Saint Paul (CA 73) - Naval Cruise Book

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M , Q, L 1 f 5, jff ' JZ COMMANDER DENNIS C LYNDON USN EXECUTIVE OFFICER Commander Lyndon reported aboard the SAINT PAUL on 7 July 1951 with that rare talent of being able to combine conscientiousness, wisdom, impartiality, and zeal with all around good judgment. Above all, his fine sense of humor and likeable manner are everpresent. Well liked by everyone from recruit to Admiral, Commander Lyndon is All Navy. His long hours of hard work, mixed with his poems, notes in the Plan of the Day and cheerful interest at all times indeed made THE FIGHTING SAlNT's second Korean cruise a better one for every man auboa rd.

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NOW HEAR THIS.. . K ' Pier D was teeming with activity during those first few days of November, 1951. The USSSAINT PAUL, in long Beach, California, was being readied for her second cruise in the Korean War Zone. On the dock, hundreds of seamen piled up supplies and provisions for the long cruise ahead. On the ship, officers and crew worked tire- lessly to get the SAINT PAUL in top notch condition for months of war and weather. V ln long Beach itself, another side of the picture could be seen. Wives, sweethearts, andlfamilies found them- selves staring into space instead of working. They remem- bered the happy days in San Francisco while the Saint Paul was in the Shipyard. They thought of War and Peace, and of the long lonely months of waiting ahead. On Monday morning, November 5th, the ship was ready. At 0904 the Bosn's pipe shrilled loud and clear, commands echoed the length of the ship, and the 8 haw- ser snaked swiftly from the pier into the water. Water churned beneath her fantail as powerful screws started the ship on that familiar course. Men of the Saint Paul say that their ship doesn't even need a helmsman when sailing to Far Eastern waters. Like' the milkman's horse, they say, she's travelled the road so many times that she'll make every course change and every stop almost automatically. That morning of November 5th, tears flowed freely from the Navy families standing on Pier D, and many a tough sailor on the Saint Paul found a lump in his throat that he couldn't swallow away. At first only a few hundred feet separated the ship and shore, but soon the feet turned into miles and the iourney began. ln company with the light cruiser Manchester, the Saint Paul steamed to Pearl Harbor, where she took on fuel and provisions and introduced the new members of her crew to the enchantment of the islands. Then, with the heavy cruiser Rochester and the bat- tleship Wisconsin, she steamed on to Yokosuka, Japan, to relieve the USS Helena, her sister ship. The Helena was moored in the harbor with the battleship New Jersey, and the cruiser Toledo. A few days later the ship made the last lap of her iourney, ioining Task Force 77 off the East Coast of Korea. Thus, in a period of three weeks, she had made the transi- tion from home to war. Action came quickly for the Saint Paul. Within a few hours after ioining the Task Force, she left for a series of gun strikes along the enemy held Korean coast. A large part of the Saint Paul's war efforts were on gun strikes along the enemy coast. Such ports as Wonsan, Hungnam, Choniin, Songiin and Koio came under regular bombardment from the heavy cruiser's eight and five inch guns. In these cities, rail, transportation, supply, and manu- facturing points were given top priority, but enemy gun po- sitions and troop concentrations received their share of ammunition also. One of North Korea's most vital rail lines stretches down the Eastern Coast. Keeping this rail line out of commission is one of the most important iobs of United Nations ships. The Saint Paul and other ships along the 4 , .t