5 Messages

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Entry: 79142 JAPANESE SHIPS OPERATION CHROMITE	JAPANESE TROOP SHIP
EDWARD BREEN wrote on May 31, 2011 City and State: COLUMBIA CT Unit: 51ST SIGNALE BATTALION Service or Relationship: ARMY VETERAN Comments: Went from Sasebo Pusan in the fall of 1951 on the Congo Maru. Straw mats to lay on very low overhead. Hit bad weather. Very rough crossing. Much sea sickness. I believe that there was a Japanese crew, but US Navy or Coast Guard command. Keywords: Fromer Japanese Troop Carriers

Entry: 58402 JAPANESE SHIPS OPERATION CHROMITE	JAPENESE LSTS AT INCHON
LYLE BROWN wrote on August 8, 2006 City and State: ROBINSON TX Unit: COMMANDER THIRD SERVICE SQUADRON STAFF Service or Relationship: NAVY VETERAN Comments: As a communications watch officer and crypto officer with CAPT Bernard Austin's COMSERVRON 3 staff, I moved from the destroyer tender Piedmont to the heavy repair ship Hector shortly before steaming up a channel to anchor near Walmi-do at Inchon in September 1950. The port had been taken by marines, but I saw one or more cruisers providing gunfire support for the marines as they advanced on Seoul. Other ships present were LSTs flying the SCAPJAP ensign (red and black, as I remember). I was informed that these ships had been engaged in Japanese interisland shipping before the Inchon operation. In June 1954, while performing annual Naval Reserve activie duty for training at Algiers, I met some Japanese merchant marine personnel at the French Quarter Baptist Mission. On the following day I drove them around New Orleans, and they invited me to mess with them aboard their new merchant vessel. One of the mates had been aboard a SCAPJAP LST at Inchon, so in my limited Japanese and his limited English, we talked about our Inchon experiences. Later I read somewhere that the captain of one one of the SCAPJAP LST's at Inchon had commanded a Japanese battleship during World War II. Whether that is true or not, I can't say. But everyone who participated in Operation Chromite helped make history. Keywords: Inchon, SCAPJAP LSTs, Piedmont, Hector, Bernard Austin

Entry: 21844 JAPANESE SHIPS OPERATION CHROMITE	JAPANESE TROOP SHIP
WILLIAM J. CURTIS wrote on December 29, 2001 City and State: CRANFORD NJ Unit: VF-51 Service or Relationship: NAVY VETERAN - KOREA Comments: Myself and 3 other Naval Air Reservists were recalled from NAS Floyd Bennett NY in Sep't 1950. We traveled together to San Francisco, boarded a MSTS ship with US Army Close Air Support personnel and ultimately landed in I believe Pusan Korea.There we boarded a Japanese Troop ship the Takeju Maru for a 24 hour trip to I believe Sasebo or Yokosuka.The Jap ship was a coal burning very old ship that had been used during WW2 as a troop carrier.Bunks were straw mats on a platform,toilets were 2 planks straddling a hole,below the main deck, was not compartmented it was all open.Food was a case of Army 10 in 1 rations.A US Navy officer was in command of the ship.Had we hit a mine it would have sunk immediately like a stone. When we got to our destination we each went into a different squadron of Air Group 5 on the Valley Forge.It was an interesting way to begin the almost 2 years I spent in VF-51 as an Aviation Machinist Mate.After the cruise on the Valley I made the cruise with the Essex, and was discharged upon return to the States in 1952. Keywords: Takeju Maru, Valley Forge, VF-51

Entry: 20320 JAPANESE SHIPS OPERATION CHROMITE	JAPENESE LSTS
EDWARD SULLIVAN wrote on November 2, 2001 City and State: Unit: Service or Relationship: ARMY VETERAN - KOREA Comments: Surfing LST, trying to find if Japanese had any. Glad to find your note. Sailed from Sasebo to Pusan on 9 JUL 50 with 25th Div. Signal Co. Remember crew being all Japanese, as I went up to the bridge or Pilot House and watched what was going on. They showed me charts, etc. Couldn't understand too much, but it was interesting. Can't remember Ship numbers or any other ID. But ship did not have any gun mounts as I recall and was rusty in spots. We had fun climbing down the ladders on the front doors and getting ducked in the water when the bow went down. That was probably pretty stupid, but we were invincible 18 yr. olds going to a place that would only last a few weeks. Anyway thanks for verifying that the Japanese did have LSTs. I believe two LSTs and an Australian destoyer were in our group at sea. Keywords:

Entry: 15281 JAPANESE SHIPS OPERATION CHROMITE	LOOKING FOR DAD USS CALVERT
MELANIE ZOELLER wrote on March 4, 2001 City and State: Unit: Service or Relationship: FAMILY MEMBER Comments: I have been searching for information on my dad's military history, with no success. I recently learned that he was on a military transport ship, the USS Calvert, a Cruise ship that had been refitted to transport marines (?) to Puson where allied forces were trapped. The information that I got said that the Calvert would 'tip over' when the USS Missouri fired at the enemy. If anyone knows of this ship and its mission, I'd love to hear from you! I haven't found anything on the internet, but I'm still looking. My dad's name was Jimmie Raper. I don't remember what his position was. Keywords: USS Calvert, Puson, USS Missouri, Jimmie Raper

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