Rochester (CA 124) - Naval Cruise Book

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,. ,L V, ,, ,,,. them means that vital sea and air lanes stay open. If Formosa falls the com- munists will have a base situated di- rectly between their strongest Asiatic enemies. From Keelung, Kaoshiung, . A V . and Taipei communist planes and ships could harass trade routes which now keep Free Asia strong. From Formosa an enemy could pincer Japan with two claws-the one, northern Korea, and the other, the un- attractive island where we spent so much time in the spring of 1955. From Formosa he could threaten lines of supply which strengthen all of south- east Asia-Indochina, Thailand, Burma. From Formosa he could look west to the mainland, confident that it is just a matter of time-and not much of that-until he has all of Asia. Q He could turn and look north to Japan, south to the Philippines, west to the mainland, and eventually east to Okinawa, only three hundred miles away and vulnerable. Okinawa, the last prize catch of World War Two, is the free world's most important small island base in the Western Pacific. Formosa's location is one of its biggest defenses. From Okinawa-and the communists know this-the mainland is an hour's jet-ride away. With For- mosa in his hands he would be prepared to do something about the situation which must give him such concern. But turn it around a minute. Look at the situation from a positive point of view. Look at it the way the com- munist leaders on the mainland see it today. Formosa stands seventy five miles from the fortresses of China, a FULL I-IONORS are rendered to Vice Admiral Pride as he returns from a conference in Taipeh. The quarterdeck was kept busy with the constant How of arriving and departing oiiicials who had business with the Admiral and members of his staff. The port city of Keelung looks like this from o nearbzf hilltop. Mist and rain were the usual oocurwnce during shi7o's stay in Formosa. In Threatened Pacific Waters, tlwe Seventh Fleet Stands Ready to Carry Out American Foreign Policy poised stronghold from which the com- munists can be attacked at any time. Chiang's troops await only the word that now is the time to return to the s. ' Q 1 . 1 'ir b X M N -r- w 1Nx , homeland, and the communists know lg I I fi: fi'v ' 0 I I' this. To protect themselves they must ,q,,,,,,.e, EP ' t ' keep armies and air wings close by. They must keep elaborate lines func- tioning to supply those armies and planes. How much more he would rather have his strength in a position to force the issue in southeast Asia or Korea. He must feel frustrated as he watches his enemy's supply lines flow- ing unhindered while his sea ports are bottled up, his interior lines of com- munication lying open to attack. From Formosa the free world looks on him at close range and sees his movements, his build-up positions of strength, his plans. It is not surprising that he has X.. L-:uni 'Bl announced he must take the island. And that's where Free China enters the picture. To millions of Chinese on the mainland Chiang's promises to keep up the fight, to return to the mainland, are the principal source of hope. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 3Q1lll' r NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY in downtown Taipeh is the focal point of Nationalist ' ' ---ig !.1--.---l-- - A --ti-n..n..4L1.Q4-L war effort. Here ardent leaders constantly plan for the push back to the mainland.

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ORMOSA-not much bigger than West Virginia, a beautiful island in the Western Pacific, if you can see past the squalor of the small villages, but thousands of miles from California and even more than seven hundred miles from- Yokosuka. Not much to quibble over, you might think at first, but for at least two big reasons you'd be wrong. The first, which is simply a matter of what some people call geopolitics, is Formosa's loca- tion, and the second, a part of the fabric of spirit and determination which is one of the strongest remaining supports of Chiang Kai-Shek's govern- ment, is the fact that Taiwan is the last outpost of Free China. Chiang can retreat no further. It's as simple as that. You may read of world politics, ideological war- fare, and mutual defense of common principles, but they all mean the same thing. They add up to simply stated but infinitely complicated problems which makes it necessary for thousands of Americans every year to come to the Far East. The interests of the United States extend now throughout the world, and wherever they are not safe there must be a Navy ready to fight for them. The location of Formosa is a vexing matter of concern to Americans, and not just because so many of us do not like the fact it is so far from home. The island is about half way around the world from the United States, right between the two strongest free nations in Asia, Japan and the Philippines. That it remains friendly to us and to

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TEN YEARS UF HISTORY The years from 1945 to the present have been packed with painful change for the free peoples of the Orient. The Communists stepped up their war effort upon the surrender of Japan to the Allies and by 1949 what was left of Chaing Kai-Shek's battered forces were retreating to the island outpost of Taiwan. The Korean war was next on the red time- table, lasting over three years and ending in a draw, followed by the conquest of North Vietnam. Next came the amphibious invasion of Ichiang, making the Tachens no longer tenable and forcing their evacuation. IT WAS 1945 and the United States Marines received a wild welcome as they landed at Tientsin, China as conquerors, ending Japanese domination of the area IN I954 Indochina was partitioned forcing anti-communists in the Northern half to flee to the south by any means available Some trudged south with their entire households in tow. Others boarded U. S. Naval vessels, their faces reflecting both fear and hope AS THE R.OCHE.STER was heading to. the Far East, the Seventh Fleet was evacuating Nationalists from the Tachens, off the coast of Communist China. Underwater demolition teams preceded the amphibious craft into the evacuation area, as the Chinese waited --TGDAY THE' UNANSWERED QUESTION 1'emains--Will the U. S. aid Chaing's government in the defence of the Matsus and Quemoy? Vice Admiral Pr1de's Seventh fleet stands by for orders while the Nationalist government continues preparations to defend them at any cost Q 'Ti wx.. Xr ---