Catamount (LSD 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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1.1)1) lull- III lin hull i..Nir ,,,n The Korean Y frame lKr.)rr, cliiriiig. iSc afccr - L. C:. U. Tile V(T ' (il Street scciu Traffic cop and her j))-. ■n , i( ,r.H( — 19

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Penny? Choo ' n ' gum? INCHON Inchon, on the Western coast of Korea, was characterized by poverty ashore and a trecherous tide in the harbor. The ship spent six days there, disembarking and embarking the LCU and supplying crash boats to patrol around the Point Cruz (CVE - 119) while the helicopters flew the Indian troops from the LCU ' s to the neutral zone. The 35-foot tide peculiar to Inchon ' s harbor was a constant topic of amazed conversation, obser- vation, and vigilance. Boat schedules had to be regulated to the tide tables and several times boats were forced to lay off the shore more than a few minutes waiting for the tide to come in enough for the pier to be over navigatable waters. The currents in the harbor were constantly moving at a foreboding pace. Liberty, of sorts, was granted there, but lasted only during the afternoon hours since early curfew was effect in the city. Inchon seemed to be populated exclusively by the very yonng and the very old. Koreans in the intermediary age group - the fighting age - were nearly gone. The few that remained were in uniform. The children left the most Ia ' 5ting impression. Most of them orphans, they could be seen through- out the city playing in the dirt of the street, half-naked, ragged, the most poignant symbol possible of why the Catamount and all the rest of the nation ' s fleet must remain on duty in Inchon, Timbuktu, wherever needed. When the last LCUload of turbandcd and bearded Indian troops had hccn taken ashore, and the craft was safely dry in the vell, the Catamount turned back ir.to the ' ' cllo.v sea, rounded the southern tips of Korea and Japan, and returned to Yokosuka. The very young - 18 -

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KOBE Tlic trip to Kobe and four days of R R was prefaced by a return jaunt to Yokosuka and a fast journey to Sasebo and back for the sake of the transportation of two pontoon causeways. Finally the breakwaters outside of Kobe ' s famous commercial harbor were sighted, a small but efficient pilot was brought aboard, and the Catamount slipped into her slip at pier 5. A friendly sun illuminated the city that morning. Large red and yellow balloons could be seen looming high over the downtown buildings - not welcoming jestures but fine examples of the American influence on the medium of commercial advertising in Japan. Although seventy-five per cent of Kobe had been destroyed during tlic war, it liad been fastid- iously rebuilt and modernistic office buidings and department stores stood out in the business area. The yen-liappy atmosphere of Yokosuka was not present there. Yen was still very much the medium of exchange, and prices were no lower, yet the atmosphere vas different. It was a clean and cordial city. Tours to Takarazuka and Kyoto were quickly arranged by the Doctor. Takarazuka is billed as the largest entertainment center in Japan , and Kyoto is acknowledged as the nation ' s cultural center. An all - girl Japanese ballet company, a large zoo, and an Oriental amusement park were the main attractions at Takarazuka along with the free beer offered at an international Rotarian ' s convention there the afternoon of the tour. Kyoto is one of Japan ' s most modern and Westernized cities and yet it contains the finest of Old Japan which still exists. The Emperor ' s summer palace, the oldest wooden building in the world (constructed in the ninth century), a large Buddahist temple, many old palaces of the ancient Japanese war lords, and Japan ' s two largest universities are withn the city. Rut four days were all that were oftered in Kobe and duty in Sasebo beckoned. Petersen in Kyoto Secured boa;:; and rat guards 20 —