Saint Paul (CA 73) - Naval Cruise Book

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coast regularly bombarded the rails where they are vulner- able from the sea, to stop the flow of enemy troops and supplies to the front lines. This first series of gun strikes began in Wonsan harbor. The Saint Paul steamed in with her guns blazing. Each shell was a calling card saying, The Saint Paul is back. The second stop was Chongiin, and then Songiin and Hungnam . . . All in a period of three days. There was no doubt along the enemy coast . . . the Fighting Saint had returned. After a few days with the Task Force, the Saint Paul took another of the Navy's big iobs in the war zone, bomb- line duty. The ship steamed back and forth along the coast within firing range of the enemy's front lines. At the call of U. S. and South Korean ground forces, she directed her guns on Red mortar and field gun positions, troop dispositions, supply bunkers, and other troublesome points. Many times Shore Fire Control Parties were used to direct the fire of her guns to the targets. In other instances, the spotting was done by Air Force, Navy or Marine air- craft, or the ship's helicopter. The Callfire missions were restricted mostly to day operations, but at night, on the bombline, another form of bombardment came into play. All night long, shells were lobbed into enemy front lines in H and l iharassing and interdiction! firing. Even when nothing was hit, the Red troops were kept awake and constantly on edge. The shells that missed would light close to the target disrupting any traffic or work in that area and a surprising amount of damage was done. On the first trip to the bombline, a U. N. correspond- ent, Dick Kallsen of the Mutual Broadcasting System, went along to observe and report the Naval side of the war. The Saint Paul had a visit from two other correspondents some two months later. Mr. and Mrs. Keyes Beech, a man and wife correspondence team working for the Chicago Daily News were conducted on a tour of the ship by the Execu- tive Officer. Members of the crew who were lucky enough to see Mrs. Beech, as she was shown around the ship, thought they were being visited by a Hollywood Pinup. A strikingly attractive blonde, she made as good as im- pression with her looks as she did with her pen. The Saint Paul was relieved on the bombline by the Wisconsin in mid-December, so back to the Task Force she went for replenishment and a stint of Air Defense support for the carriers Valley Forge and Essex. Aircraft carriers hold their fighting power in their airplanes. To defend them against enemy air and sub- marine attacks, it's usually necessary to put a circle of destroyers around them. Inside this screen with the car- riers, a heavy like the Saint Paul keeps her anti-aircraft guns manned and ready. This was the work of the Saint Paul while operating with the Task Force. Replenishment was always a day of hard work for the crew of the Saint Paul. lt meant early reveille so that the transfer of fuel, ammunition and provisions could begin at the first light of day, and it meant an all hands evolu- tion until the job was completed. The Saint Paul would come up from astern of an oiler or ammunition ship and steam alongside at the same speed . . . heavy lines were rigged on blocks between the ships. The supplies were car- ried across trolley-fashion in cargo nets and boxes. The operation takes a great deal of skill. It takes skill to keep the ships at the proper speed and distance to get the sup- plies across, and to stow them quickly. In fueling, big oil hoses were rigged between ships, across the stretch of water. The labor of replenishment also had its compensa- tions, for among the cargo transferred would be any- where from ten to sixty bags of U. S. Mail. Mail is an im- portant morale factor in any war zone. For this reason the Navy makes an attempt to get mail to its men no mat- ter what the conditions. On one occasion, during a gun strike, a fleet tanker arranged a special rendezvous with the Saint Paul to transfer mail. Other times when the ship missed a scheduled replenishment, a destroyer would be sent wherever the Saint' Paul might be to deliver the mail. l 41. L,

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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

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Christmas, 1951, fell right in the middle of the first tour in the war zone and was celebrated off the bombline by the Saint Paul's officers and crew. This wasn't like home,Aof course, but compartments were decorated in true Christmas fashion, presents were opened, and an old fashioned Christmas dinner was served to everyone on board. The ship sent hot Christmas dinners by helicopter to a group of Allied personnel located behind the enemy lines. A strange present went to U. S. and'South Korean troops on the front lines. The bombardment of enemy po- sitions was stepped up on Christmas day to keep the Reds from disrupting Allied Yuletide activities. To a South Korean soldier who had been transferred to the Saint Paul for emergency treatment on Christmas Eve went the greatest gift of all . . . life. All through the night be- fore Christmas the ship's medical personnel worked with- out rest. .When blood was needed for emergency trans- fusions, the call was answered quickly by hundreds of Saint Paul sailors. Although Christmas was spent at sea, New Years was celebrated in a more normal manner. The ship left the operating area a few days after Christmas and ar- rived in Japan in time for two sections of the crew to spend New Year's Eve, ashore. For the Saint Paul there were many things to do dur- ing an in-port period. Repairs were made to equipment, spare parts, supplies and provisions were taken aboard. ln addition, and probably the most important to the ma- iority of the crew-there was liberty on two out of three nights. A few days after returning to the operating area, the Saint Paul steamed up to the Songiin area to fire on rail lines and bridges. She was right in the middle of a firing mission, with the ship's helicopter doing the spotting, when a distress call was heard from a Navy aircraft. The pilot radioed that he has in trouble and would have to crash land his plane in the water. The plane was directed to the ship by radio as the helicopter hurried back to the ship from its position over the beach. With the Whirley Bird on its way, the Corsair streaked across the water and landed close to the Saint Paul's port side. After he Ditched, the pilot had trouble freeing himself from the cockpit. Just as he broke clear, the plane sank, leaving him alone in the water. Like the proverbial cork in the stream, the pilot bobbed up and down until the helo reached the scene, trolling its rescue line behind it. He then slipped into the lifebuoy and was pulled into the helicopter. This rescue operation by the Saint Paul's helicopter was completed in iust a few minutes. A delay could have meant death in the freezing waters. The Saint Paul played a maior role in another dra- matic helicopter rescue on her last tour in the operating area. A Navy pilot was forced to bail out in the mountains of North Korea. Another flyer watched him land safely and then radioed the position to the Task Force. The Saint Paul was dispatched to the coast at once to assist in the rescue. Rescue by the ship's light helicopter was out of the question since the pilot was down too far inland. Land based Marines were called on to fly in with a giant troop carrying helo. The Fighting Sainf' stood by to take the Marine helicopter aboard when the rescue was completed. Near the point where the Navy pilot went down, the Marine plane dropped low to investigate what looked like a signal. Caught in a turbulent down draft, it crashed into the side of the mountain. Fortunately the rescue crew were all safe, but the helicopter was beyond repair. The Marines were forced to burn the plane to prevent its fall- ing into enemy hands. Before leaving the site of the crash the flyers made contact by portable radio with their home base, and then struck out to find a good hiding place that would still be visible from the air. They chose a ledge near the top of the mountain. Bad weather held up further res- cue attempts for two days. All the while the Saint Paul steamed back and forth along the coast waiting for the double rescue to begin. A 42-. lg.