Mast of the Navy Battleship Baekdusan

This is the mast of the Baekdusan, the Republic of Korea's first combat warship (PC-701). At a time when the newly founded Navy did not possess a single proper warship, it was purchased in the United States on 17 October 1949 using contributions from naval officers, men and their families, and was named the Baekdusan. This submarine chaser, while patrolling the Korea Strait on the very day the Korean War broke out, spotted an armed North Korean vessel and sank it the following day; this "Battle of the Korea Strait" was the first naval battle fought single-handedly by the Republic of Korea Navy during the Korean War, and stands as a monumental engagement that pre-emptively blocked a North Korean scheme to disrupt the rear. Having carried out the duty of guarding the seas on the front line of the East, West and South Seas, the ship was retired on 1 July 1959, and in 1966 its mast alone was preserved and set up on the Haesa Peninsula within the grounds of the Naval Academy. It stands as a symbolic relic of the Republic of Korea Navy, of great significance for embodying the Navy's founding spirit and its continuing mission to guard the seas.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Changwon, Gyeongnam

Designation

Registered Cultural Heritage · 국가등록문화유산