Rochester (CA 124) - Naval Cruise Book

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A Primative Land of Constant Conflicts Assumes a New Role as Chiangps Last Qutpost Formosa -The word was only a name to the crew of the ROCHESTER before the ship sailed for WestPac in February of 1955. It was the name of an island which lay somewhere off the coast of China. It was a name which appeared on the front pages of stateside newspapers during the days that the ROCHESTER was swinging to an anchor in Long Beach harbor. It was that and little more. The 1955 cruise of the ship in Far Eastern waters intro- duced the sailor to the island and brought into focus the country and the people which the name Formosa represents. For it was during the months of March, April and part of May that the island's principal harbor, Keelung, was to be the adopted home port of the ROCHESTER and the home- away-from home for the ship's complement. From charts and maps, the sailor learned that Formosa for Taiwan, a title which is preferred by the government and the peoplej is a fish-shaped island 200 by 50 miles in size and lying, at its closest point, only 75 miles from the Chinese Communist mainland. It is separated from the continent of Asia by the Formosa strait, which contains the Pescadores islands. Together with various offshore islands, Formosa and the Pescadores constitute Nationalist China, with its capital in Taipei, the only liberty spot outside of Keelung for thirsty sailors. It is from Taipei, a bustling city with a population ap- proaching that of St. Louis or Cleve- land, that Generalissimo Chiang Kai- Shek runs the affairs of his displaced government. It is from here that the Nationalist government prepares its plans to reclaim all of the mainland for itself. Geographically, Formosa is a very interesting island. The name, is de- rived from the Portuguese word for beautiful and the island lives up to its name. A cross-section of the island from West to East would reveal broad plains and gently rising slopes for 35 miles, or about two-thirds of the way across the island. Abundant rainfall plus the flat terrain makes the western portion of the island well adapted to farming. Here industrious workers may be seen utilizing every square foot of ground to produce rice, tea and a variety of vegetables. In this area another of Formosa's primary natural resources-coconuts, which no ROCHES- TER sailors had a chance to see--are picked and prepared for market. Many are exported to countries all over the world. Flying from west to east across the island, ,an observer would notice that the ground rises sharply about two-thirds of the way across, being topped by a mountain range that compares with virtually any in the United States. This range, which runs the entire length of the island from north to south is dominated by Niitaka Yan CMt. Morrisonh, 12,940 feet in height, about the same as Mt. Fuji in Japan. For such a short range it contains an unusually high number of peaks above 10,000 feet which are the first indication of land on the radar scopes of the ROCHESTER as it approaches from the East. The drop from densely wooded, extremely verdant mount- ains to the East coast of Formosa is very steep and abrupt. The terrain falls in a series of cliffs and sharply-inclined mountainsides and plunges into the ocean only twenty miles away. A small sample of this rugged country was seen by many ROCHESTER sailors in the area around Keelung. CCONTINUED ON PAGE isp CHIANG KAI-SHEK'S STATUE STANDS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TAIPEI

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