Saint Paul (CA 73) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 8 text:

The first SAINT PA UL was bull! as a commercial liner in 1898 but soon afteru ard she nas modified for the Spanish American War rn which she fought valzanlly The colorful career ofthe USS SAINT PAUL stretches back to the wining years of World War II when the heavy cruiser slid down the ways in Quincy Massachusetts After a quick indoctrination ind training period she steamed to the Pacific, Oce in never again to return to the Atlantic to Dunkirk as one of the greatest move-outs in history SAINT PAUL was the last ship to leave the harbor with the Lily burning behind it Throughout the war SAINT PAUL made her presence K . x . , f 8 I , 8 Q ' I 5 tl ' . . . , . . . .. ' A Huis: T4 ' N .n -. ws. Q !l ::Tf.1. '- -.ri-Q 4-LlL ' . -,jx .... . -, . .:.' ., M1-Q--' .-- ' . . ' ' ' v ' D . l ' I I , 7 , . 1 1 I I I . I s . a , ', . ' f . ' ' . . -V -. s w 1 - s . , . ' 1 1 ' 1 I I ' 1 1 I I ' N Y 4 5 9 1 1' . H v 1 1 I ' 'l 1 'w 1 , - a 1 ' f ' D 7 SAINT PAUL became part of Admiral Bull IIalsey's Third Fleet, operating in support of air strikes off mainland Japan. On August 9, I9-45. SAINT PAUL fired the final salvo by a major Naval unit on the home islands of Japan. She then steamed into Tokyo Harbor to participate in the surrender ofthe Imperial Japanese Navy. In the following peacetime years. the ship deployed yearly for Naval Occupation duty, until the outbreak of the Korean conliict. SAINT PAUL was flagship for Cruiser Force ONE and maintained patrol along the Formosa Strait until the Chinese entered the war in December 1950. The heavy cruiser used her tive and eight-inch guns to bombard Wonsan during the evacuation of U.N. personnel and equipment from the city. This evacuation ranks close felt along both coasts ofthe Korean peninsula On July 27 l954. the heavy cruiser conducted the last gunstrike ofthe Korean confiict. Approximately two minutes before Lieu- tenant General William K. Harrison signed the first truce document, SAINT PAUL fired the final shell from a United Nations naval unit. During the next five years, the ship made periodic cruises in the Western Pacific to insure naval superiority for the SEVENTH Fleet. In 1959, she deployed permanently to Yokosuka, Japan, and became the first major U.S. combatant ship to be home-ported in the Orient since pre-World War II days. Thirty-nine months later, SAINT PAUL returned to Long Beach to take up duties as FIRST Fleet flagship. She did not return to WestPac until 1965. Cngziafr . 0 CA-73

Page 7 text:

t X But hard work is not the whole story of a successful deployment. Hawaii, Bangkok. Hong Kong. Saseho: these were some ot' the plaees SAINT PAUL visited, lt takes surprisingly few days of nine o'eloek liberty to make a sailor forget all about the sleepless nights on the line and the hours of handling eight-inch projeetiles. Body surfing at Waikiki: touring a few of Bangkoks 3000 Buddhist temples: bargaining for tailor-made suits in Hong Kong: eating sukiyaki in a Japanese inn: these were a few ofthe things SAINT PAUL sailors found to do during liberty hours. With so much to see and do in the Orient, liberty can become as exhausting as standing watches on the gunline, But sailors have always worked hard. and played hard. . ' 'rs' is . f -we-ff' H' 1 in in , 4 'yu' t- ji -,-l.v'.scfff-'Zyl '...J I'-' s fr' L-.

Page 9 text:

2 9 l I . X9zGA'5.A f -QW' f cf: 'r'-A' fe '-,,, nu-1, -F 1 r' ,aff 'tv T The sequence of rlwtr mr IIH3 page of rurrrd on Seplffnzber I ffm ', ,-.nerr SAIYN FH-I L 1, c:fr:e under heavy, accurale erurnry jire and mtfamed lhe hz! Jzfmn J! me righl Wezhu: hunri rise Fighting Sain! mar back in an-mm The Ifrghtrng Saint ww in-r tnwr norton on fn: c-rw licoff.: wav t-rrrrpluu-tl hc: fourth Vietnam cruise in as many Rcpuhlic ot' Vm,,i,m H1 wo? While t-pt-rafting in S.-1 IJ: If if V ,-ut N XINI l'Xl I lm otiu-n In-cn praised for hcr accurate tiring, hinder the How ot cnt-rny Iroopx .intl tupplnw it-nitro it ! 'Ein -.Sup Nr- '-M12 Q '.r. .rftlcri ilu- Navy l'nn Cknnrncndation for exceptionally ' took a direct hit from .1 short- haircut, rrrrkinq r nrprnr in-, tr -- N-,-rum- rr--in April o to October 8, l9o8,during which holc. No injuries rcxultctl anti the xiirp wrt N .rri n mek rr- ei,-on ,nt into-.1 .i rc.--ni nunihcr ot rounds in support ofallied forces N p. ': ern V fiP9'5f,?'T ,, r , 1 f O Taking evasive action, the heavy cruiser SALVT PA UL, with eight-inch guns facing the action, maneuvers out of range of enemy fire. 5 l