is hard to make out just holding a slide up to some light, but I noticed that one of the crew was wearing a Swabbie hat, those little round white things. That means you'd have to be looking for a Navy unit, not a USAF recovery outfit." We now know that their being Navy is incorrect, but we learned from this that the CRBS folks dressed similar to Navy personnel.

Les Adams explained why these troops dressed in Navy dungarees. He said, "We did have FEAF approval for boat crews to wear the Navy blue dungarees and chambray shirt while on duty afloat and many of our men purchased these at their own expense and wore them. These Navy garments were designed to assist a man in the water in that the trousers could have the legs tied in a knot at the bottom and hold air in the pants leg. This would act as a life preserver if the man had gone overboard without one. The standard Army or Air Force fatigue uniforms would quickly tend to drag a man down in the water." Though most wore the blue USAF baseball cap with their Navy uniforms, many wore the white "Dixie cup" hat of the Navy sailors. This added to the confusion.

Background history of Crash Rescue Boat: During the Battle of Britain, a USAAF team was sent to observe the British operations. One of the findings of the American Observer Team was that the RAF was using modified British Navy torpedo boats manned by RAF personnel, to recover downed aircrew from the English Channel and North Sea. When this report was sent back to Washington, Gen. Hap Arnold, who was Chief of the Army Air Corps, requested the Air Corps be provided with an immediate water rescue capability at every Air Base with an overwater traffic pattern. (NOTE: Additional information of the WWII period is contained in the 7 volume series entitled, "The Army Air Forces in World War II.")

Under the organization of the Army at that time, the operation and support of all watercraft of whatever size, (including the big troop transport ships, cargo ships, harbor tugs, lighters, ferries, etc.), was a responsibility of the Quartermaster Corps, except those vessels used by the Corps of Engineers in dredging of rivers and harbors or conducting combat assault river crossings. The mission of providing the Air Corps with this service was assigned to the Quartermaster. In a meeting held between the senior staff officers of the Air Corps and the Quartermaster Corps, it was quickly recognized that to meet the Air Corps needs, there could be no "one size fits all" solution.

63 ft. Blueprint Inboard (Click on image to enlarge) (From AVR Boats)

63 ft. Blueprint Deck (Click on image to enlarge) (From AVR Boats)

The Air Corps was being called upon to operate from the Arctic to the Tropics, over inland lakes, rivers, bays, swamps, and the open high seas. To provide the water recovery capability that would be needed, they settled on a plan to design and procure 6 basic size and type of boats. These were the 104', the 85', the 63', the 42', the 24', and the 18' swamp glider air boat. Congress approved the QM request for funds to procure the boats and train the personnel to operate them at the locations specified by the Air Corps. The Army immediately adopted a 63' and a 24' design that had been in use by the US Navy and thereafter all procurement of these boats for the Army were handled by the Navy using Army funds.

The other boats were either designed by the Army naval architects and marine engineers on the Quartermaster staff in Washington or contracted out to civilian designers. The 85' boats were designed by a civilian naval architect named Dair Long of Los Angeles, CA. The Army Quartermaster was the procurement agent and operator of these boats for the Air Corps, anywhere in the world the Air Corps wanted them. In early 1943, these boats and crews were transferred from the Quartermaster to the AAF.

18 ft. WWII Airboat used in shallow waters	63 ft. Rescue boat, Navy model Mark II, Crew: 8	63 ft. Rescue boat, Navy model Mark IV, Range: 650m
63 ft. Standard USAF in peacetime colors	Walter Nicholas painting, WWII 63 ft.	Walter Nicholas painting, WWII 63 ft.
85 ft. (R-1-676) with Quad-50 fwd, two 50cal mid-turret, one 20mm rear	85 ft. Standard USAF, Range: 1000m, Crew: 14	94 ft. experimental boat (1953). One of two.
104 ft. QS-15 Burning after Refueling fire at Tsushima Island, 1951	114 ft. Interisland Freight & Passenger "Mother" ship, Range: 1500m, Crew: 21	Sasebo Drydock, Kyushu, Japan (1954)

During WWII, the 14th Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron (ERBS) was assigned to the V Fighter Command and the 8th FG was a subordinate unit of the Fighter Command under 5th AF. (For information on the 14th ERBS in WWII, go to AVR Boats.) After the Japanese surrender in Sept 1945, the 8th FG was moved to Ashiya Air Base, Kyushu, and the V Fighter Command Hq. was moved into Itazuke Air Base, just outside Fukuoka, Kyushu. The 14th ERBS was deactivated by order of HQ. AAF, but many of the men and boats were brought to Japan and placed under the jurisdiction of HQ. Sqdn. VFC, to provide rescue boat coverage for both Ashiya & Itazuke. At some point in time during the occupation period, the 8th FG was moved from Ashiya to Itazuke, and those boats and men were placed under the control of the 8th Air Base Gp.

After World War II, FEAF started a program to haul all their useable leftover equipment to Japan for screening, inventorying and storage at their Far East Air Materiel Command (FEAMCOM) depots. Amongst this roundup of equipment were 50 to 60 rescue boats of various types and sizes. The Air Force had no wet or dry storage basin in Japan to accommodate these boats. After the Army took over Yokohama Harbor for use as a storage point for all their surplus ships and watercraft, FEAF asked the Army to permit some of their rescue boats to be stored there. The request was approved as the harbor had a lot of room.

IIn the tight-money years of 1946-1950, there was no thought given to repair upkeep, or maintenance. It was either scrap it out or keep it. If it rotted and/or was sinking, that was just too bad. A pattern persisted in FEAMCOM (later the Far East Air Logistic Force (FEALOGFOR) in 1955). They were largely in the dark about "boats" and had no knowledge of the "who, what, when or wheres" of shipyard work being done nor how much money was spent on it.

In March 1950, the FEAF completely eliminated all Air Force marine operations west of Hawaii except the port operation in Manila, Philippines. All rescue boats that had been in use in Japan, Okinawa, and the PI were put in the Yokohama storage. At the time, there were no boats in Korea and the boats on Guam were given to the Navy. The manpower was dispersed throughout the theater for cross-training into other career skill ladders. The one or two civilians handling the marine accounts were given RIF (Reduction in Force) notices and sent home.

When the Korean War started, the FEAF wanted an immediate rescue boat capability in the Sea of Japan between Japan and Korea. Col Jack Price, commander of the 8th Fighter Bomber Wing (FBW) of Itazuke, Japan was tasked to come up with a plan. As the Commander was deeply involved in getting the air war off the ground, he delegated this to his Air Base Group Commander who in turn found 1Lt Phil Dickey, who had been the last Commander of the boat unit in Fukuoka when it folded in March. Dickey was assigned at the time to the Base Civil Engineers but was pulled and reassigned as Commander of a new outfit designated as Det. 1, 8th AB Group. He in turn located Sgt. Burton Hursh and Cpl Louis Risolio. Operating on verbal orders (without a manning document or equipment authorization), he set out to implement the FEAF directive. Dickey started his search for any man with maritime skills using the "grapevine" to find personnel. Once a man was located, he would request him by name and have FEAF transfer the man to his outfit. Within three months, Dickey had some 81 men in his outfit.

One person in this original group was David Lynes. His daughter-in-law Andrea Lynes wrote that he "doesn't talk about his own experience very much. I know that he was on rescue boat #R-1-676, and was part of Detachment One of the 8th Airbase Group in Fukuoka, Japan. My husband has told me that he was a radio operator and that some boat missions involved intelligence-gathering, which is why he thinks there is not much "official" information available."

TSgt Tom Gould was another "recruit" who transferred in from Nagoya with his 114' inter-island freight and passenger (FP) boat (which had been used for recreation and excursion tours). The ship was built in WWII for the army, she acted as the "mother ship" for refueling, resupply, and tug services for the smaller boats in Korean waters. Listed as the "USAF Motor Vessel U-5201197," she had a range of 1,500 miles and carried a crew complement of 21. A 5000 gallon fuel tank for sea refueling was installed in a Japanese shipyard.

Leaving MSgt Rupert Mills in charge at Itazuke to get things organized and start assigning the men to the boats when they arrived, Lt. Dickey concentrated his efforts on finding boats and maintenance supplies for his unit.

Dickey went to Yokohama to retrieve the Air Force boats from storage, but ran into a problem. When the USAF converted to a new service, it did not convert the numbers of its boats in Yokohama from the old Army "P" number (P-XXXX) to the USAF "R" number (R-XXXX). The Army was not willing to part with "their" boats. They were especially reluctant to release the 85' and 63' boats as they had plans their use in the "spook" business because of their speed. Despite this Dickey was able to obtain 1 ea. 104' boat, 4 ea. 85' boats, 6 ea. 63' boats, plus 3 or 4 other smaller craft for shallow water work. The Army agreed to pull these boats, make an inspection of them, and put them into Japanese shipyards for a "quick & dirty" rehab job using FEAF funds. Sgt. Hursh was left in Yokohama to oversee the transfers. Dickey scrounged what remained of maritime parts from Tachikawa finding engines in the salvage yard. The worst news was that there was no tech data on the boats west of Honolulu. In March 1950, the FEAF Technical Order libraries had been purged of this stuff. These had to be ordered on priority.

Massive problems existed for the repair of the failing engines. The stateside Air Materiel Command (AMC) controlled all the parts and it was slow in reaching the FEAF.

These crash boats remained as an organic component of the 8th FW until the 8th Wing was moved from Itazuke to Suwon(K-13) and the unit designation at Itazuke was changed to the 6160th Air Base Wing. When the 8th FBW moved to Suwon (K-12) in August of 1951, the AB Group changed to the 6160th ABW and the unit changed their name for a short time to the Det. 1, 6160th AB Wing.

In addition, the unit manning was stretched to the limit. As the Korean War expanded up the peninsula, the unit took up fixed position stationing of men at K-8 at Kunsan for the 3rd Bomb Wing; K-3 at Pohang for the 1st Marine Air Wing; K-9 at Pusan for the 17th Bomb Wing; and K-10 at Chinhae for the 75th Air Depot Wing. In addition boats were required to be on station at K-53, Pyongyang-do Island, almost on the 38th parallel, and at K-54, Cho-do Island, north of the 38th near the mouth of the Chinampo River in North Korea supporting the 6004th AISS.

Then FEAF wanted boats in Ashiya, Miho, Tsuiki, Haneda, Kiserazu, Naha, and Anderson...but there were no more boats to be had. Though new boats were requested from FEAF, none were ever received.

Lt. Dickey was succeeded by Capt. James Beene in early 1952. After Beene took command, FEAF convinced the Army to release 2 of the 85' boats from Yokohama. This brought the inventory to 8 ea. 85' boats and 6 ea. 63' boats. (The 104' boat was lost at sea during a refueling operation.) In 1952, the unit was redesignated as the 22nd Crash Rescue Boat Squadron (CRBS).

The method of Command and control set up by Dickey at the start of the war remained in place until 1956. Men were assigned ot a specific boat by its registration number and then directed by the 5th Air Force Combat Ops Center (COC) (located in Seoul) by radio to various locations as needed with the crew remaining permanently aboard. The radio call sign for crash boats in Korean waters was "Soda Water xx". Boats and crews departing Japan for Korean duty were sent on TDY orders to an initial location as a replacement boat and thence changed as needed by the 5th AF COC. No boat could depart a Korean position until a replacement boat and crew were reported to the COC as in place to relieve it.

These boats were periodically attacked by NK "patrol boats" on the open seas. Being lightly armed and stripped of armor, these boats were not very good for sea battles. Jim Jarvis, Master R-1-667, wrote on a Korean War Bulletin Board, "There were "patrol boats" south of the 38th during the war. Definition of an NK "patrol boat" is required. Most of the NK boats in that area (west coast) were in fact armed junks, powered by both sail and engines. An examination of a chart from Inchon to the Yalu will outline the 38th. Most of the boats encountered and sighted were off of a promontory called Chan San Got. This point was heavily equipped with NK artillery. These guns stood a deterrent for any vessels approaching the coast at that point. Crash boat of Detachment #1 (later the 22nd Crash Rescue Boat Squadron) out of Japan regularly passed by this point giving it a wide berth because of the shelling. However, the R-1-664, an 85 foot crash boat was attacked by an NK armed junk in one such encounter an exchanged fire. The patrol boat was severely damaged and retreated to the Northeast. The crash boats were normally transiting from the South (Japan or Inchon) or the North to the island of Chodo off of the mouth of the Chinammpo River. The crash boats performed their missions out of Chodo and also encountered high speed NK "patrol boats" further north from time to time."

Only the 85-footers were used in the north and were equipped with a Quad-50 (four 50-caliber machine guns in tandem) forward, two 50-caliber machine guns in mid-turrets and a 20mm machine gun in the rear. The 63-footers were not allowed for use in the North and were restricted to rescue missions in the south.

Missions of 22d CRBS Click on photo to enlarge (Courtesy Jim Jarvis)

Sample of North Korean money (100 hwan) from missions Click on photo to enlarge (Courtesy Les Adams)

In the October 2000 "Crash Boat News" (CRB Quarterly newsletter), it showed a picture of USAF R-1-667, Jim Jarvis skipper, rescuing several South Korean soldiers whose "wiggle" boat (a wooden craft with one sail and a single sculling oar). Bob Hoffer stated that each of the four 85' boats stood duty north of Chodo Island -- behind enemy lines -- for thirty to sixty days, going where missions called. The article continued, "Their fuel from 50-gal drums was brought to the island by LST. No pier, dock, or float existed from which to transfer gas to their tanks, so drus were floated out to the boat and hoisted on board by brute strength and awkwardness to be emptied into the tanks. At then barrels per tank, and eight 500 gallon tanks to keep filled, readers can imagine whtat the crew did in all the spare time on their hands. The 85's carried 4000 gallons of avgas. After such a refueling detail, anyone would need a shower, but with only 500 gallons of water, there wasn't enough to bathe." It went on, "These boats packed unusual iron: A quad.50cal mount could put 2000 rounds per minute on one spot a mile off -- enough to get attention even in Dodge City." Later in the article, Bob Hoffer said, "in Korean waters we did not carry enough to shower and shave -- only 500 gallons for cooking and for replenishing the fresh water jackets for the engines."

In the October 2000 "Crash Boat News" (CRB Quarterly newsletter), it showed a picture of USAF R-1-667, Jim Jarvis skipper, rescuing several South Korean soldiers whose "wiggle" boat (a wooden craft with one sail and a single sculling oar). Bob Hoffer stated that each of the four 85' boats stood duty north of Chodo Island -- behind enemy lines -- for thirty to sixty days, going where missions called. The article continued, "Their fuel from 50-gal drums was brought to the island by LST. No pier, dock, or float existed from which to transfer gas to their tanks, so drums were floated out to the boat and hoisted on board by brute strength and awkwardness to be emptied into the tanks. At then barrels per tank, and eight 500 gallon tanks to keep filled, readers can imagine what the crew did in all the spare time on their hands. The 85's carried 4000 gallons of avgas. After such a refueling detail, anyone would need a shower, but with only 500 gallons of water, there wasn't enough to bathe." It went on, "These boats packed unusual iron: A quad.50cal mount could put 2000 rounds per minute on one spot a mile off -- enough to get attention even in Dodge City." Later in the article, Bob Hoffer said, "in Korean waters we did not carry enough to shower and shave -- only 500 gallons for cooking and for replenishing the fresh water jackets for the engines." In a news article from the Itazuke base paper "Plane Talk" (January 1952), it gives an account of a Det 1 6160th ABG crash boat mission. It stated, "The boat and crew departed from the detachment on 14 November 1951, for duty in Korean waters. They arrived at Inchon, Korea on 16 November and remained there for 4 days, refueling and taking aboard stores and ammunition. They received orders on the 20th to proceed to Chodo Island for operation. They arrived and reported for duty at Chodo on the 21st. On the 23rd of November, they were alerted for a mission to Pangyong Do, for the purpose of getting rations to Army and Air Force personnel stationed at Chodo. They departed soon after from Tea Wa Do to Chodo. Soon after they left Tea Wa Do, the island fell to Communist forces. They moored at Chodo for evacuation. The evacuation duties consisted of challenging all surface craft entering and leaving the harbor. The boat discovered several suspicious boats, which were reluctant to be checked. Automatic weapons were employed, and the challenging became simpler. An unidentified aircraft started a bomb run on the boat, and dropped a 1,500 pound bomb in the water approximately 150 yards short of the boat. The plane continued to bomb and strafe the water, and succeeded in rupturing the forward of the boat. The damage resulted in the boats taking in an additional 3,000 gallons of water, over the normal intake. On the 8th of December, they changed station to Young Pong Do, a small island 56 miles west of Inchon, where they stood by for evacuation of American personnel. Duties were unpleasant, due to the extremely cold weather. The Red forces attempted to invade the island, but British Vessels in the area repelled them. The crash boat shuttled between this island and Inchon until they departed from Inchon to their home station on the 18th of January. They arrived at the home detachment with only one engine operating, on the 17th of January."

Itazuke "Plane Talk" (January 1952) Click on photo to enlarge (Courtesy Les Adams)

Itazuke "Plane Talk" (August 8, 1952) Click on photo to enlarge (Courtesy Les Adams)

In another article from "Plane Talk" (dated August 8, 1952), it stated, "Since reorganization the Squadron boats have saved 98 lives from King Neptune with another 218 possible saves. This figurer includes evacuation of UN troops trapped behind enemy lines back in the days when the going was really rough. A conservative estimate reveals that $2,081,900 in U.S. Government property has been saved by this seagoing USAF outfit, plus the recovery of 30 UN airman bodies."

The article continued on about some of the other the men who were on the boats. "The cooks are specially selected from Air Force Food Service personnel and are all volunteers for this type of duty. They are truly "sea Cooks" after the old tradition and would never be caught without a pot of strong coffee on the galley stove." It continued, "The medical technicians and radio operators are also specilly selected from the best in the Air Force. Medical technicians are known as "Doc" aboard the boats and have secondary duties as seamen. Many times the medical men have taken a trick in the engine rooms, helping out wherever they may be needed the most. Radio operators also pickup some seamanship while maintaining the radio alert vigil."

To the end, the Pentagon perceptions of the rescue boats were based upon the images of ferry boats that Pentagon officers had ridden to and from work. The very thought of crews living aboard larger craft for 60 to 90 days at a time; operating out of sight of land; in a location between 200 to 400 miles from home base; and under the command of an NCO was incomprehensible to them. To these people "rescue" boat did not involve gunfire with the enemy. However, in truth many boats went on missions delivering or retrieving agents and /or supplies into North Korea, China, or Manchuria.

Les Adams wrote, "In late 1954 or early 1955, the Hq. of 5th AF was moved from Seoul to Nagoya, Japan, and the 8th Wing was again moved back from Korea to Itazuke, and the 6160th Wing was discontinued. For a few weeks, the 22nd CRBS was an organic unit of the 8th FW, until the new 5th AF reorganization activated the 5 new Air Divisions in Japan, Okinawa, & Korea. The new 43rd Air Division Hq. was at Itazuke and owned all the Air Force units on Southern Honshu and Kyushu. Under this new set up, the 22nd CRBS was taken out of the 8th Wg. & reported directly to the AD Commander. This structure remained until the deactivations of 1956."

The USAF deactivated the 22nd CRBS on 30 June 1956. However, FEAF argued that there still existed a need for these boats. The FEAF activated the 6046th CRBS effective 1 July 1956 absorbing all men and assets of the 22nd CRBS. Though the case was pressed at the Pentagon, the USAF stated that no more Marine AFSCs would be filled nor would AMC provide any marine supply support. PACAF deactivated the 6046th CRBS effective 31 December 1956. The USAF discontinued the use of watercraft for rescue and all boats were declared surplus and disposed of by surplus sale.

AAF/USAF Crash Rescue Boat Association: The AAF/USAF Crash Rescue Boat Assn. is an organization of former crewmembers who served aboard these craft in WW II, Korea, and subsequently. Les Adams stated, "We have some 825 names on our roster, including widows, of former Air Force "Sailors." In addition, we have some 317 names on our listing of former AF boat men that have been reported to us as "Deceased." Since the Air Force discontinued the use of watercraft for rescue back in 1956, we have no "new blood" coming in. This means the average age of our membership is a something over 75 and we are one veterans group headed for extinction with not much time left! The cement that binds us together is our newsletter, which we publish quarterly and send to all our members." For information on this organization contact, Wayne Mellesmoen, CRBS Association Secretary.

• Other Units at Kunsan Airbase (1951-1954)
  • 3rd Air Base Group, Headquarters/Photo Lab
  • 3rd AIO Ground Support
  • 3rd Communications Squadron
  • 3rd Food Services Squadron
  • 3rd Maintenance Squadron
  • 3rd Medical Group
  • 3rd Motor Vehicle Squadron
  • 3rd Supply Squadron
  • 5th Motor Transport Squadron
  • 1973rd AACS (Aircraft and Airways Communications Service)
  • 2157th Air Rescue Squadron
  • 76th Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) Battalion/30th AAA Battalion
  • 77th Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force
  • ROK Air Force Detachment
  • 21st Transportation Port com B/14th Transportation Port com/Det 1 507th Signal Company --Small Army group in Kunsan City that handled the railhead and port facility
  • 808th, 809th, and 841st Engineering Aviation Battalions
  • Marine Air Control Squadron No. 1/Marine Ground Control Intercept Squadron No. 1

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