Editing Battle of Chosin Reservoir (section)

==Evacuation at Hungnam==
{{main|Hungnam evacuation}}
[[File:KoreanWar Hungnam.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A warship observes as a port explodes in the background|The [[high-speed transport]] {{USS|Begor|APD-127|6}} observes the destruction of Hungnam's port facilities on 24 December.]]
[[File:USS Saint Paul (CA-73) off Hungnam December 1950.jpg|thumb|The [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Saint Paul|CA-73|6}} fires her [[8"/55 caliber gun|8-inch]] (203-mm) guns at Chinese troops threatening the evacuation.]]
By the time the UN forces arrived at Hungnam, MacArthur had already ordered the evacuation of the US X&nbsp;Corps on 8 December in order to reinforce the US Eighth Army, which by then was badly depleted and retreating rapidly towards the [[38th parallel north|38th parallel]].{{sfn|Mossman|1990|pp=158–9}}{{sfn|Appleman|1990|p=324}} Following his orders, the ROK I Corps, the ROK 1st Marine Regiment and the US 3rd and 7th Infantry Divisions had also set up defensive positions around the port.{{sfn|Appleman|1990|pp=319–320}} Some skirmishes broke out between the defending US [[7th Infantry Regiment (United States)|7th]], [[17th Infantry Regiment (United States)|17th]] and [[65th Infantry Regiment (United States)|65th Infantry]] and the pursuing PVA 27th Corps,{{sfn|Appleman|1990|pp=324–327}} but against the strong naval gun fire support provided by US Navy [[Task Force 90 (United States)|Task Force 90]], the badly mauled 9th Corps was in no shape to approach the Hungnam perimeter.{{sfn|Appleman|1990|p=324}}{{sfn|Roe|2000|pp=393–394}}

In what US historians called the "greatest evacuation movement by sea in US military history",{{sfn|Appleman|1990|p=340}} a 193-ship armada assembled at the port and evacuated not only the UN troops, but also their heavy equipment and roughly a third of the Korean refugees.{{sfn|Alexander|1986|p= 367}} One [[Victory ship]], the {{Ship|SS|Meredith Victory}}, evacuated 14,000 refugees by herself, despite being designed to carry only 12 passengers. The last UN unit left at 14:36 on 24 December, and the port was destroyed to deny its use to the Chinese.{{sfn|Appleman|1990|p=340}} The PVA 27th Army entered Hungnam on the morning of 25 December.{{sfn|Guang|2007|p=113}}