Epperson (DD 719) - Naval Cruise Book

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YOKOSUKA There's one fine thing about leaving for the Orient from Hawaii, Midway Island is in the way and if it weren't there'd be no one to entertain the base personnel on the quaint atoll. We thought if this is a sample of our cruise it'11 be lonely, but it'11 be wet. After the fuel stop we took out station as radar warning ship 100 miles north of the Hornet only to see her again on the 20th for fueling. We got too close, however, and did not complete the replenishment until the next morning. Quick reactions had minimized damage, but talk of a few weeks in Yokosuka spread quickly. Entering Tokyo Bay for the first time since 1962 we were proud but bent, a lady with a broken feather, and Yokosuka was to be our milliner. The ship repair facility was begun 100 years before our arrival and had spawned a massive Japanese fleet, important enough to be a primary target on the dramatic 1942 Halsey-Doolittle raid. It is now a vital base for the world's largest fleet, the United States Seventh, and home to 3000 service and civilian personnel and wage provider for 6000 japanese. In three swift weeks a few hundred ofthe wage earners quickly and ably returned to EPPERSON to fighting condition as we were to proceed upon completion of repairs to operations with Yankee Team forces. While the cutting and welding went on Cthank you Frank .Knox - very timelyj, many of the crew went off to their first liberty in a foreign la.nd outside of Lahaina. Tours, night clubs, sports and strolls are the stuff that liberty's made of. We learned the language of the Seventh Fleet, words like dai jobi, sukoshi, hai yaku, ichi,ahtsui, and Asahi. We were guided on tours to Tokyo's fabulous Ginza Strip high into Tokyo Tower, through the Olympic Stadiums and into the night. Although haze clouded Mt Fuji on the tour through Hakone Nat'1 Park we took some rides that were equal to the breath taking scenery. On a gondola high over stinking volcanic springs, cruising down a fairyland lake, or pitching headlong in a bus through narrow two way streets, the tour took us up, through and over temples and palaces, beaches and mountains. During the time we spent in repairs much was made of the sports facilities. The soccer team hustled through practices hoping to hustle games in Hong Kong and Australia. Supply's basketball team began to organize for the Sasebo tournament. 20 men who were inclined towards killing clay pigions entered the ship's Skeet shoot. The winner was not decided until the last dirt duck died when the captain, with PULL! still ring-mg on the range, fired the shot that proved his distant vision Cthe victor wore scrambled eggs, they're still recounting the score for that shootj. Our stay in Yokosuka was longer than we expected and we were anxious to get down to Viet Nam, but we didn't run out of work, money nor sights to see. Yokosuka quite a place to begin a cruise.

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