When the Korean War erupted in late June 1950, the US Air Force's standard fighter in the Far East was the jet-powered Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star. Although the aircraft soon proved the master of the North Korean Peoples' Air Force, its lack of endurance resulted in the USAF rushing 145 obsolescent F-51 Mustangs sourced from Air National Guard and Reserve units across America to the theatre aboard the carrier USS Boxer to serve principally in the ground attack role. These aircraft quickly commenced operations against the communist troop columns advancing south. The 8th, 18th and 35th Fighter-Bomber Wings were the primary operators of the Mustang in-theatre, along with the South African Air Force's No 2 Sqn, the Royal Australian Air Force's No 77 Sqn and the embryonic Republic of Korea Air Force. Indeed, the F-51 was the first type issued to the latter air arm, which retained the fighter in frontline service until war's end in July 1953. Photo-reconnaissance RF-51Ds also served in-theatre, and by the time the war ended in July 1953, some 194 Mustangs had been lost – ten to enemy fighters, twelve in operational accidents and the rest to anti-aircraft fire.