Welcome to the internet home of the USS
Rochester Association. The members of the association served on board
the Rochester while it was on active duty from 1946-1961. You are
invited to share their memories of this great ship and their time on it.
The Association produces a quarterly newsletter,
holds a bi-annual reunion and provides information to and from shipmates
who served aboard. Through this web site, it provides a place
where the photographic and informal history of the ship can be gathered
and viewed.
Rochester Model
From Charles Lamm: I have built a 1/8 scale model of
the Rochester if you would like to see some photo's? It is
radio controlled. If interested you can put them on your
website for the other guys to see as well. We had a
dedication
in honor and memory of all crewmembers, in October, the
weekend after your trip to DC. It was in North Carolina at
our fleet run. For the story and many more
pictures
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By all accounts, the October gathering in the nation’s capital
lived up to the long tradition of successful, memorable, U.S.S.
Rochester reunions.
The 162 shipmates, wives, guests, and family members in
attendance included 3 Plank Owners, 6 Honorary Members, and 8
shipmates over the age of 80.Beginning on Thursday, we were welcomed by the
Association President, Garry Phillips, at a reception at the
Holiday Inn, Rosslyn.
The absolute centerpiece
of Friday’s schedule (and the reunion) was our visit en masse to
the Navy Memorial in Washington, where the Rochester Plaque was
dedicated, we honored 58 shipmates who had passed since the last
reunion with a reading of the roll call and ringing of a ship’s
bell, and the placing of our wreath with blue ribbon inscribed
with “The Gray Ghost”
at the statue of the Lone Sailor in the courtyard…the official
U.S. Navy quarterdeck, according to our host (see our group
photo, below).
On Friday evening, 100 of us boarded the MV
“Spirit of Washington”
for a dinner cruise on the Potomac River, with night views of
our capital and Alexandria, and with many shipmates going
topside to get their sea legs back in shape and feel the wind
blow through their hair…much as it was on Rochester in open
ocean.
Then it was time for the next 2 days of tours
to George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon, the new Air & Space
Museum at Dulles
Airport, National Memorials (WWII,
Korean War, the Vietnam Wall, and Lincoln Memorial). The ladies
trekked out by Metro to go shopping at Fashion City Mall on
Saturday while the guys held their business meeting and decided,
among other things, that the next Rochester
reunion in 2010 will be in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.The banquet on Sunday evening was a gala affair, as
always.Our
speakers were Garry Phillips and Senior Chief Petty Officer Mary
Roat, C.O. of the Rochester NY Sea Cadet Unit.In true style, Larry Stone ran a very spirited raffle.Many shipmates and spouses remained after dinner to dance
the night away to music provided by our DJ.
Our Chaplain, Frank West, blessed everyone
with a safe journey home during his remarks at the farewell
breakfast on Monday morning and then…the reunion was over.Could it have been such a short time together?, with many
shipmates wishing we could have continued on for a few more days
(or forever?)…see you in
Milwaukee...and we can do it again!
On behalf of Garry Phillips, and all who
attended this memorable event:
This may not be of interest to many in the assn. but thought I
would pass it on. Aboard Rochester,
I was taught how to make a Boson’s Pipe (call) Lanyard using a
waxed cord called Belfast. The company that made Belfast went out of
business several years ago and after the Navy Exchange sold the
last of their stock, no replacement material was ordered in.
Several other BM’s and myself had been looking for a material
like Belfast but until recently, no luck.
Finally, I located a good waxed cord suitable for making
lanyards can it can be obtained from: Fire Mountain Gems.
Their Email address is –
www.firemountaingems.com The sizes I ordered are 0.5 mm
and 1.0 mm black and white. The price and shipping is very
reasonable.
Thank you, Randy Steffen
Letter received:
My dad- John V Pospiel served as Quartermaster,
on Rochester's shakedown cruise along with Bob Hoot Gibson (US
Astronaut from NC) from Boston, MA to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and
served for four years. Some of you may recall the story he once told
me about the ship mechanics who were on board and then let out at or
near Provincetown, MA in a small boat and were nearly lost at
sea due to bad weather. The Rochester was the flagship of Admiral
Forrest B Sherman in the Mediterranean.
You can contact John at
pospielg@yahoo.com if
you would like to discuss the early years of the ship. I believe he
also has the original cruise book and or a hand drawn map of the
ships route for the first four years at sea.
thanks,
Greg Pospiel
SHIPMATES BEWARE!
Some of our shipmates have been receiving e-mail from a USS
Rochester store:
(ussrochester@jj-ent.com).
THIS STORE IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH OUR
ASSOCIATION.
It is a bogus site that is a for profit site.It would be greatly appreciated that all purchases be made
thru the official USS Rochester web site or the Ship’s Store Order
Form located on the Ships Store page
or in the Newsletter.
New Web Site to Assist Veterans
The VetAssist program is sponsored
by the
American Veterans Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization dedicated to serving the needs of veterans and
preserving their individual histories. The information on this
site, and the services of the VetAssist staff are
free. Please use this site as a tool for educating yourself on
the Improved Pension program and your eligibility for it. You
should also contact your County Veterans Services Officer (VSO), the
VA, or a VSO through one of the national Veterans organizations,
such as the VFW, American Legion, etc. for help filing the
appropriate forms.
The picture to the right is my father, Lawrence O'Dell
Mitchell, taken in 1951 at Pearl Harbor. He passed away in 1999
and is on your Taps Roster.
I remember him telling me he was a "deck ape"
non-designated; got out after maybe two years service; had metal
plate in his head stood focsle watch along Korean coast;
remembers shelling coast in close; spent time at Pearl, boot
camp San Diego 1950? Got out of navy as Seaman Apprentice.
I do not know too much about
his time in the service, but if anyone has anything to share
please feel free to contact me at:
mitchells614@msn.com
Larry Mitchell, Jr.
Shipmate James Paris sent us a photo taken
of the entire crew 18 AUG 1954. It had to be scanned and sent in
segments and then put back together. Clicking on the smaller
version below will bring up the larger one. It's a large file.
The plaque in the center says:
"COMCRUDIV 5 RADM T C RAGAN USN USS ROCHESTER CA-124 CAPT JOHN
QUINN USN CO CDR W K ROGERS USN XO" 18 AUG 1954
A Veterans and Military
News Feed has been added to the Veterans
News Page
NEW:
Ted Hobson, who has written so many of the stories in the Memories
section, sent in a video, converted from film he shot during the
1954 cruise.
Notice to USS
Rochester Association members and friends:
Shipmates are requested to send in changes
in mailing address, phone numbers and e-Mail address changes.
Up-to-date information will speed up the exchange of information
between shipmates and the association. Joe Hill, Sr. will be
glad to take the information. He can be reached at 4011 Ditty
Road, Cookeville, TN 38506-7663. Phone number 931-432-4848, FAX
931-432-2534 and e-mail
Joe Hill
Requests
"Dear Mr. Hill, The purpose of this letter is a request for your
assistance with my navy ship patch research. I'm a Navy vet with a
Navy patch collection trying to verify which CA's ever had jacket
patches and acquire these original patches for my collection. Do
you know if the ROCHESTER ever had a jacket patch between December
20, 1946 and August 15, 1961? If such a patch did exist, would you
or another ROCHESTER crewman be kind enough to sell me an original
patch. Thank you for taking the time to read this request.
Trusting I will hear from you with good news. Respectfully yours,
/s/ Frank A. Jackson, Jr 139 Circuit Avenue Weymouth, MA
02188-3203 USNR AMS-3 1968-1974 usn abe-2 1980-1984."
Hello, my name is James Paris, I am a former U.S.
Marine and I am doing research on Capt. William Kittredge Rogers. I
have a photo of the USS Rochester with its entire crew in front of the
ship and it lists Cdr W K Rogers as the XO of the ship. the photo is
dated 18 Aug 1954. Rear Adm. T C Regan and CO Capt john Quinn are
also named and in the photo. I was wondering if your association
has any information on Wm. Rogers (ie: dates that he served
aboard, awards he received while aboard ship, and if he assumed
command of the ship at some point after this photo was taken). The
ships photo is nearly 4 feet in length I could try to scan it in
sections and email your website the photos in sections if you would be
interested in this photo for your association web site. Please
contact me if you have any information on this Naval officer and if
you would be interested in this ships photo. Thank you for your time and to all the sailors who
served their country aboard this fighting ship.
We received a request from Shipmate Jims Farnsworth.
He's trying to locate cruise books for 1950, 1951 and 1952. If you
can help, please contact him at:
For those who made WestPac cruises, there is an interesting
historical site for the
Subic Bay,
Philippines, base.
Association President Garry Phillips has been asked to take on a
project in Iraq, and has temporarily handed over the Association
Presidency to Executive VP Richard Becker.
New
photos and a PDF copy of a booklet on the Rochester
We've added a new area - "Remembrances"
under the Taps Page where you can share memories of shipmates
who have passed on. Send photos and stories to
Webmaster
Copyright 2003 USS Rochester Association
This site is maintained in memory of Joseph West, Fox Div., (1950-52)
Site Version 5.0 by
Community
Associations Network
Welcome to the internet home of the USS
Rochester Association. The members of the association served on board
the Rochester while it was on active duty from 1946-1961. You are
invited to share their memories of this great ship and their time on it.
