Smalley (DD 565) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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54 ,v 3522215 X .,.. . fam , v 1 -I W ,E 1? G i 3 13 li ,4 -f ii i B A- y if Hrzfssing thc' Une Excitement and tension were mounting as the Smalley drew near the equator, the realm of the ancient domain of King Neptune, and Pollywogs were nervously contemplating visions of humiliation, haircuts, and smarting derrieres. The Pollywogs, however, were not without their moments of derring-do, for the day before the equator was reached, fire hoses appeared on various parts of the ship with Pollywogs manning the nozzles and the Shell- backs on the receiving end of the salt water. A M l l The momentous day started cloudy and a little cool, and when all hands went to the mess hall for breakfast, they found some of the highest paid messcooks in the Navy waiting to serve them. The Captain and his crew of officer-messcooks did a remarkable job of run- ning breakfast on schedule, and cleaned the messing spaces and steam table ,til all fairly glittered. At 0800 Davy jones QChief Cecilj and Peg-leg Pete QLaChancej came aboard and delivered the proclamation of King Neptune. There then followed a series of details for the lowly Pollywogs, as befitted their position of undesirables. Some patrolled the decks on hands and knees, their heads covered with pillow cases, and presented a tempting and ample target for 34 SE i