Welcome to the internet home of the USS
Rochester Association. The members of the association served on board
the Rochester while it was on active duty from 1946-1961. You are
invited to share their memories of this great ship and their time on it.
The Association produces a quarterly newsletter,
holds a bi-annual reunion and provides information to and from shipmates
who served aboard. Through this web site, it provides a place
where the photographic and informal history of the ship can be gathered
and viewed.
Rochester Model
From Charles Lamm: I have built a 1/8 scale model of
the Rochester if you would like to see some photo's? It is
radio controlled. If interested you can put them on your
website for the other guys to see as well. We had a
dedication
in honor and memory of all crewmembers, in October, the
weekend after your trip to DC. It was in North Carolina at
our fleet run. For the story and many more
pictures
I thought you might be
interested in the attached picture from The
Oregonian (newspaper) of the Rochester as it
headed for dismantling at the Ziddell
Explorations yard in Portland, Oregon.
Sorry the copy isn’t better but it is the best I
have been able to do copying a newspaper
article.
I was stationed on the
Rochester from 1956-58 in both X and OI
Divisions.
You have done a nice job on
the website. Keep up the good work!
Almost two years have gone by since our last great reunion of 2008 in
DC. It is with great excitement and expectations that this year we meet
in Milwaukee to renew old acquaintances and perhaps make new friends and
reminisce the times spent aboard our beloved ship ROCHESTER.
COME JOIN US at the USS ROCHESTER
REUNION in Milwaukee
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click here.
From Shipmate Randy Steffen:
Ahoy,
This may not be of interest to many in the assn. but thought I
would pass it on. Aboard Rochester,
I was taught how to make a Boson’s Pipe (call) Lanyard using a
waxed cord called Belfast. The company that made Belfast went out of
business several years ago and after the Navy Exchange sold the
last of their stock, no replacement material was ordered in.
Several other BM’s and myself had been looking for a material
like Belfast but until recently, no luck.
Finally, I located a good waxed cord suitable for making
lanyards can it can be obtained from: Fire Mountain Gems.
Their Email address is –
www.firemountaingems.com The sizes I ordered are 0.5 mm
and 1.0 mm black and white. The price and shipping is very
reasonable.
Thank you, Randy Steffen
Letter received:
My dad- John V Pospiel served as Quartermaster,
on Rochester's shakedown cruise along with Bob Hoot Gibson (US
Astronaut from NC) from Boston, MA to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and
served for four years. Some of you may recall the story he once told
me about the ship mechanics who were on board and then let out at or
near Provincetown, MA in a small boat and were nearly lost at
sea due to bad weather. The Rochester was the flagship of Admiral
Forrest B Sherman in the Mediterranean.
You can contact John at
pospielg@yahoo.com if
you would like to discuss the early years of the ship. I believe he
also has the original cruise book and or a hand drawn map of the
ships route for the first four years at sea.
thanks,
Greg Pospiel
SHIPMATES BEWARE!
Some of our shipmates have been receiving e-mail from a USS
Rochester store:
(ussrochester@jj-ent.com).
THIS STORE IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH OUR
ASSOCIATION.
It is a bogus site that is a for profit site.It would be greatly appreciated that all purchases be made
thru the official USS Rochester web site or the Ship’s Store Order
Form located on the Ships Store page
or in the Newsletter.
New Web Site to Assist Veterans
The VetAssist program is sponsored
by the American Veterans Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization dedicated to serving the needs of veterans and
preserving their individual histories. The information on this
site, and the services of the VetAssist staff are
free. Please use this site as a tool for educating yourself on
the Improved Pension program and your eligibility for it. You
should also contact your County Veterans Services Officer (VSO), the
VA, or a VSO through one of the national Veterans organizations,
such as the VFW, American Legion, etc. for help filing the
appropriate forms.
The picture to the right is my father, Lawrence O'Dell
Mitchell, taken in 1951 at Pearl Harbor. He passed away in 1999
and is on your Taps Roster.
I remember him telling me he was a "deck ape"
non-designated; got out after maybe two years service; had metal
plate in his head stood focsle watch along Korean coast;
remembers shelling coast in close; spent time at Pearl, boot
camp San Diego 1950? Got out of navy as Seaman Apprentice.
I do not know too much about
his time in the service, but if anyone has anything to share
please feel free to contact me at:
mitchells614@msn.com
Larry Mitchell, Jr.
Shipmate James Paris sent us a photo taken
of the entire crew 18 AUG 1954. It had to be scanned and sent in
segments and then put back together. Clicking on the smaller
version below will bring up the larger one. It's a large file.
The plaque in the center says:
"COMCRUDIV 5 RADM T C RAGAN USN USS ROCHESTER CA-124 CAPT JOHN
QUINN USN CO CDR W K ROGERS USN XO" 18 AUG 1954
A Veterans and Military
News Feed has been added to the Veterans
News Page
NEW:
Ted Hobson, who has written so many of the stories in the Memories
section, sent in a video, converted from film he shot during the
1954 cruise.
Notice to USS
Rochester Association members and friends:
Shipmates are requested to send in changes
in mailing address, phone numbers and e-Mail address changes.
Up-to-date information will speed up the exchange of information
between shipmates and the association. Joe Hill, Sr. will be
glad to take the information. He can be reached at 4011 Ditty
Road, Cookeville, TN 38506-7663. Phone number 931-432-4848, FAX
931-432-2534 and e-mail
Joe Hill
Requests
"Dear Mr. Hill, The purpose of this letter is a request for your
assistance with my navy ship patch research. I'm a Navy vet with a
Navy patch collection trying to verify which CA's ever had jacket
patches and acquire these original patches for my collection. Do
you know if the ROCHESTER ever had a jacket patch between December
20, 1946 and August 15, 1961? If such a patch did exist, would you
or another ROCHESTER crewman be kind enough to sell me an original
patch. Thank you for taking the time to read this request.
Trusting I will hear from you with good news. Respectfully yours,
/s/ Frank A. Jackson, Jr 139 Circuit Avenue Weymouth, MA
02188-3203 USNR AMS-3 1968-1974 usn abe-2 1980-1984."
Hello, my name is James Paris, I am a former U.S.
Marine and I am doing research on Capt. William Kittredge Rogers. I
have a photo of the USS Rochester with its entire crew in front of the
ship and it lists Cdr W K Rogers as the XO of the ship. the photo is
dated 18 Aug 1954. Rear Adm. T C Regan and CO Capt john Quinn are
also named and in the photo. I was wondering if your association
has any information on Wm. Rogers (ie: dates that he served
aboard, awards he received while aboard ship, and if he assumed
command of the ship at some point after this photo was taken). The
ships photo is nearly 4 feet in length I could try to scan it in
sections and email your website the photos in sections if you would be
interested in this photo for your association web site. Please
contact me if you have any information on this Naval officer and if
you would be interested in this ships photo. Thank you for your time and to all the sailors who
served their country aboard this fighting ship.
We received a request from Shipmate Jims Farnsworth.
He's trying to locate cruise books for 1950, 1951 and 1952. If you
can help, please contact him at:
We've added a new area - "Remembrances"
under the Taps Page where you can share memories of shipmates
who have passed on. Send photos and stories to
Webmaster
Copyright 2003 USS Rochester Association
This site is maintained in memory of Joseph West, Fox Div., (1950-52)
Site Version 5.0 by
Community
Associations Network
Welcome to the internet home of the USS
Rochester Association. The members of the association served on board
the Rochester while it was on active duty from 1946-1961. You are
invited to share their memories of this great ship and their time on it.
