Shannon (DM 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 The base was informally surrendered by Admiral Ishii and then the principal topics of the conference were discussed. Charts of the harbor defenses, particularly the location of controlled minefields, were turned over and explained. Methods of and arrangements for disposing of the mines were discussed and agreed upon. Other topics of discussion included the number and types of japanese ships available for minesweep- ing outside of the harbor, the facilities of the har.bor and the base which would be available for use by Allied ships and the occupation forces, control of the natives during the early days of occupation, and the disposition and employment of Japanese troops during occupation. This conference by no means settled all of the questions and problems that presented themselves at this time and in the future, but it did lay the foundation for occupation, and arranged preparation of the harbor and station. As soon as the conference was over, Admiral Ishii and his staff left the ship. Shortly afterwards, we returned to Matsu Shima, where we anchored for the night, The visit of the Japanese delegation had an interesting and ironical sidelight. The Japanese Ensign, who was a member of the party to act as interpreter, had been a classmate of Lieutenant Petersen at Pasadena tCaliforniaJ Junior College in 1936. just before the delegation left the ship these two former fellow-students recognized each other and exchanged very formal and somewhat cold greetings. . The following day the Shannon returned to Nagasaki with Commodore Farrow. When the Commodore had reported the results of the Sasebo conference to the Admiral, he re- turned aboard, The Shannon went back to Matsu Shima, only to return to Nagasaki the next day to ride out the typhoon which was approaching and of which we had warning. During the afternoon and evening of September 17, the typhoon reached its full fury, In spite of the protection offered hx by the surrounding mountains, winds in the harbor increased to well over 65 knots. Fortunately, the center of the storm passed about 100 miles to the east of Nagasaki. Our mooring held and no damage was sustained, By midnight the storm had abated, and dawn broke clear and fresh. 1Ve left. Nagasaki at 1400, enroute to Sasebo, where we anchored in the outer harbor three hours later, and remained throughout the night. The following day, Lt. 1180 Ayres and Lt. Cjgl Coffin went ashore to supervise the destruction of the controlled mines which guarded the harbor entrance, After some difficulty, most of the mines were detonated, and arrangements were made for the destruction of those which could not be flred from the control station. Upon their return, in the late after- noon, the Shannon left for Matsu Shima, our anchorage for the night. Ships, by this time, were coming into Sasebo in preparation for the Occupation Forces, which were to follow. When we returned to the harbor on the 20th, we moored alongside the Flusser CDD 3683, in berth 17, remaining over night. The Shannon's duties continued to be varied, some of them becoming menial, others providing considerable interest and excitement. September 21, we met and escorted the Rooks CDD 8045 into Sasebo, and then,went alongside the Cossatot CAO 773 to fuel, After fueling, we moored with the Smith and transferred 25 radar refiector buoys from her tracks to ours. That night, we anchored again in f'Steward's Cove. The occupation troops arrived in the har.bor September 22nd, and landed the same day, Shortly after their arrival, CominDiv 7 ordered the Shannon into Sasebo so that he could call on and confer with the Admiral in command of Occupation Forces. 65

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i i 5 SASEBO A SHANNON PRIORITY The Shannon got underway again in the early morning, September 14, and steamed down the swept channel to Nagasaki, where we moored alongside the Phantom tAM 2731 XYhen Commodore Farrow returned from his conference with the .-Xdmiral, he ordered the Shannon to get underway in order to carry out the orders l1e had just received. Two hours later we anchored in the Matsu Shima area. :Xt 1353, we were again underway in accordance with verbal orders from the Naga- saki-Sasebo Area Commander. The Shannon passed through the entrance to Sasebo at 1445. At that moment. she be- came the first U. S. Man-o'-War to enter that harbor. Sasebo, normally a city of l33,000, is one of it the principle naval bases and shipyards in japan, and the largest in Kyushu, The city is built around the harbor, with the residential sections extending well back into the hills. The countryside is not as rugged as that around Nagasaki, although there are a great many large and rather steep hills. Nor is it as picturesque as Nagasaki, but from the harbor the scenery is pretty. The harbor entrance is narrow and the approaches confined -both protected by Well concealed fortifications. At the southern end of the harbor, near the entrance to Omura VVan, lay several new ships, the largest of which were carriers. These were abandoned-some not even completely built. We steamed east for two and a half miles and then turned north to enter the main part of the harbor. Shortly after turn- ing, the installations around the perimeteriof the harbor be- came visible. On the western shore there were fuel storage tanks, coal yards, wharves, and caves presumably used for storage and as air-raid shelters. Along the eastern shore Could be 'seen a' Naval air station, torpedo testing station, a large ammunition dump, a mine base, and numerous smaller instal- lations such as barracks and shops. At the head of the harbor were several large drydocks, piers, shipyards, an outfitting 1 R Standing into Sasebo Harbor - The first Allied Man-O'-War. wharf and arsenal, naval gun factories, machine shops and an aircraft factory. On the highest hills we could see radar and radio antennae. The base was, on the whole, Well equipped and well protected. At 1503, the Shannon anchored close to the western shore, in the First District, Sascbo Harbor. Twenty minutes later a small tugcame alongside with the boarding party. Rear Admiral K, lshii, the Chief of Staff, Sasebo Naval Station, came aboard with his staff. a Captain, Commander, Lieutenant Commander, and an Ensign. The Admiral, after saluting the Quarterdeck, saluted and bowed very formally to Captain Ingram. The others of the Japanese delegation followed suit. Captain Ingram was assisted in receiving them by Lt. Cjgl Coffin, who acted HS interpreter, Lt. Cjgl Berg, l..t. O87 Geyer, and armed g2mg'W9-Y petty officers Allen, BM lc, and Reisinger, QM Sc. The delegation was then escorted to the wardroom, VVIICII all was ready, Commodore Farrow entered and the confer- ence began. 64

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The next several days were spent in Sasebo, cont-t1'Ul-lilltl UN' sweeping operations and occasionally escorting ships into the harbor, although we returned to Matsu Shima each night to anchor. September 26th provided a considerable departure from the routine of the previous week. Starting early in the niornutg we went hunting for an anchorage for TG 52.3, and particularly for one which would provide a good typhoon shelter. The most likely possibilities were in the coves of the Goto' Retto islands. Our first stop was Fukae Shima, where we investi- gated Tomiye W'an and the waters between some of the out- lying islands and the coast of Fukae. From there we-headed northeast, checking all the possibilities along the chain. Our last stop-Arikawa Xalan, on the northern coast of Nakadort Shima-was the most promising, but still hardly suitable as a typhoon anchorage for the Bay was open to the north. Upon our return to Sasebo Ko in the late afternoon, Lt. Commander Sujiyama, Japanese Imperial Navy, and his staff re- ported aboard for a minesweeping conference with CominDiv Z, which lasted a little more than an hour. ., After a night in Sasebo Harbor, rare for us, we returned to Matsu Shima Anchorage, where we fueled- and then waited for the signal to proceed on a special mission. Most of the 28th was spent in Sasebo while the Commodore made preparations for a conference he was to conduct the following day. Fusan, Korea was our dt-stination when we ot troin Sasclio, jllsl licfore sunset. lit-fore we lefg C51-gglerlYlaY XY. lf Nlicltt-ls, KLTSNR, a mining expert from the Bm-ein er th'dttance, eatin- alniartl to join the staff of CTG 52,3 temgopf 'trilv ' 1 . The morning of St-ptt-1n.ln-r 20, the Shannon arrived off the entrance to lfnsan, intent on a s aerial niissi ' - and investiuatitnt. I on of mspectlon The city ol lfnsan has a long and interesting history in t-tnnn-t.tion with Ktn-4-att-Japanese and Russo-japanese wars and with the struggle for control of the Tsushima Kaikyo mf Korean Strait, a narrow and very important passage betwleen Korea and japan, on which stands the city of Fusan, It was in these Straits that the Russian fleet, in 1905, after steamin from thc. lialtit- Sept through the Atlantic, around the C3135 of Good Hope, and through the Indian Gcean and China Seas, in hopes of basing in Vladivostok and blockading Japan was completely annihilated by the japanese fieet, undef Admiral Tojo. The harbor at lfusan is large and roomy, and has recently become one of ,lapan's large naval bases, The city has a population of over 2Ull,000, although the area it covers is comparatively small. Because of the dangers from mine fields and numerous derelicts in the channel, we did not enter the harbor, The inspection party-Commodore Farrow and his staff-was met bv a YMS and taken ashore for the conference and tour. WELCOME INTO SUNG IUNG p The Shannon sought an anchorage which would be inore suitable and better protected, Cn information from local authorities, we steamed about 15 miles northeast to a small and very picturesque bay, known on the charts as Yoguamupo Wan. There, in the middle of the afternoon, we anchored, In this bay, there were numerous rocks and Small islands Along its shore, at the foot of the mountains, was a village- whose people apparently made their livelihood from fishing and difficult farming on the terraced slopes, The houses were of either stone or wood, and most had thatched roofs. A great many trees covered the land that was not terraced for farm- ing. It was, indeed, a pretty setting. The people on shore were curious about our ship but cautious, and those in .boats kept their distance, at nrst Soon however, when they saw that we made no hostile move their curiosity overcame their fear. People flocked from their homes to look. Boats already in the bay came closer, and manv more started out from shore, As these boats approached the Crew watched in silence, with reserve. They expected tb find the people the same glum, silent japanese as those that had met us in the bum-boats at Nagasaki and Sasebo. But as they approached, much to everyone's surprise, we could see their smiles and hear their laughs and cheers. The word s0011 got around that these people were Koreans, not Japs A happy people they were, too-singing, laughing, and cheer- ing, It hadn't taken them long to discover that we were the long awaited American Navy. i The First few boats that ventured alongside were greeted with a shower of cigarettes and candy. This was a natural and spontaneous reaction for a group of men who had been at for nine months of war and flaming hell, men who, for that long nine months, had received no friendly greeting or smile of ---e- '- 1 welcome, lt was a refreshing experience for all of us. Vile were as glad as they to see a friendly face. Almost immediately, the international jargon of barter began, augmented .by a mixture of English, Korean, several pidgin adaptations, and a variety of very expressive gestures Cigarettes, gum, candy, shoes, hats, and watches were traded for pipes, chopsticks, money, sandles, books and posters. Each party to a trade thought he got the better of the other. ln relative value to the recipient, the natives undoubtedly fared better than the sailors. In the excitement of greeting and dickering, one bearded old manlgestured so vigorously that he toppled backwardS 0Uf.Of his boat, Amid the howls of American and Korean laugltfer, he was quickly pulled back aboard, drenched bllf happy. Slmffly bfffore sunset, a small coal-burning steamboat RP' Pf03ChCfl fF0H1 the village landing. As it drew near, we could See the 0CPUDHnts and hear their cheers and songs. T116 bfiat was crawling with humanity-people hanging over the glin- Wales, ilftmg' 011 the pilot house, and clinging to the Sfl10ke' Stack. hach man and boy waved a small, rice-paper AmerlC3U of Korean Hilti, which was drawn from a seemingly inexhaust- ftble SUDIQIY. One bespectaclcd young man led the passengelfs in organized' cheering, reminiscent of the most enthusiastic cheering section at a high school football game. Wlien this boat had come alongside, its passengers swarrned over our decks .before they could be stopped-bowing, shaking hands, and shouting greetings to all they met. Each carried some Pflfl to Present to our captain, It is hard to estimate the value of these gifts to these peasant people, but it is sure that the chickens and large bottles of ntilkv-white rice wine yvere f'm0Il-H their most prized possessions, Thev were determlnedi 111 spite of our protests, to show their appreciation with H1939 tokens of friendship and welcome, and insisted that we keep: them. . r i l