Hopewell (DD 681) - Naval Cruise Book

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The mock invasion of Kojo was another of our varied assignments. This entire operation was very hush-hush, and it wasn't until a few hours before the fireworks actually started that we knew what it was all about. The opera- tion was designed to draw enemy troops into the open so our aircraft could get at them and do some real damage. It was a complete success. We helped escort some of the amphibious craft to the area, and while the actual operation was going on we screened the force from any possible submarine attack. Our assignments to- the bombline all proved to be most satisfying experi- ences. We felt we were doing a little something to help the guys who have to do the actual fighting. We got shot at two or three times, but that added to the feeling, and let us know we were doing some real damage. ' ' . - -- - 1 - f- ' - g...,...,,......g-e . , - . - . . . .. ,, ', .,. . A A , ' , ,.. .-N ........-....................,.:..,...............,--.... ,, 4- ---- ---M -v-1. ... -........- -.,a..........n.n.-.,..sn................................ u.........-....-a-:-...-..--w- 7- - W- , Wi, Y, , , YY, V - - - --- -ve -V V - Y Y' ,,..,...1.a.a

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l m o Most of us enjoyed the bo-mbline assignments most. After several days of firing at the beach we could come back to the Task Force feeling that We had 'done something more concrete than steaming around aircraft carriers. We did a lot of shooting at the North Korean railroads. Ko-rea is very mountainous, and therefore the rail lines are only a short distance from the beach. We could easily get in close enough to drop a few shells on the tracks, on railroad cars, and perhaps on a movingtrain. We also managed to send some of our five inch calling cards on enemy gun emplacements, troop concentrations, cities, factories, supply and ammuni- tion dumps. After one especially effective bombardment mission the cruiser Helena told us You win today's gunnery prize. We all felt pretty proud about that. o

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For our next period in port we went to Sasebo, a small city on the west side of Japan's southernmost island of Kyushu. A huge map of the city greeted us when we got to the fleet landing and helped us 'decide where to spend our hours ashore. Rickashas were every- where, and for 200 yen we could ride in a japanese taxi. The Navy's new Club had lots to offer. Excellent din- ners, pretty japanese girls to dance with and a couple of very nice bars. The shops, cabarets and restaurants in town also got their share of our business. We bought souvenirs, saw movies and did lots of dancing. We were usually worn out and glad to return to the ship when liberty ended.