War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its size,

and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history

through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. host, James Early. Hello and welcome back to Key Battles of American History.

This is your host, James Early.

As always.

Well, in our last episode, I did a special topical overview of the air war in the Korean War,

and I promised you at the end of the episode that I would be talking about the Naval War next time,

and so that's exactly what I'm going to do right now.

So less than five years after the U.S. Navy hosted the Japanese surrender on board the USS Missouri,

the service found itself again at war when North Korean forces invaded South Korea. This conflict, however, would feature a few of the

hallmarks of the earlier Pacific War, that is, in World War II. There would be no ship-on-ship

duels, no massive carrier battles, and no large-scale submarine operations.

Nevertheless, the Navy's three-year combat experience in Korea would demonstrate that sea power was just as essential in the so-called limited wars of the late 20th century as it had been in the earlier World Wars.

Command of the Sea enabled the United States to

successfully fight powerful enemies on the very doorstep of Asia. Now, listeners, a couple of

disclaimers or notes before we get really rolling. You've already heard some of the content

presented in this episode. In the regular battle series, Evan and I mentioned naval forces many times.

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