I. The two American battleships approach the harbour. USS California (44) enters first through gap in the seaward defences - a boom defence vessel stand by to close the gap after the passage of the two ships. USS Tennessee (43) follows. XLS to destroyers of DesRon 19 at sea. LA view from a smallcraft to the quarter deck of California - she carries a Curtiss Seahawk float plane - and to the bridge where a kill score of ships and aircraft is painted on superstructure. Crewmen wave to camera craft. LA of ensign on jackstaff. LA as camera craft rounds bows of Tennessee to shoot down port side. LA.CU of the quarter deck with two Vought-Sikorsky float planes, and after turrets, and pan forward to bridge and secondary 5-inch AA.

II. Entertainment of the visiting Americans. Black USN ratings visit a Buddhist stupa. White ratings enjoy rides on an elephant. Men relax on the beach. Staff car brings senior US officers to meet British counterparts in the hills. Sailors sightsee at the Temple of the Holy Tooth in Kandy. Ship's boat from USS Lardner bring's liberty men ashore. Three US and two British sailors pose arm in arm. Sequence showing American sailors enjoying beer in a shady colonnade - a rather handsome 'American' type toasts his compatriots. Posed episode of US and British officers shaking hands and walking off together. Final sequence showing teams from the two American battleships playing baseball before a mainly British audience.

Notes

Summary: on each of the four days spent in Colombo by the American ships, a special train was laid on to take sailors into the scenic Kandyan kingdom. Task Group 50.5 was returning to the Atlantic coast via Singapore, Colombo and Cape Town. On reaching their destination the two battleships were laid up in reserve