Leader rescues a Chinese Pilot

While steaming in moderately calm seas, in the Straights of Formosa, outward bound from Keelung, on the North end of Formosa (Taiwan), one of the lookouts spotted a large plume of water about two miles off the Starboard beam.  Wondering what could have caused such a large "splash" in the middle of the Straights, we concentrated our attention in that direction.  Continuing to scan the area around the splash, one of the lookouts spotted a parachute about 500 feet above the water.

Captain Vasse immediately sounded "Man Overboard" and told me to come right to a course where the parachute would enter the water.  The Commodore ordered the rest of MinDiv 93 to proceed on the previous course toward Kaoshiung.  We saw the parachute enter the water about one mile ahead of us.  When we were about 500 yards from the man in the water, Captain Vasse ordered BM1 DeWitt to launch the Motor Whale Boat and recover the man floating in the life raft. BM2 Weiss assumed coxswain of the MWB with EN3 Carl Haynes as Engineer, and proceeded to pick up the man who had, literally, fallen from the skies. The biggest difficulty in the recovery was the parachute which did not want to get into the Motor Whale Boat. The man said that he had to recover the parachute or he would not be allowed to fly any more.

When the man was brought to the bridge he informed us, in rather well spoken English, that he was a Nationalist Chinese pilot that had been on a flight over Communist China and had been attacked by the mainland Chinese Air Force and his Sabre Jet had been damaged in a dogfight. He had limped as far home as he could get and then, fire in the cockpit had forced him to bail out before he could reach the coast of Formosa.  In the tradition of pilots rescued at sea, he presented his sidearm (an S&W 38 Special) to BM2 Weiss and the life raft to BM1 DeWitt. He said that he had to keep his flight suit to show the flame singed leg to his superiors as proof that the plane had been on fire. Some of the Nationalist Chinese military had damaged equipment out of loyalty to the Communist Chinese and he needed to prove that the bail out was necessary.