Montrose (APA 212) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 49 text:

Q, 3, ,5,lP l 'Jfw'1gm X N ,ra- Aberdeen is the fishing cen- ter of Hong Kong. The fishing boats do double duty and in many cases serve as homes to whole families. A whole new world opens up just a few steps off the main streets and up the back alloys, This is one of the steep side streets that leads back to Chinese markets, side- walk restaurants and native shops. 2 Q H li Small boats swarmed about the Montrose whenever we pulled into Hong Kong. Here a small boy dives over the side after a coin thrown from the ship.

Page 48 text:

itwgw ge- f ,. , if , Wierd Statues Fil! The Tiger Balm Coolures Found a Frog Gardens. The One in White is Grisiam. In Tiger Gardens --4--- - e I V, .'A Qt. IS

Page 50 text:

KOREA Guild craftsman plying his trade Baby Sitter problem solved Nan... Inchon and Sokcho Ri All hands, especially those of us in the boats, will agree that our LEX at Sokcho Ri was one of the best organized on record. We don't know how the adrnirals evaluate it, but to the boys in the boats and at the debark stations, it was what an amphibious operation ought to be. A touch of ground swell made some of the troops unhappy, but then, War is hell. The beach was a long, golden strand, ideal for a different kind of beach party. The hinterland, as seen frorn the transport area, was beautiful and the air was cool. lust a few miles north of us at Sokcho Ri was the 38th parallel and the truce dernarkation line. The operation was not without tragedy. An Okanogan sailor was killed when he fell through a hatch and a plane was lost at sea. Everything was shipshape on the Montrose however, and we steamed back to lnchon to ofiload our troops. We picked up our worst impressions of Korea in lnchon, the bombed out and beaten city that seemed to have carried more than its share ot damage. The streets were torn and dirty, the peo- ple, many oi them driven from their homes in the north, were roaqed and hungry. We witnessed a dtvpressii'ig atterniath of war. lnchon offered little in the way ot liberty and we were glad to up anchor and li- rad south. Chinhae, Korea Up to the time that we anchored OH Chinhae, Sc-utli Korea, late in luly, most of us had seen Korea onE'y at lnchon, Pusan, and Sokcho Ri. Despite the natural beauty of the beach at Sokcho Hi with US high mountain peaks beyond and the picturesque harbor of Ptzsan, impressions ol this war-torn Coun- try were an the dismal side. Chinhae and the won- derful hasrgitality of her people, however, showed US a different side oi the country. Chinhae was Cool and quiet, even with the bustling training activities that ':cntinue night and day in preparedness for de- fense. ln Chinhae, we witnessed the Republic oi Kcrea Naval Academy, as well as the boot camp where basic seamanship is taught the recruits of a young and growing Navy. Here also the HOK Ma- rines train intensively. While in Chinhae, We had both midshipmen and the marines aboard for in- doctrination in amphibious warfare, which included an abbreviated One Able. Facilities for liberty ashore in Chinhae were limited, but sightseeing tours both ashore and by boat were arranged. Short, but honorable mention must also be made of Dui'fy's Tavern, the EM club set up in town by the U.S. Naval Advisory Group. 4: .2