Endicott (DMS 35) - Naval Cruise Book

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' service schools for enlisted personnel. Included are all the shipboard rates, even those of radarman, sonarman and electronics technician. The Korean Navy is modeled after our own. We have personnel stationed at Chin Hae to help direct both officer and enlisted training, and officer graduates receive further training on United States ships. Vessels of the ROK Navy often operated with the United Nations' Escort and Blockade Force, of which Endicott was a part. The ROK Navy of today is young, but gaining experience rapidly. How ever, this navy has a guiding spirit dating back to the l6th century. The day we arrived in Chin Hae, there were festivities representing a dual cele- bration. It was the time of the annual Cherry Festival that takes place in Korea and Japan during the picturesque period when cherry trees are in full blossom. More important, however, the festivities that day were in com- memoration of a day more than three hundred and fifty years ago when the guiding symbol of the present ROK Navy was born.

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Ckerrg gdddom ime in Kirin .jslae On the morning of Friday, IO April, the Endicott sailed from Sasebo on a trip destined to break the monotony of our Yang Do defense patrols. Rear Admiral C. E. Olsen, Commander Task Force 95, needed transportation from the west coast of Korea to Chin Hae and Pusan, South Korea. The 'luxury liner Endicott was chosen for obvious reasons. A day after departure, we rendezvoused with the British aircraft carrier HMS Glory and accompanying escort vessels off the west coast of Korea. We were to take station alongside the carrier to receive Admiral Olsen and two aides by high line. Nothing to it, we thought. But, as we approached the carrier, she sent out an Aircraft warning Red, to general quarters we went, not knowingwhat to expect. lt was merely a false alarm, however, and we secured from GQ able to approach in a more relaxed manner. We were nearly in position, lOO0 yards astern of the carrier, preparing to go alongside, when she changed the formation course to launch planes. Despite the unexpectedness of the maneuver, we were quickly in position lOO feet off her starboard beam. A high line was rigged, and our passengers were brought aboard. With the Admiral safely aboard, we left the carrier and headed south to the principal South Korean naval port of Chin Hae, located west of Pusan on the southern end of the Ko-rean Peninsula. The Admiral was going to Chin Hae at this time to confer with Admiral Soong, Chief of South Korean Naval Operations, to inspect the naval facilities there, and to attend the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. The happiest of all aboard the Endicott, when we learned of the proposed trip, was Ensign Kim Moo Jin. Ensign Kim had been training aboard United States ships since his graduation from the South Korean Naval Academy, located at Chin Hae. Being a native of Chin- Hae, he was now able to ride the Endicott back home. lf Ensign Kim is a sample of the product of the South Korean Naval Academy, that institution may be proud of the caliber of their graduates. Ensign Kim was intelligent, eager to learn, courteous, and well-liked by officers and men of the Endicott. Ensign Kim, instead of going home to his family immediately following our arrival, took a group of Endicott officers to his Alma Mater to proudly show it off. The school, formerly a Japanese seaplane base, is today closely modeled after Annapolis in curriculum and smartness. The course of study is similar to the intensive three year :program at Annapolis during the years of World War ll The main objective of the academy is to produce a nucleus of highly trained naval officers to insure the place of the ROK Navy -of the future In addition to the facilities for officer training, there are twenty-two 0 0 0 K 9 I . U g V . . - . . g . .

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lt was in the year i597 that Admiral Lee Sun Shin, affectionately called Admiral Lee today, wreaked havoc on a Japanese armada preparing to land on the shores of Korea. The Japanese were attempting to make a landing at Tongyong, on the southern coast of Korea, when Admiral Lee, with a single ship, repulsed the attack. His ship was the famous Turtleback, an armor-clad vessel, similar to the Monitor. lt was capable of partial sub- mersion to protect its oars and to place its reinforced bow below the surface of the water. As the Japanese ships approached, Admiral Lee enticed them into a confined bay. Once in there, he partially submerged and methodically rammed each Japanese ship, causing heavy damage that forced them to abandon the landing operation. Admiral Lee today represents the spirit of the South Korean Navy. Three times a year, the highest-ranking naval officers pay homage to his tomb in Tongyong City and celebrate his memory. At the gates of Chin Hae, now the principal naval port, a fifty-foot bronze statue of Admiral Lee has been erected. This statue was seen by many of us as we walked through the streets crowded by noisy, festive people. The Cherry Blossom Festival was especially colorful this day, as it marked one of the commemoration dates for Admiral Lee. Company after company of. sailors in full dress paraded through the streets, flanked by brightly-clad people of all ages. Elders, with small children, sat in groups beneath the beautiful, fragrant trees, watching the activity of celebration. The women, for the most part, wore white blouses and very high-waisted black skirts hanging to their feet in flowing pleats. The men were dressed in many forms of garb: army uniforms, western-style clothes of types and assortments too plentiful to describe, and the native costumes -of long kimo- nos and brightly-colored sashes. The children had on their school uniforms. ln the midst of the crowd, a strange ceremonial dance was taking place. Six men and a -woman with a baby st-rapped toher back .danced in a small circle. Two of the dancers provided music with a small drum and two plates that were banged together as they danced. At the end of a few completed turns about the circle, the dancers would stop and drink heavily from a large wooden tub. As the dance progressed, the dancing became less and the halts more frequent ln another corner of the crowded street, surrounded by throngs of noisy, tipsy people there was a small carnival. There were two types of entertain- ment One a simple swing and the other a variation of our teeter-totter. A plank rested on a mound of dirt, with a girl standing on one end. The game was for another girl to jump on the elevated end, thus throwing the first girl into the air The airborne girl would- then come down, landing on the now elevated end and throw the other into the air. lt was an amusing spectacle as the girls were cheered to greater and greater heights by the gleeful onlookers The high spot of the Chin Hae trip was a party given in honor of Admiral Olsen at the newly opened Officers' Club. The Captain, the Exec. and a few I ' I I - . . . - Q - I I . , .