Yevgeny Pepelyaev


Yevgeny Georgievich Pepelyaev a Soviet fighter pilot in the Korean war; most Russian sources credit him as the second-highest scoring pilot in the war with 19 shootdowns, placing him only below Nikolai Sutyagin. However, some Western sources indicate him to be the top ace of the war, and he claimed to have 23 victories in his memoir, which would put him above Sutyagin's 22 shootdowns.

Early career and World War II

Pepelyaev was born on 18 March 1918 in Bodaybo, Irkutsk, in Eastern Siberia, the son of a railroad worker. His elder brother Konstantin enlisted in the Soviet air force, and thus with the intention to follow the steps of his brother he worked in Odessa with the city aeroclubs. He graduated in 1938 from the 8th Military Pilots School and was sent to serve in a regiment deployed in the Far East.
With the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941, he was retained in the Far East despite several requests for a combat posting in the west, especially after his brother Konstantin was killed in action. In late 1943 he was still an instructor with the 162nd Fighter Aviation Regiment. He flew at least 10 sorties on the eastern front, flying the Yak-7B, but did not shoot down any German aircraft. In 1945 he was made deputy commander of the 300th Fighter Aviation Regiment, and participated in the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, during which he flew four ground-attack missions on the Yak-9T.
The 300th Fighter Aviation Regiment was then assigned surveillance duties covering the deployment of the US troops in Korea until March 1946, when the unit was sent back to the Soviet Union. In December 1947 he became the executive officer of the 196th Fighter Aviation Regiment. In 1949 the unit began receiving the MiG-15 jet fighter.

Korean War

The Korean War began in June 1950 when the Soviet and Chinese Communist backed North Korea invaded United States-backed South Korea. By October 1950 Pepelyaev commanded the 196th Fighter Aviation Regiment. Secretly the USSR sent several air regiments equipped with the MiG-15 to the Chinese base Antung in Manchuria to support Chinese ground forces. In December 1950 the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps with two fighter divisions was created; Pepelyaev’s unit, 196th Fighter Aviation Regiment, was soon put in the 324th Fighter Aviation Division.
The 196th Fighter Aviation Regiment arrived in Manchuria in January 1951, and re-deployed to Antung. On 20 May 1951 a force of 36 MiGs clashed with 28 F-86 Sabres, and both sides overclaimed, with the USAF claiming three MiGs and the Soviets claiming four F-86s. In fact one MiG was lost outright and three Sabres were damaged. Captain James Jabara shot down one of Pepelyaev’s pilots, Captain Viktor Nazarkin, and Pepelyaev claimed one F-86; the burst fired by Pepelyaev hit the right wing of F-86A 49-1080 flown by 1st Lieutenant Milton Nelson of the 335th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, destroying hydraulic lines. Nelson managed to bring the crippled Sabre back to Kimpo Air Base, where it was written off.
On July 11 26 MiG-15s of the 196th Fighter Aviation Regiment led by Pepelyaev again engaged Sabres, and one F-86A involved, 49-1297 made a forced landing at Suwon Air Base. The pilot was not injured, however the F-86A was damaged beyond repair. Official USAF records indicate the loss as a “landing accident”. On July 21 the 196th Fighter Aviation Regiment intercepted a formation of "F-94s", actually USMC F9F-2Bs of VMF-311. Pepelyaev claimed two of the enemy aircraft and his unit claimed five more, VMF-311 denied suffering any fatalities on this date.
On 6 October 1951 Pepelyaev clashed with Sabres of 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing at, downing 2 F-86s. The F-86A 49-1319 of Captain Bill Garrett, ditched in Sokhoson Bay, while another F-86A, 49-1267 is attributed in some western sources as being lost due to an accident. On 16 October he and his wingman Aleksandr Ryzhkov caught a pair of Sabres of the 336th Fighter Squadron; Pepelyaev shot down one of them, 49-1147, though some sources say the plane was lost due to running out of fuel. The pilot, David B. Freeland ejected and survived.
On 8 November 1951 two more American aircraft were claimed; over Pkhenvon he spotted four F-86s, and opened fire at, downing F-86A 49-1338 flown by Charles W. Pratt, who perished. A few hours later Pepelyaev intercepted a RF-80A of the 15th Reconnaissance Squadron and shot it down. In late November Pepelyaev shot down four more American aircraft over the course of three days; on 27 November he downed an F-84E of the 7th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Bomber Wing, piloted by Bernard Karl Seitzinger, who was killed in action. The next day he shot down two F-86s; F-86A 49-1184 and F-86E 50-673; causing Dayton Ragland to become a prisoner of war. Pepelyaev scored another shootdown on 29 November 1951, a F-86A 48-301 of the 334th Fighter Squadron over Syukusen. The Sabre managed to limp back to Kimpo, but the aircraft never flew again and was written off on 9 December.
On 1 December 1951 Pepelyaev forced Lieutenant Thomas T. Mounts to eject from F-80C 49-855, while on 7 January 1952 Pepelyaev led 18 MiG-15s to engage a group of Sabres of the 51st FIW, and Pepelyaev downed F-86E 50-651. Charles E. Stahl ejected and was captured. He claimed another F-86 the next day, but his victim was repaired and returned to combat. On 11 January 1952 he scored his last shootdown, F-86 50-612 of the 25th Fighter Squadron.

Final tally

Breakdowns of Pepelyaev's victories vary; in a 2007 interview with Sputnik news he claimed to have shot down 23 American aircraft, consisting of one F-80, two F-94, one F-84, and 19 F-86. However, most Russian historians credit him with 19 victories, including Igor Seidov and Mikhail Bykov who credit him with one F-80, two F-94, two F-84, and 14 F-86 over the course of 109 sorties that included 38 dogfights.

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