Hopewell (DD 681) - Naval Cruise Book

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Bay, our next port of call, where we stopped for an upkeep period. Sand- wiched between priority work requests and our annual Administrative lnspec- tion were excursions to Driftwood Beach, the fair city of Clongapo, and last but not least, the Club Bullpen. Before the sun and heat could fully take its toll, we were underway again, this time for Hong Kong, BCC. As we steamed into l-long Kong harbor that fine morning, we were met by the expected swarm of bum-boats, and in accordance with a custom of long standing, proceeded to turn the fire hoses on those who ventured too close. We were soon informed by the station ship however that sguirting the natives was no longer listed among the local outdoor sports, and that hereafter the police boats would take care of them. Since early in the cruise, the old-timers had been telling the boots about the wonderful bargains available, so when liberty went down, two sections swarmed ashore, to be descended upon by the local tailors, cabinet makers, cobblers, and other assorted tradesmen. Everyone left the ship with a roll of greenbacks and re- turned with a suitcase of clothes, or

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to blunder in on one of these fateful gatherings. The ship became divided into two camps, the one Wandering around in a state of bewilderment as to Why the garbage was being saved, and Why polliwogs were not to go on the focsule or on the port side of the fantail, the other chuckling fiendishly at the guandary of the first. Finally the fateful day arrived, and the long line of clean-shave neophytes was sum- moned before the Royal Court for jusice tried, sentenced, and dealt with severely. At the end of this hectic day, the l-ICPEWELL set course for Singapore manned with a full com- pany of Crusty Shellbacks, duly in- itiated into the Ancient Crder of the Deep. ' Exotic Singapore proved to be in- teresting, if somewhat expensive. The courtesy of the Royal British Navy was exceeded only by their capacity for beer, and the use of Nuffield Service- men's Club added to amiable relations with I-ler Majesty's boys in blue. Other names. which will remain in our mem- ories of Singapore are the Raffles Ho- tel, the Adelphi Hotel, and Cockpit. ln sharp contrast to the pleasures of 'liberty in Singapore was humid Subic ---'

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carrying a hand carved bar on his back. By the time we departed l-long Kong and headed for Sasebo, it was still a long time before payday, and the ghost of last. payday was in the compartment designated as the sou- venir locker. The HCPEWELL was only in Sasebo a few days before we were ordered .to Nagasaki for the Nagasaki Sea Fair and Festival. Nagasaki was a new port to most of us, so the tours of the city were well attended. After a few days of being moored alongside the pier, we had a pretty good idea of how a goldfish in a store window must feel. While our liberty sections were out seeing the town, the local popu- lace, or a goodly part threof, came down to the pier to watch our movies on the fantail, so it must be said that a good time was had by all. A few days later we were back in Yokosuka, getting ready for our last big jump back to San Diego. Many of us felt that it had been a pretty long cruise and intrinsic Joys of Yokosuka notwithstanding all hands were think ing ahead and tasting vicariously the pleasure of Stateside liberty and