In October 1950, at the peak of the Korean War, Rear Admiral Smith, second in command of US Naval Forces Far East, sent a signal to his commanding officer, Vice Admiral Turner Joy: “We have lost control of the seas to a nation without a navy, using pre-World War I weapons, laid by vessels that were utilized at a time of the birth of Christ.”
This exasperated comment reflected on a plan to invade Wonsan on the east coast of the Korean peninsular - which had been held up for weeks by the presence of North Korean mines.
