On 18 November 1952, Lieutenant E. Royce Williams climbed into the cockpit of a Grumman F9F-5 Panther on the deck of USS Oriskany, off the coast of North Korea, and went looking for trouble. Forty-five minutes later he came back with two engines, one wing on fire, no hydraulics, 263 holes in his fuselage, and the four MiG-15 kills that should have made him the highest-scoring American naval aviator of the Korean War.

The Navy classified the entire engagement. Williams was sworn to secrecy. For the next half-century, he could not tell his wife, his brothers, his children, or his squadron. The official record showed one confirmed kill and a Silver Star.

This week, at the age of 100, the man finally got the Medal of Honor he earned at 27.

The Day the Soviets Came

Task Force 77 had been operating off North Korea for months. The standard orbit was simple: launch, fly Combat Air Patrol, land. On the afternoon of 18 November, Williams launched as part of a four-Panther flight from Oriskany. Two of the others returned to the carrier with mechanical problems. A third went to chase a contact off the leader’s wing. That left Williams alone over the Sea of Japan.

Then radar painted seven MiG-15s descending on him from the north — and they were not Korean. They were Soviet, flown by Soviet pilots, operating from a Soviet base across the border at Vladivostok. The official Cold War line was that Russians were not in combat in Korea. The Russians were very much in combat in Korea. Williams was about to find that out.

Thirty-Five Minutes

What followed remains the longest air-to-air engagement in US Navy history. Williams flew his F9F at the limit of its turn rate, used the Panther’s slower speed as an advantage at low altitude, and worked the MiGs through tight turns where their swept wings hurt them. He hit four. Russian records released in 2002 confirmed all four pilots were killed. Two more MiGs took damage and limped home.

Williams had no ammunition left. His hydraulics were gone. He could fly straight, more or less, but the controls were stiff and slow. The F9F was leaking fuel. He did not even attempt the carrier landing — the deck was too short and too unforgiving for a stricken aircraft.

He requested a barrier landing. The carrier rigged the cable. Williams brought the Panther in at 170 knots, hit the wire, and the gear collapsed. He stepped out alive. The maintenance chief counted 263 holes.

The Cover-Up

Within hours, NSA intercepts of Soviet radio traffic confirmed the kills. They also confirmed the politically explosive truth: Soviet Air Force pilots were flying combat sorties against US forces. Eisenhower’s NSC decided the engagement could never be acknowledged. Williams was ordered to forget it. The Navy gave him a Silver Star, citing one kill, and quietly closed the file.

He flew another 23 years and 110 combat missions in Vietnam. He never told a soul about the Soviets. When the records were declassified in 2002 and Russian archives confirmed his account, the campaign for proper recognition began. It took 24 more years.

A Hundred Years Old, Finally Free to Talk

Williams turned 100 in 2025. He attended his Medal of Honor ceremony in Washington seated, sharp, and cheerful. The citation says he “destroyed four Soviet MiG-15 jet fighters in single combat” — words that, for half a century, no Navy document was permitted to contain.

The longest dogfight in Navy history finally has the medal it always deserved.

Sources: Stars and Stripes, US Navy press release, San Diego Air & Space Hall of Fame.