USS Chosin (CG-65)

USS Chosin (CG-65): Frozen Chosin

Commissioned on 12 January 1995, USS Chosin was named for the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, fought from 27 November to 13 December 1950 , the engagement that defined the United States Marine Corps for a generation and produced the phrase "We're not retreating. We're just attacking in a different direction." When the People's Liberation Army sent 120,000 soldiers to encircle and destroy the 15,000-man Marine and Army force at Chosin, they were operating at temperatures as low as minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Weapons jammed. Vehicle engines had to be kept running or they would not start. Blood plasma froze before it could be administered.

The Marines fought out. In seventeen days of continuous combat through the worst conditions in Korean War history, the 1st Marine Division broke out of the encirclement, inflicted staggering losses on twelve Chinese divisions, and withdrew to Hungnam for evacuation. Their equipment came with them. Their dead came with them. The Chinese divisions that had tried to destroy them at Chosin were combat-ineffective for months afterward.

The name Chosin on a Navy warship is a statement of respect for the men who fought there and a recognition that the Navy's amphibious capability , the sea-lift and fire support that made operations like Hungnam possible , was as essential to that survival as the Marines' fighting ability.

USS Chosin served in the Pacific Fleet across multiple Western Pacific deployments, operating in the carrier strike group escort role in the same waters that overlooked the Korean Peninsula her name honored.

Tactically Acquired's USS Chosin (CG-65) collection honors the Frozen Chosin Marines and the Navy crew who carried their name through the Pacific.