I have been saving all the ship models you have posted, Avrahamri, but I have a special fascination for amphibious ships, craft, and vehicles. In 2008, I presented a paper on Korean War amphibious operations at a conference at Latrun in Israel. Here is the abstract:
The Indirect Approach: U.S. Amphibious Operations in the Korean War
Donald W. Boose, Jr.
Presented at the 2nd Latrun Conference for Land Warfare:
Land Maneuver in the 21st Century
The Armored Corps Memorial Site & Museum
Tel Aviv, Israel
September 16, 2008
ABSTRACT
When North Korea invaded the south in June 1950, the United States sent ground forces to assist the Republic of Korea in halting the invaders. The task proved to be more difficult than anticipated, but by early August, the North Korean advance was halted. On September 15, the United States and its allies began a counteroffensive with a corps-sized amphibious landing at the west coast port of Incheon. Several significant advantages facilitated that counteroffensive. By good fortune, General Douglas MacArthur’s Far East Command had maintained a substantial fleet of Japanese-manned landing ships and had established a pre-war amphibious training program that was underway when the war began. A small Navy-Marine Corps training team provided the nucleus of an amphibious force, and Army, Navy, and Marine Corps veterans were ready to reprise their World War II amphibious efforts.
Although its Korean War amphibious capability was a pale shadow of the powerful World War II forces, the United States was still able to provide rapid operational maneuver from the sea and logistical support over unimproved beaches.
In addition to the Incheon landing, U.S. amphibious operations included the rapid movement of the 1st Cavalry Division to Korea over the beaches of Pohang in July 1950, the landing of X Corps across beaches and harbors in northeastern Korea in October, and the amphibious withdrawal of X Corps in the face of a massive Chinese intervention in December 1950. The amphibious capability allowed for the conduct of over-the-beach logistical support, off shore troop movements, and coastal special operations throughout the war.
The experience of the Korean War and operations since then, including the 1982 Israeli amphibious operations in Lebanon, reinforce the value of maintaining amphibious assault and over-the-shore transportation capabilities.