HMNZS Pukaki was one of six ex-Royal Navy Loch-class anti-submarine frigates in the Royal New Zealand Navy. Along with HMNZS Tutira, Pukaki took part in the early phases of the Korean War, where their duties included escorting ships between Japan and the South Korean port of Pusan (Busan).
Both ships played a part in General Douglas MacArthur’s ambitious plan to land a knock-out blow to the Korean People’s Army by carrying out a landing well behind their lines at the port of Inch'on, near Seoul. The New Zealand frigates were involved in this operation, the largest amphibious assault since the Second World War, on 15 September 1950. They escorted the troopships carrying the US marines who went in and seized vital positions on islands in the harbour. The operation succeeded. Seoul was retaken and by the end of the month, the Korean People’s Army, with its logistic umbilical cord severed, had disintegrated.
Community contributions