Bak Du San Saves Busan

On June 25, 1950, the first day of the Korean War, the South Korean navy destroyer ROKS Bak Du San spotted a North Korean transport ship near the southern port city of Busan. The vessel carried about 600 North Korean commandos who intended to land behind South Korean lines and seize the lightly defended city. The Bak Du San engaged the ship in the Battle of Korea Strait and sank it with gunfire and torpedoes, killing most of the troops on board. Historians later argued that if those commandos had reached shore, South Korea might have fallen before UN forces could intervene.

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