Saint Paul (CA 73) - Naval Cruise Book

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FOREWORD This book tells, in words and pictures, the story of fifteen hundred men and their ship during seven months in the Korean Theater. This story does not have to do with iust fighting a war. We have tried to make the book show the many kinds of men and iobs it took to run this ship. But the book is not all about work. We hope you will find plenty about how we played, and played hard, when we got the chance. All in all, it is the story of a ship performing its mission. In these seven months from March to September, I953, the men of SAINT PAUL added many new pages to an already proud war record. In World War II the ship was on hand to send the last round of the war plunging into the Japanese home islands. The ship marked the termination of hostilities in Korea by sending the last round prior to the armistice into Red territory. Since September, 1944 when SAINT PAUL went down the ways in Quincy, Massachusetts, she has steamed more miles and remained in continuous commission longer than any other cruiser in the United States Fleet. In Korea, she participated in every major engagement re- quiring naval support: the drive to Chongiin, the Hungnam evacuation, the Inchon invasion, and the Battle of Won- san, as well as providing direct support for our front line troops. In the past seven months, SAINT PAUL has steamed over 3,600 hours, traveled more than 49,000 miles, and burned nearly five million gallons of fuel in the process. In this same period, SAINT PAUL poured well over eleven thousand rounds of a m m u n i t i o n into enemy territory. She blasted Red troops, guns, roads, supply and ammunition dumps, railways, trucks and tanks, bunkers and emplacements, out of existence. Her helicopters and boats were the salvation of many a downed pilot, and her sickbay became a hospital for the wounded from the smaller ships and ashore. She rode shotgun with Task Force 77 for weeks in the freezing winds of March when snow still covered the mountains of Korea. And she visited many ports of call: Honolulu, Hong Kong, Kobe, Sasebo - and last, but certainly not least, Yokosuka. , These are the things we hoped to record in this saga of our third Korean cruise. If we have left out some of your favorite memories, perhaps what you find here will help recall them.