U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet in Korea War, Formosa Crisis, Cold War
Made in 1957 by the U.S. Navy about the Seventh Fleet, this historic film shows the activities of the 7th during the Korean War, and during the Formosa Crisis of 1954 — Quemoy. The protection of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea as well as nations in Southeast Asia is described. Korean War end of hostilities are shown at the 6 minute mark, with the signing of a cease fire in July, 1953. This date marked an expansion of the Fleet’s responsibilities to the broader Asian region. Generalissimo Chiang-Kai Shek is shown meeting with a Navy Admiral aboard the USS Wasp at the 7 minute mark, and the evacuation of the Taichung Islands at the 10 minute mark. There’s also coverage of the early stage of the Vietnam War with refugees evacuated as part of “Operation Passage to Freedom” at the 8 minute mark. Operation Passage to Freedom was a term used by the United States Navy to describe its transportation in 1954–55 of 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist North Vietnam (the Democratic Republic of Vietnam) to South Vietnam (the State of Vietnam, later to become the Republic of Vietnam).