Westward to the Orient, 1954...
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Westward to the Orient
shot by Ted Hobson
Outline of video
- Opening title
- Quartermasters in action: sextant, semaphore and signal
light
- Holiday routine: Crew relaxes on deck during a Sunday
afternoon in transit to Hawaii
- Several pans of leeward Oahu (including Diamond Head) as
the Rochester approaches Pearl Harbor. Entering the channel, the
ship passes Hospital Point with Ford Island ahead, and then a carrier
moored at Ford Island is passed upon entering the inner harbor.
- Sailors pick pineapples during drive around Oahu
- Sailors on a rocky shore of windward Oahu managed to get
thoroughly soaked, but get even wetter with a dip in a tide pool
- The drive continued, with a stop at a windward beach (Kahana Bay)
- Windward Oahu is viewed from the Pali lookout, with the
sailors getting a bit too close to the precipice.
- Driving through Waikiki
- Rochester enters Manila Bay and approaches dock
- Competition among taxis that refused to accept the notion that
sailors preferred to walk
- Visit to ruins of old Spanish fort
- Downtown Manila
- When Rochester crossed the equator south of Singapore, the ship's
pollywogs were initiated into the Sacred Order of the Deep. As
more pollywogs become shellbacks, they joined in to initiate those
following them
- Singapore: Views of the city and sailors handling
snakes
- The approach to Thailand encountered shallow water, so a
small Thai naval vessel transported the liberty party up the river to
Bangkok
- Sailors visiting Bangkok temples. City streets
adjacent to the temple grounds were slums. Sailors climb wall to
get bananas
- Up Saigon River to the city. Rochester nudged her bow
into the the river bank above the city in order to turn around.
Short, overexposed scene of downtown Saigon
- Rochester entered the fringe of a typhoon during transit toward
Japan
- As Rochester entered the harbor of Yokosuka, a message is
received by signal light from a ship near shore. Rochester
approaches a pier next to a carrier, shared by another cruiser and is
greeted by dancers
- Scenes of downtown Yokosuka with cherry blossoms in bloom
- Riding a bike during a visit to the Great Buddha of Kamakura
- Tokyo and Palace grounds
- Operation Flag Hoist, a joint US/British operation, was an
amphibious landing on Iwo Jima. The dominant feature
ashore is Mount Suribachi.
- Ships come alongside, first a destroyer (USS Stormes DD-780) to
receive mail, then the oiler to refuel. Rochester's helicopter
approached to land on deck during the second operation
- The harbor at Sasebo, Japan
- From Sasebo, some of the crew traveled by train to the ancient
city of Kyoto, where they visited old temples and shrines.
Two were challenged to strike a sacred gong in a locked tower, which
they did after scaling the wall. The Japanese were remarkably
tolerant of such obnoxious behavior
- Hong Kong harbor. View of the city and surroundings
from Victoria Peak
- An afternoon at Hong Kong's Tiger Balm Gardens
- Homeward bound in company with the USS Los Angeles, which comes
alongside off Oahu. The two vessels continue into Pearl
Harbor
- Hula dancers perform for the crews of the two cruisers, with the
Los Angeles moored outboard of the Rochester
- Brief shot of a blow hole on Oahu
- Continuing homeward, Rochester enters Long Beach harbor and
approaches a dock where friends and families wait to welcome the crew
home
- Closing title
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