Smalley (DD 565) - Naval Cruise Book

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Hang Kang Early in the morning of the 14th of Novem- ber, any passenger on the Kowloon Ferry could have seen four American destroyers steaming up the channel between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. To the men of those destroyers, the first stop in the long trip home presented a diverse wealth of unfor- gettable sights and experiences. The British Crown Colony of Hong Kong as it exists today was established on 1 july 1898, when the area which includes Hong Kong Island, the territory of Kowloon and the New Territories was leased from China for 99 years. 1 Bulging with the refugees from Communist China, the Crown Colony has doubled its population since 1941 and expanded into the Kowloon territory, where much of the wealth Victoria Square of the merchants of Shanghai and Tientsin has created a great industrial area. Accustomed as we had grown to the Japa- nese 'cbum-boatsfp we were totally unprepared for the onslaught of Chinese merchants that engulfed and overwhelmed our quarterdeck watch, almost before we had moored. From this mad confusion, however, there eventually emerged order resulting mainly from the Hail- ing fists of Chief 'cStewn and the torrents of water unleashed from the Smallegfs fire hoses. In no time at all, the entire after section of the main deck-from quarterdeck to fantail-was a maze of trinkets, mahogany furniture, Rolex watches, ivory figurines, jade, star sapphires, and bolts of tweeds and cashmeres. Inter- spersed were the busy tailors with their meas- uring tapes, ready pencils and order pads. ------Aw: 3 Aberdeen 32

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5 w 4 1 i S We I I E I 1 4 e r L l 1 I if -'fi li fi.'f4 as Pohang Early on the morning after we left Beppu, we sighted a rickety old fishing boat loaded with excited Koreans who were franctically waving at us. Our South Korean Ensign was called to the bridge as we closed to investigate the crude craft. Ensign joeng first thought the men were Communists, but in a few minutes he revealed that they were South Koreans who claimed they had been adrift for ten days without food or Water, ever since their temperamental engine had failed them. We pulled them along- side and they swarmed aboard. The boat was about 35 feet long and looked like it might hold ten people. However, much to our sur- prise, twenty-nine dirty, hungry fishermen jumped out of it. We attached our towing line to the boat, which looked as though it had been made from Y 4 E? Jn' , f f. Fishermen fed E '31 5 j E Fishermen rescued drift wood two centuries ago, and started out for Pohang, Korea, which our translater had learned was their home. We radioed ahead to the Army and South Korean authorities and then settled down to feeding the poor lot. From the manner in which they gobbled the food and water which we gave them, their story must have been true. Regardless, all the time they were on board they were kept huddled together on the fantail under the guard of several well-armed gunner's mates. The odor in the vicinity of the fantail was nauseous, and we decided that in personal cleanliness these people were just the opposite from their japanese neighbors. Of course they had been at sea for several days, but they must have been saving up on smell for months. Nevertheless, we were very happy to bring them home. As we steamed into Pohang Hang, a South Korean Army boat met us and re- moved the delighted survivors from our cus- tody. When they pulled away, towed by the ROK craft, they were as frantic in waving their thanks as they had been in flagging our assistance. With this deed accomplished we rejoined TF77 for our last round of circular steaming. On 4 November 1953, with our patience strained and with eagerness to be on our way, we were released from 77. For the last time the Smalley entered Sasebo, where we loaded supplies and readied the ship for our long journey home.

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Many purchases were inadc lmcforc the first liberty boat had left thc ship, but thc majority of us decided to visit the shops on the beach before committing ourselves. Fresh from the papier-mache cities of japan, the men of the Smalley stepped ashore to End a modern city with well-paved shaded streets, large department stores, tiny shops by the thousand, and bargain buys that could not be equalled any place in the world. Thereupon commenced the greatest shop- ping spree in the history of the Smalley. VVhether we stoppedat Mohanis or the Taj Mahal, James S. Leeis or XVillie McCee,s, No Squeak johnsonis or No Squeak Youngis-it all Z Peak Tramway amounted to precisely the same thing-the great green Yankee dollar was god. Ptesult- the best garbed civilians in the U. S. Navy. But Hong Kong was far more than a shop- per's paradise. A five minute ride up the Peak Tramway gave a breathtaking view of the entire Colony. Or We could spend an afternoon at the Tiger Balm Carden with its pavilions and pagodas majestically adorning the hillsides with an age-old Oriental ornateness. A mid- afternoon drink on the shaded hotel terrace overlooking Bepulse Bay Was an experience that would be long remembered. And who Will forget the peek behind the bamboo curtain as we stood in the observation tower of the last British outpost, after We topped the mountains 33 ,, sr- 1429.5 . 1- :ffm V. ,y u m 1 , 5 o X c 4 X i fr ,W . .Zig s 1- , f Q K ' . .H lzfa f --V ' m:':fe-1 5 ' ' - s X -- -- :J-Q Mesa-fs f' L. ' '- . a . -fe ' n' if-ffm -t 1 ts - X 1-Qiizgg A 5 Tiger Balm Pagoda that encircle Kowloon, and gazed out over the barbed Wire barricade on the yellow-brown paddies and the shadowy hills beyond that were Communist China. In night life We found little lacking. We could spend a quiet hour over a steak Chateau- briand in the Foreign Correspondents Club or a highly exuberant evening in the not-so-elab- orate ballroom of the Hong Kong Hotel. For those who enjoy dancing-there Were numer- ous night spots to choose from-such as the Sky Boom, the Ritz, and the Ambassador, Where dancing girls with side-slit skirts abounded. Our stay was all to short and 18 November found us half reluctantly heading Westward once again. As the ships of 302 knifed a path through the Waters of the South China Sea, the land behind receded until it blended with, then dipped below the horizon and another chapter in the story of our cruise had been written. Carba ge M ary's Girls t .TR 5479! 61 'SS1Q as 5 it , Y ' -Q is Q11 6 . S -Q .E f i 1 l I I l 5 5 4 i I 1 fl 3. .. Wm- Li. W Q -..,.. , A -Q5-.,-. 1 1-.an-. .F -s ,va , A