Toledo (CA 133) - Naval Cruise Book

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Jim mmm, malt.. From Hong Kong the ship headed north for a brief operation with the ships then stationed in Japanese waters. This again brought the customary condition watches, Air Defense, tactical training, Air Defense, flag hoist drills, Air Defense and then when all of these had been completed a little more Air Defense-'tjust for drill. The exercise finished, the ship dropped the hook for a night off Okinawa. Relax- ing now that the work was temporarily over, there seemed to be an air of excitement around the ship, featuring such remarks as Hlt sure feels good to be going home, Yeah, it won't be long now, and HI can hardly waitf, To an inexperienced observer the obvious thought would have been that the nose of the ship was about to be headed east for a long cruise. However, were the truth known, all such references were to Yokosuka where the ship would be for the next week while Admiral Boone relieved Admiral Berkey as Com7thFlt. The Bos'n supervises the hose connection. Make I39 revolutions

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Memories of World War ll. Aberdeen, the Hong Kong fishing village. could not have been chosen. The variety of merchandise rivaled our own drug stores: woolens, silks, tailoring, shoes, ivory and wood carvings, luggage, tapestries, rugs, paintings, with the artists ready to copy any portrait and, of course, enterprising trades- men with irons and sewing machines to renovate uniforms. To these and similar establishments ashore the crew flocked and each night the ship's draft increased three inches as each new load of loot came aboard. And there was a lot more to do on the beach, too. The British had the place well under control and their clubs were well attended by all. The Chinese in their own ri'ght Well under- stood the Western likes in entertainment. Tiger Balm Pagoda-one of the most beautiful sights of the enfire cruise. Fantail Follies, courtesy of H.M.S. KENYA. To the sightseer Hong Kong was a prize package headed by the View from Victoria Peak overlooking the harbor in which were counted over one hundred large merchant- men. Tiger Balm Pagoda was also classic as were uThieves Marketf, the floating restau- rants in Aberdeen and the city in general. The basketball team played two games each trip, winning three against good teams whose lack of height was well replaced by speed and accuracy. Cricket was introduced to the ship in several games with the British which were very interesting. ln May We went back to the British Crown Colony again, thi's time with over a hundred airmen and soldiers from Clark AFB. The effect was the same as the first trip except that we seemed to go broke even faster. The grounds were also very scenic.

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The wardroom - and Chopsticks ,WW Back on the fantail, the C. P. O. mess 1lg.bbM4,'- - I 2 1-Qffl as And the crew's mess 4 The only noticeable change upon arrival was that the cold which had plagued us all winter was beginning to ease with spring which added to the already pleasant picture. Another change found ashore was that we had arrived right in the middle of the cherry blossom season and it was a lovely sight. lt was a very short week, much too short for most, but operating schedules will be operating schedules and for some reason this one wasn't changed, so we headed back to the blistering heat of Sangley Point. Once underway, we were greeted with our old friend-Air Defense, and lest we forget, the almost as familiar word uNow man all gun- nery and CIC tracking stations for simulated shore bombardmentf' Once again safely moored to the buoy ubearing 015 distant 1800 yards from Sang- ley Point Lightv it was hardly necessary to check the World Almanac to know that this was the Hhot seasonf' The diHerence be- tween the cool and hot seasons is that the latter is unbearably hot, whereas the former is only miserably so. Some weeks before this, divisional softball teams had been organized, and play began in the three leagues. Thus far success hadn't been too great in the fight against the oper- ating schedule, but now play got underway with much vigor. Even the officers collected a team and even more surprising, managed to win a couple of games. When the smoke of the fifty-one game schedule had cleared away, the 6th Division was at the top of the Gunnery Department League with a perfect record, the same being true of the NEW Di- vision in the Engineering. The Marines de- feated the uE,' Division in a play-off to take the title in the third league. ln the final