Sailors pg 3

REAL SAILORS AT LAST

Their destination, U.S.S. ROCHESTER CA-124, had recently returned from action in the Korean war. When their orders were read to them that last day at Boot Camp, the Chief Petty Officer making the announcement had remarked, "the Rochester, now that's a real fightin' ship!"

Above left is ROCHESTER at Pier 21, Mare Island Naval Shipyard. This was the destination of the busses that carried the sailors from the railroad station in Richmond. Upon their arrival, the busses stopped at the foot of the gangway and the sailors ascended to their new home. Above right, Hobson and Cox explore an unfamiliar setting.

Each of the four sailors from Ventura had until this time experienced identical training, but once in ROCHESTER they went separarate ways. Cox opted for Storekeeper in S1 Div., Moore for Firecontrolman in Fox Div., Hobson for Quartermaster in N Div. (after a detour through Fox Div.) and Romig for Boatswain's Mate in 5th Div.

Romig submitted another request for submarine duty and this time there was a response: such a request would not be considered, he was informed, until after he had served 12 months!

Most shipyard tasks were tedious at best, although putting paint on, as below left, was much preferable to chipping paint off. Either way, chores like these increased anticipation of getting ashore at workday's end. Generally this meant crossing the channel to Vallejo, which at that time was very much a Navy town. But options during liberty in downtown Vallejo were limited, as Moore, Hobson and Romig are discovering below, center. They quickly learned that to make the most of their time ashore, Romig had to get his car. So on a weekend liberty he flew home--his first experience in a commercial airplane.

Although each had taken a different direction in shipboard duties, they continued to join up for liberty. On the left, Moore and Hobson emerge from the Mare Island ship's store with the makings of a lively time ashore. They shift to civilian duds in Romig's car, parked in an alley in downtown Vallejo, and are ready for the night ahead. Then, with Cox and some friendly local girls, they headed for a party in the hills above Oakland.

Late in May, her 3-month overhaul completed, ROCHESTER steamed out through the Golden Gate and headed south. She passed Point Conception, entered a tranquil sea off Southern California, and finally docked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. This was to be her home port during the months of training that lay ahead.

The weeks that followed involved training for the anticipated return to Korea. There was emphasis on simulated air attacks, probably because during her previous Korean action ROCHESTER had been struck by a bomb dropped from an enemy aircraft that had swooped in undetected. Fortunately, that bomb glanced off the crane without exploding, but a possible next one could be a direct hit and deadly. In the series of photos below, the secondary batteries are firing at remote-controlled drones launched from deck.

A routine developed that had ROCHESTER at sea from Monday to Friday, and in port during the weekends--usually in Long Beach, but sometimes in San Diego.

With Ventura just a 3-hr drive from Long Beach, Romig's car burned up Pacific-Coast Highway during just about every 48-hr and 72-hr weekend liberty. But while 3 hrs was the normal time for this trip, with the age of Romig's car it often took longer to get there. (This was before the freeways had been constructed. Today it can take much less or even more time, depending on the traffic.)

When weekend liberties were limited to Friday night, they had to stay closer to the ship. One Friday night when ROCHESTER was spending the weekend in San Diego they visited their first foreign port-of-call--Tijuana, in Old Mexico. At left, Cox and Hobson enjoy a round of cerveza with Jim Flot (Fox Div.) and Hellyer (S1 Div.). When ROCHESTER spent the weekend in Long Beach, a single night ashore was enough time to experience the high life of Los Angeles or Hollywood, as Moore, Hobson and Romig are doing on the right.

With the advance of summer, action by ROCHESTER's gunners, as by the 40 mm crew above, became less frequent, and the target drones spent more days resting idly on deck. The navy was learning something long-known to at least those ROCHESTER sailors that had grown up on southern California beaches; that is, one can expect heavy overcast along the coast at this time of year. As a result, ROCHESTER's gunners were getting insufficient training--and she was scheduled to return to the war in Korea in a few months.

The solution to gaining the needed training: shift operations to the predictably clear skies of the Hawaiian Islands. While perhaps not all hands were pleased with this development, the 4 sailors from Ventura were ecstatic! So when on 27 August 1951 ROCHESTER steamed out of Long Beach harbor (left), she did not turn north or south, as had been the usual procedure for so many weeks. This time she continued westward, and 5 days later the island of Oahu appeared under clouds off the starboard bow. A short time later, Hobson and Moore were photographed with Diamond Head as a background.

Hula dancers welcomed ROCHESTER as she docked at Pearl Harbor, and shortly after the gangway was set in place, Romig, Moore and Hobson were ashore, rarin' to go (although they don't look too lively in this photo). They were up a tree a few hours later (with Don Shortreed, Fox Div.), but despite a valiant effort never got high enough to pick coconuts.

"Dear Mom and Dad, Last night we went to a dance at the Armed Forces YMCA..."

It would have been easy to forget why ROCHESTER had come to the Islands, but a full training schedule kept her at sea most of the time. California's heavy coastal overcast was replaced by clear Hawaiian skies and the ship's batteries stayed busy. After almost 50 years, however, most memories of that period are of times ashore. Many of these recollections involve Waikiki Beach, which during the early 1950s (right) was very unlike the Waikiki of today. At that time, just two hotels dominated the scene--the Royal Hawaiian and Moana; today, these two are lost amid a dense sea of much larger structures that tower above them.

As remembered, walks along a beach of windward Oahu were on a remote tropical shore, and it seems that even a luau in Waikiki was more authentic than it would be today. But were they really?

The day finally arrived in mid November when the carry-all was loaded aboard, and ROCHESTER steamed out of Pearl Harbor for what would be the last time for over five months. In company with the heavy cruiser ST. PAUL and the battleship WISCONSIN, she was headed for Korea.

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Memories.......