Philippine Sea (CVA 47) - Naval Cruise Book

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Nvvwvnwnv- While embarked on this cruise, the 7I,O00tb arrested landing was made on my flight deck. Also, Captain Elwin L. Farrington relieved Captain Herman Ii. Ray as Commanding Cflicer on I3 August I955. My crew and I plan to return Stateside7' in November. Shipmates We've made Well be remembered always. But now Iid like for you to turn the pages of this book and note the events of my FIFTH CRUISE TO TI-IE FAR EAST.

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ff of fmm 1950 ull of TPiQ lllmt 1 lli' v Illalli' iinters . and ound mv v the iths patt- cisco, ing ation : ,men arship- ' flight JCC , Tl .ct10H- itrailllf ohlfhf ., K, N mlltf f plalllf ich war liffffff .. Polic? In December 1952 I put to sea at San Diego once more for the Far East ready for the gruelling operations off Korea. During my third tour ,of combat duty in the Korean waters both my crew and I set many records. The North Korean offensive began at the same time the first truce overtures were extended and marked the beginning of a series of round the clock air sorties in support of front line UN troops. I set a record for the number of combat sorties launched in the Korean War on the 141th of .Iune and broke it the following day. The record is even more significant in that it was made with only three of the four shafts in operation. For a period of three days I operated on three screws and, for a short time, only two. However, I did not return to port. My Engineering Department worked day and night to make the vital repairs at sea. Replenishing and rearming at sea, vital to carrier operations, afforded another challenge to my crew. While rearming from the USS FIREDRAKE, my crew hit a new peak for tonnage of ammunition loaded per hour. I departed from Yokosuka on 2 August 1953-my officers and men happy to be under- way for the United States once more. They were justly proud of the records they had set during this tour of combat duty. I arrived at North Island, San Diego, California on 15 August 1953. On 9 January 1954, after a four months drydock period, I nosed my bow once again toward the Far East. Most of this cruise was spent operating near the Philippine Islands. Manila served as the base port. The most significant event of the cruise occurred in late July. The fighting in Indo-china terminated, ,Iuly 21st, In the meantime Communist planes had shot down a Cathay-Pacific Airways passenger liner somewhere near I-Iainan, China. I was ordered into the area as part of a search mission with hopes of finding the remaining survivors. While engaged in this mission, a flight of my Skyraiders were attacked by two Communist fighter planes. Under orders to Ere only if actually attacked, the Skyraiders returned the fire and shot down the Communist planes. My pilots returned to the ship after reporting the incident and the force was put on alert for a possible attack. Nothing further occurred, however, and this was apparently the end of what was later unofficially termed as the I-Iainan Incidentf, From here the cruise began rapidly drawing to a close. We began making a final round of ports-of-call and soon they faded away in my wake as we headed for home. We arrived in San Diego on 18 November 1954 to find our loved ones waiting on the dock. On 1 April 1955, I commenced my FIFTH western cruise. After the usual smooth sailing enroute to Pearl Harbor and the strenuous ORI period, we sailed for Japan. With peace restored in Korea this was to be my first peaceful mission in these waters.

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