Rochester (CA 124) - Naval Cruise Book

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OPERATION KOREA Too much time we didn't have in Tokyo but itwas long enough to eirplore the Ginza, drop in at the Maranuchi Hotel, see the Palace of the Emperor, and the Daichi building fupper rightj. Postwar Tokyo Was'boomingr with GI. trade. The TQKYC Imperial Hotel fabovej was beautiful as were the parks flower rightjwand the women in front of the Opera house fbelowj. - HB -

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The- busy flag bag Y OPERATION KOREA Buckner Bay, Okinawa, became the operating base for TF 77 in those early days. We remember it as a hot, very blue, and very drab place to which we returned only to refuel, replenish and take an oc- casional flp off the fantail. Beer parties on a beach held up by a coral reef pro- vided a small outlet for pent up energy, but the majority of the crew spentrthe day trying to duckX..tl're hotsjuly sun. j Seventh Fleet was aboard at the time. That, to many is just a short sentence, butfgtothe men aboard it meant a tighter strain on living space, fresh water and putting in more effort to make Vice Ad- miral Struble's flagship the sharpest in the fleet. The signal gang was ever busy keeping the flag informed of task force movements. The snipe troops had to gear themselves and the ship's engines to sud- den bursts of speed to assure that enough wind blew across the carrier force's decks for flight operations. We! were the guide, and also the guiding light. We supported landings by the First Cavalry Division near Pohang off the East coast on 19 july, pushed through the edge of a typhoon and continued flight operations for another three days. It was then that we were introduced to Sasebo, japan, a port on the southern tip of Japan which turned out to be our major liberty port through. the next seven months. Some got one foot ashore. Most didn't. We got underway for the operating area during darkness the same night. ,fi - ' Vadm. Struble plans with British, captain, Radm. Hoskins and the Flag Officer Second in Command British Naval Forces Far East, Radm. Andrewes

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OPERATION KOREA We were leading the comeback Watch out for mines We steamed through the Yellow Sea for six days launching daily strikes against North Korea. By now we had relaxed from our early tension. The sight of jets zooming low overhead no longer fazed us. Conversational topic: the plane which had spilled into the water from one of the carriers. Remember the afternoon we passed the admiral and his staff to MOORE by breeches buoy? The PHILIPPINE SEA joined us in Buckner Bay on our return to make TF 77 more formidable. The sun was still hot. The crew slept on deck at night. Weather was unpredictable but not carrier operations. They went on and on. We replenished at sea or made one day dashes into Sasebo. On 25 August, at 1110 Admiral F. P. Sherman broke his flag on board ROCHESTER. We dicln't know it then, but his visit marked the beginning of heavy planning for The Coming Operation . And we all felt it. The messhalls disappeared one by one. They were taken over for oflice space. Seventh fleet was expanding.. The crew's lounge became the War room. You couldn't even pass it,-when the braintrusts were in session. The Warrant OiIicer's mess disappeared and into this space tumbledeZ1 bunks and 18 ensigns. The remainf ing ensigns were shelved in a corner of the Wardroom. The first lieutenant made a daily check of empty bunks. There was talk of making office space out of one of the gun turrets. The superstructure resounded with the clang of riveting and hammering. R Division had requests for remodeling until one wondered if the Pentagon was moving intoathe ROCHESTER. Andi on 22 August it just about did. The blue flag trafiicincluded Admiral Radford, Vice Admiral joy, Rear Admiral Hartman, Rear, Admiral Ewen, Rear Admiral Andrewes and many other ranking navy otlicers. We didn't, know it then but Inchon operation was being born. To plan it, we headed independently for Tokyo Where we spent 11 wonderful days of liberty while the top planners slaved away to prepare for the big push.