[An extract from  "Thunder in the Morning Calm: The RCN in Korea" by Ted Meyers. (Vanwell
Publishing, 1992).

Cayuga steamed quietly into the "Slot", dropped her hook in the sheltered lee of a small island and, at the stroke of midnight, thumped sixteen broadsides into the Chinese garrisons on Ung-do. This gesture was breaking the RCN tradition of sounding the ships bell to ring in the New Year (the only time the” silent hours” were ever disrupted) with eight bells for the old year and eight for the new. The break seemed appropriate: eight broadsides for each year, a total of ninety-six 4-inch High Explosive shells from the six barrels of the three guns.

With the echoes of the explosions still reverberating through the stark hills, Cayuga turned from The Slot to set course for Taewha-Do , scene of victories and defeats during the past year. She arrived just in time to rouse the Chinese from their slumber with a savage hammering which left buildings ablaze. With the fire of the burning buildings lighting the skies, the ship turned southward for Japan. The early morning mist though which she sailed covered her departure that first morning of 1952. The patrol had been long and the crew happily took their salt-encrusted ship into Kure for a well-deserved rest, some R&R leave and a few repairs to the ship.

Contributor: Ted Meyers <tedm(at)shaw.ca>