Santa Fe (CL 60) - Naval Cruise Book

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l Railing at anchor in mia' ohonnel, SANTA FE fright, and .finer .vhip MOBILE Iendforfe to occupation of Saseho, Kyushu novo! base. f hhhf F if -,'Ah 11 xi A , .1 . 1 i. it f A , fs, ff ,N L 15. ...L ..l..tL.J fc,-2 fa,-I '-li-.J Ls, ga., ' ii, Q ,f '13g...fg,. it SANTA FE, FLAGSHIP OF AREA COMMANDER, TOURS ENEMY HOMELAND fi' N 21 September the SANTA FE first sighted the SANTA FE left on 8 October for Honshu. A sudden QD rocky, jumbled coastline of Japan. Her new job typhoon blowing up from Okinawa forced a two-day of aiding the occupation of a nation still not in- stop at Nagasaki and gave all hands a chance to inspect vaded had begun. Almost forgotten in the excitement the atomic bomb's awful destructive power. The first and curiosity of steaming up the channel toward Kyushu's port on Honshu to be visited was Wakayama. After once great naval base of Sasebo were the end of the VVar only a 24-hour stay, the SANTA FE departed for Yoko- on 14 August, the cancelled bombardment of VVake, and suka, located at Tokyo Bay's entrance. With both the three weeks spent at Okinawa's typhoon-plagued Buckner Bay. Although it was still overseas duty, the pleasant indolence of occupation duty was a happy change from rugged wartime routine. Sightseeing tours were organ- ized as soon as troops were established ashore. The curious, souvenir-hungry sailors found different articles to purchase, got different impressions of the tiny, bow- legged, odiferous Nips, and had different tall tales to tell about geisha houses, department stores, or trolley rides. A complete story of how the men spent their Yen Cexchange rate, 15 yen per dollarb in those few hours ashore would fill volumes. After being moored almost four weeks in Sasebo the TCITY MISSING AT LEFT IS NAGASAKI. Tokyo and Yokohama as liberty ports and with the Emperor,s palace, the Imperial Hotel, and the Ginza district near at hand, time passed quickly. On 17 October Captain Fitz was relieved by Captain Freeman, and a few hours later orders were received to sail to Ominato for duty as Flagship of Commander Northern Japan Area. For nearly a month the Lucky Lady swung at anchor in Ominato Ko. Except for a four day sojourn to Otaru, Hakodate, and Aomori, the stay was uneventful. On 14 November the Flag was transferred to the QUINCY and the SANTA FE be- came part of the Magic Carpet operation. Next day she sailed south to Saipan to embark high-point per- sonnel and then headed for the States. 109

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Nzpponese gendarme directs trafic while U.S. sailors and soldiers standing idly on sidewallz watch little pedestrians file into corner's damaged department store. Location is Ginza flvenue in heart cy' downtown Toyleo's pre-war American section. NIPS ARE IGNORANT, POOR RACE 'j HATlfl'1C history and geography texts back at school said about these oriental people and what X' actually greeted the SANTA FE'S sight-seeing crewmen Were vastly different stories. As usual, the on- the-spot observations of curious sailors produced what was probably the truer picture. Certainly it was the most candid. The Jap male was a short, stocky individual, usually not more than Hve feet in height. His expression was blankly stoical, broken only by the frequent inward sucking hiss that supposedly indicated modest politeness. The oft- heard description, monkey-like turned out to be more Still wearing national, semi-military clothes, Yapanese civilians stand patientb' waiting to get into local movie house. y . , l l , . l Young Sasebo ffaps walk through typical passage between crowded Funeral procession parades down street rj Otaru. Whz'te boxes slung buildings. Girl's pantaloon-like pants are wartime innovation. . from their necks contain ashes of deceased relatives. 110