Yes you are right about the stop in the UK - its also mentioned in Troubled Waters about the Omega UK evacuation
There is a good chance that whatever ships are in Korea are still there - short of fuel so they cant make the haul home but with enough fuel so that they can still operate around the Korean peninsula and the Sea of Japan.
So they are still effective but only locally. Now get some fuel there from the RDF or Kenya and that would change.
(i.e. Japan in late WWII didnt have the fuel to send ships to Singapore anymore but they had enough for ops to Pusan and back - so similar situation here.)
Virginia had several ships with her but they were all lost in the firefight with the Russian task group that led to her being beached.
From how its described they were the last USN ships active off the West Coast - and its a long way from the West Coast to Korea.
If you are interested Rainbow I can put up the relevant passage from Satellite Down showing that.
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