This story originally appeared in the Summer 2001 edition of The Ensign newsletter. Fred would also like to hear from anyone who served with him  in Supply or any other branch during the Korean War era. His e-mail is : frfowlow(at)shaw.ca

HMCS Athabaskan's second tour to the Korean theatre began in August 1951 when the ship sailed for Hawaii where extensive use was made of the US Navy gunnery firing ranges before sailing on to Kwajalein for fuelling, thence to Guam and finally to Sasebo, Japan, the base for USN Supply Service Support Group. Once the ship arrived in the Korean theatre, we depended entirely on the USN, RN and RAN for all our ongoing supply needs. Access to RN stores was very  important because, as a Tribal-class destroyer, we were fitted with a wide range of Admiralty pattern equipment. We requisitioned NSD Esquimalt for unique Canadian supply parts. This proved to be a frustrating exercise because shipments took months to arrive from Canada via US air or surface transport. Over a hundred urgently needed RCN pattern items were shipped to us in the twelve month period. Most took over thirty days to reach us. The normal routine while in Korea found most Canadian ships operating as part of a commonwealth task group. Patrols usually extended over a twenty day period. Our ships refuelled under way from USN carriers, or RN fleet auxiliary ships.

At the end of a patrol, which included screening carriers, intercepting junks and sampans, and bombarding shore targets, we would return to Sasebo or Kure, Japan. Kure was a commonwealth base where units of the Australian, British and Canadian Army were located. The Canadian Army base outside Kure was called Camp Hero. Whenever we visited Kure, we went out of our way to ensure that we did not have to embark provisions from the Australian supply system. Their meat,  coffee and fresh provisions were items that gave our cooks a rough time, due to the sailor's prerogative to complain when the food reached unacceptable levels. Fresh provisions supplied by the Australians were grown in Japan. Consequently, our doctor used to get excited when he saw what we were taking on. He had a thing for food fertilized with night soil and insisted all fruits and vegetables be peeled and washed before eating. Have you ever tried to peel a tomato?

Baking bread using Australian flour proved to be a disaster for our cooks, at least until they realized that Australian flour had a glutton content unsuitable for Canadian recipes. Fresh milk was simply not available in Japan. The USN supplied us with frozen milk made from milk  powder. Canadian sailors have always disliked powdered milk. As luck would have it, one of our cooks figured out that if he made a milk chocolate drink, it would be acceptable. It was a resounding success. The colder it was when served, the better, as it removed the powdered milk flavour. Kure had a first class ship repair and  docking facility. It had been a major Japanese base during W.W.II. Consequently, our engineering officer was ecstatic when we went to  Kure. Some of us had a different opinion. The  main attraction at Kure was the Canadian Army base at Camp Hero, as well as the mess facilities at the British Commonwealth base. The Australian Army of Occupation controlled the latter. Kure had excellent military  hospital facilities because they attended to casualties who were evacuated from mainland Korea.
 
 

Supplies being taken aboard HMCS Athabaskan at Sasebo, Japan during the Korean War. (Photo courtesy of Fred Fowlow)

Sasebo was a different port. It was under American Occupation and was a good shore leave place. The port held the Service Support Squadron which was spread out along a lengthy anchorage area covering about four or five miles. It had one inconvenience  - obtaining an alongside berth in Sasebo was not always possible. Consequently, returning on board when the ship was tied up to a buoy in the stream, was not the best arrangement for sailors after a hectic night on the town.

The routine on return from a long patrol required victualling and naval storesmen to take our requisitions to the senior Service Squadron ship for screening. Once the requisitions were screened, they would carry a notation showing where we would have to pick up the filled orders. The approved requisitions would then be taken to designated supply ships, one for provisions,  and one for specialized stores, etc. After being screened for the second time, the storesman  would be told when to return and pick up the  order. Normally the procedure took about two or three days from the time our requisitions were screened until the stores were delivered. A time consuming task to say the least, and not all that pleasant considering that often one had to make the rounds of the supply ships in an open cutter in inclement weather.

Generally speaking, the pressing tasks that confronted the Supply department during the tour were: maintaining a good quality food service; doing whatever one had to do to get proper stores support (either from  the USN, RN or RAN), or putting a firecracker under the people back in Canada to find a better way to get RCN or Admiralty pattern stores to us as quickly as possible. Fortunately, support from Canada improved as time passed. Mail service from Canada was not the best. One could count on a one month transit time for most mail. Often a ship coming from Sasebo into the patrol area would bring the mail to a patrol zone at which time it might be delivered to us by helicopter or high-line. When this happened, it was appreciated, especially if we were only a week into a twenty five day patrol period. At sea replenishment of fuel and lubricants was common and regular since Tribal-class destroyers were high consumers of both. Working with USN ships provided an opportunity to pick up the latest movies that were passed around the Task Group. We often received movies before they were released in mainland USA. When a patrol exceeded twenty days, a quick underway provisioning from a Royal Navy fleet auxiliary was necessary. Not the  best experience to say the least since the only provisions they carried were originally picked up in Kure.

We often gave provisions to Korean Navy ships that were usually more interested in receiving USN coffee than anything else. On one occasion when we wanted to unload some unwanted Australian coffee, the Koreans politely refused to accept our offer. We concluded they had discovered what we already knew, that Aussie coffee was heavily laced with chicory. In addition to giving the Koreans provisions, we often supplied American Army intelligence units as they moved up and down the West Coast and came aboard for target briefings

Receiving civilian casualties for medical attention - as was the case when Athabaskan was involved in the fall of theTaewha Do islands to the communists - our doctor and sick berth attendant spent a busy night in surgery in the Commanding Officer's cabin. Throughout most of the Korean War, the RCN did not have shore based support staff in either Sasebo or Kure. The result was that supply personnel had to cover a great deal of territory in a short period when in port. The task was not all that easy because we were usually at anchor and the demand for the use of our one-lung cutter was continuous. When shore based staff eventually arrived, a  great deal of the frustration that confronted the Supply Department people was reduced. I smile today as I read a notebook in which I recorded a collection of observations;  statistics regarding problems we experienced. I shall not bore you with the list of complaints. However, there were two problems which  warrant mention here because they were the same problems I recall experiencing in W.W.II. The allowance for anti-flash gear and winter clothing, such as jackets, trousers and mitts, was completely inadequate. In the case of winter clothing we experienced more than I our fair share of frustration in trying to convince the powers-that-be in Canada that the  allowance should be increased.

We had guns crews who were closed up for hours without a complete set of anti-flash gear or proper winter clothing. Winter in Korea is not all that pleasant, not to mention the fact that one had  to find someone who would give up a jacket before going on watch. The problem was partly resolved when I met an old Queen's  University classmate at the Army base in Camp Hero. My friend was responsible for a warehouse full of army winter parkas. When I told him that our ship had a winter clothing problem, his reaction was instantaneous. He said he could fix our problem. He took me to a warehouse containing mountains of army issue winter parkas. "How many do you need..." was like a message from heaven. I told him, whereupon he arranged for a truckload of parkas to be delivered to the ship. We returned to the mess for a quick grog. In a  matter of an hour or so another problem emerged. The Officer of the Day refused to take delivery of the parkas because he figured some sort of scam was about to hit the ship. The army driver called back to my friend who quickly told me to have the OOD smarten up and take delivery of the parkas. He explained that the driver world never get the parkas back on to the base without a search, and then all hell would break loose! The problem was resolved. The parkas were taken on board and the following morning it was like Christmas when many in our ship's company without proper RCN clothing, were issued with army parkas which, by the way, they kept as  their own personal property. How my friend  managed to write them off was never explained to me, nor did I want to find out. I returned the parka favour by transferring USN  coffee to the Army mess manager every time we visited Kure. Additionally, we repaid the Army on New Year's Day 1952.

As events developed sometime in the fall of 1951, my Chief Victualling Storesman and I were doing a rum pump up when I mentioned to him the ship would be in Kure for New Year's. He said he had heard the rumour and promptly suggested we save the rum that would normally be thrown over the side when it was not used by the authorized recipient. His reason for this  was perfectly logical to me. The accumulated bubbly would be served at our New Year's Levee. This we did. When New Year's Day  arrived, the ship was in drydock. We invited the Army noncommissioned ranks and officers to our Levee which was held on the fo'c'sle. By the time it was over they were full of good navy rum and, needless to say, in high spirits.  Thankfully no one fell over the side into the  scramble nets which we rigged under the gangway and around the fo'c'sle party area.

Totally unrelated to the rum saving exercise of course, but rather for a good job well done throughout the tour, my Chief Victualling Storesman was awarded a Mention-in-Dispatches. If I had my way, several other supply ratings would have received the same recognition. Canadian ships deployed to Korea were usually sent on at least one rest and recreation trip to Hong Kong. We made one such trip. The trip was an opportunity to get away from the routine we experienced in Korea. At least we knew that once tied up alongside or in the RN drydock in Hong Kong, being called back on board and sent off on a special assignment was not likely.

The morning after the first night in Hong Kong found me receiving an early shake from the OOD telling me that I'd better get up and go across the harbour to the Kowloon Police Station where I would be met by a  detective who would take me to a courthouse where four of my sailors were to appear before the local magistrate. Apparently my men were in custody for having made a nuisance of themselves by singing and behaving disorderly while on board the Kowloon ferry. Moreover, two of them had committed a misdemeanour by throwing two life buoys into the water while the ferry was in mid-harbour.

After a hectic three hours watching Hong Kong justice being meted out to illegal immigrants, etc., my sailors were found guilty and fined $25 Hong Kong dollars each. On first hearing the amount, they were flabbergasted at what they believed to be grave injustice. They felt much better when I told them that $1.00 Canadian was equal to $6.00 Hong Kong. We had a good laugh over the incident when we read a report in the local Hong Kong paper to the effect that what really upset the Star Ferry Company was that the sailors had caused them to be eleven minutes late. Otherwise no harm was caused as both life buoys had been recovered.

After a challenging and interesting year in the Korean theatre, Athabaskan returned to Esquimalt with a brief stop in Yokosuka for a final shopping spree in the well stocked US Navy Post Exchange. After several days in Tokyo (travelling there by train) we set sail for home via the great circle route, refuelling in Adak, Alaska in the middle of a mid-summmer snow and rain storm. We arrived back in Esquimalt on July 9, 1952 at which time we were met by hundreds of family members and the Naden Band. The customs officers treated us fairly as our sailors declared rugs, coffee tables, lacquer ware, ivory carvings, tiddly uniforms and whatever they could get into their lockers. Amid all the turmoil of safe arrival home, the dockyard engineering people stood by waiting for our Engineer Officer to give them the long list of defects; the start of a quick turnaround refit before the ship set sail for her third tour of duty in Korea.

I have deliberately avoided mentioning many of the interesting action days the ship's company experienced, such as train busting, interdiction patrols and bombarding  designated shore targets. I am certain that every Supply Officer,  and for that matter supply rating who went to  Korea, had an interesting time trying to keep the ship properly supported, with a new and  different challenge popping up almost every time one returned from a patrol. Who could forget the experience of riding out a typhoon, or coming under fire from mobile shore batteries which one could not see. Even worse, when one of our men was lost overboard at night during a blinding snowstorm. Tony German, in his "The Sea Is At  Our Gates" (McClelland &  Stewart, Toronto  1990, p.231), provided an excellent comment about the RCN experience in the Korean War when he wrote, "Most ships' companies were away from home for a year. And this was 'peacetime'...... From Chinnampo on, the RCN earned  a real reputation in the sister navies for resourcefulness, efficiency and getting things done with spirit and dispatch."  My service in the Korean theatre was an interesting and challenging experience. From the point of view of a brand new Supply  Officer, who couldn't have survived without the solid backing of a band of committed cooks, stewards, writers and storesmen who gave their all, it was a good, well tested run.
 

 

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