Rochester (CA 124) - Naval Cruise Book

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...Fle memorial The Rochester,...to BUSHIPS, the U. S. S. Rochester CA-l24,...to The ship's company, the Roach , the ..Rocch Catcher I fhe Roch and Roll , etc. No matter what name you prefer, two facts remain constant, she is home to l2OO men, she is one of the last of the men-of-war. Named fm the industrial city of Rochester, N. Y., the ship was built in Quincy, Massachusetts. December 20 1946 was the day her life began. Mrs. Herbert Eisenhart, wife of the president of Bausch and Lomb Optical Company, was the sponsor via the traditional bottle of champagne. Rochester got her first exercise as training ship for the Navy Reserve Program in the Atlantic. ln T947, she cruised from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba teaching midshipmen the Navy way. The flavlfg always present in a new machine were now corrected, Rochester was ready for her first duty assignment. lt as a big one, Flagship of the Sixth Fleet. Accordingly, most of i948 was spent in the Mediterranean ea. On her return Rochester spent the next eighteen months in routine operations' and further training duty. 'ln June, ll950, the ship was ordered to the Pacific, her new home port was Long Beach, California. Shortly thereaffer, Rochester sailed for the Far East and her tirst tour in the Western Pacific as Flagship for coivissvsrsirnrilr. P lt is in lgfattle that a man-o'-war iustifies itself, peace time operations are only a preparation for battle. With the ou brfeak of Korean hostilities, the Rochester was one of the hrst ships on the line . She was i ,out to iustif hh-ar existence. ,V The 'Rich served a total of three tours in the Korean War. ln the first of these, she operated fdf' eight-one onsdcutive days as a unit of Taskforce 77. ln addition to her duties as Flagship, Rochester delil A i vered fire suppicjrt, provided helicopter services, and performed other missions. ln particular, an eight day period, of conti ous life support om her heavy guns .contributed materially to the holding of the Hugnam beachhelllm during gre withdrawal of our that area. Her record in i95l: 189 days of operations against the,l. V , Communist forces, covering COMSEVENTHFLT, had ln her later of outstandin service. Durin one fifteen da' M period, Rochester, togethe was not unearned. . i t 'jl , r', f D'- northeast Korean coastline, destt'bWl'lQ ' L.. -...5 L-'ill inch and 2,339 live inch shells fired. Vice Admiral Strubleffiv is enemy artiliery and the of the Communists' coasta es-. In APN' Ol l952, U., N. Escort a d Blockad? 'fwfr Force, coordinating with f cha we l r 9 if nl. ' ' Rochester. in ,in Xrggqder xrfqfe, she had mfr Q , ' Afiel' the membef CRUDIV 5 and operations in the