Boston (CA 69) - Naval Cruise Book

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0.5'T s ,M .S 3. we 'sill in THE LALINCHING OF THE BOSTON BY THE ROUTE WE TOOK IT WAS 185,000 MILES FROM BOSTON

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Nw, ,,,,.,, Y., ....,. swf' MY IMMEDIATE PREDECESSOR MADE AN ILLUSTRIOUS RECORD Commissioned in December, 1887, the fifth Boston was one of our first steel cruisers. She was built at the shipyards of Iohn Roach 61 Sons in Chester, Pennsylvania. Naval shipbuilders were introducing a new policy. A law of 1883 had signalled the end of the old Navy. Repairs were prohibited on wooden warships whenever the cost would exceed 202 of the cost of a new ship of the same size and type. New construction favored steam while still carrying sails. In addition, American ships were to be built of Amer- ican-made steel. This Boston , a pioneer ship in our modern Navy, had a displacement of some 3,000 tons and a speed of about 15 knots. Her armament, heavy for that day, included two 8-inch and six 6-inch guns. To follow in the Wake of this fifth Boston was to trace our foreign policy of that period. In 1888, she was on pro- tective duty about Guatemala and Haiti: in 1890, she made a courtesy call to Brazil, and toured European ports: and in 1891, she was protecting our interests in Hawaii. Placed out of commission temporarily in 1894, she re- turned to her Asiatic station when the Spanish-American War developed. As a unit in the fleet of Commodore Clater Ad- miralj Dewey, she took part in the action which destroyed the Spanish Fleet at Cavite. Following this historic Battle of Manila Bay, she was assigned blockade duty about the Philippines. With the turn of the century, her assignments as a fighting ship became less and less frequent. Routine duty in 1899 be- tween the Philippines and various Asiatic ports was followed by inactive service. In 1902, she was again placed in commission and as- ' d signe to patrol duty along the west coast between Panama and Oregon. She was on hand to assist at the scene of the disastrous San Francisco fire, and also created great interest at sundry west coast Expositions After another eriod of - P non-commission, she was for a time connected with the Ore- gon Naval Militia. Today, with her fighting and even sailing days definitely ended, this proud ship, now renamed the USS Despatch, continues to serve She IS now the Receivin Shi t Y b . g p a uer a Buena Island CGoat lslandj, San F rancisco, California.

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uulllnlu-lnlullllunIsnnuuull lazy 5 Zz S S 244m y 8 BY HENRY G. LEADER spqxpsfc ' If you see a sailor whose campaign ribbons, star studded, resemble the milky way, chances are he's off the USS Boston: for this new Baltimore class heavy cruiser has seen a- major share of action in the Pacific. Striking with cat's paw swiftness and accuracy at the Iap, she bombarded islands and downed planes of the Rising Sun while carrying the war .from the islands south of the equator to the home land of Iapan itself and chalk- ing up one of the most impressive records of any ship in the Pacific area. ln achieving this she has lived up to her proud lineage, for a Boston has served almost continuously in the United States Navy since the first ship of that name, a 24 gun frigate, became part of the tiny fleet comprising the original U.S. Navy back in 1776. This sleek cruiser is the sixth ship to bear the name of the Massachusetts capital and represents the most modern developments in the building of men-of-war. Built for speed, maneuverability and tremendous fire power, the USS Boston is the second ship of the Baltimore class. Ordered Iuly l, 1940 prior to the outbreak of the war, her keel was laid June 30, 1941 in the Fore river yard, Quincy, Massachusetts by the Bethlehem Steel Company On August 26 1942 Mrs Maurice I Tobin wife of the Hon orable Maurice I Tobin Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sponsored the launching and on Iune 30th of the following year the ship s ensign fluttered in a gentle breeze as she was officially commissioned and accepted by her first commanding officer Captain Iohn H Carson USN Slipping smoothly through Atlantic waters the Boston be gan her maiden voyage on August 13 1943 en route to the Gulf of Paria between Trinidad and Venezuela for the shakedown cruise designed to accustom her crew to the sea and enable officers to detect any possible wrinkles in her makeup A month later the Boston returned to her home port a fighting ship with her crew well trained to fight the enemy On the record of her engineering trials she was established as one of the K After a few more weeks in the port of Boston and some trial runs off Rockland, Maine, the USS Boston set out on November 18 to fulfill the job for which she was designed and built-the defeat of this country's enemy in the Pacific. After passing through the Panama Canal, followed by a two day lay-over in San Francisco, she arrived at Pearl Harbor on the eve of the second anniversary of the Iapanese sneak attack. Six weeks were spent in Pearl Harbor waters engaging in more of the exercises that are so essential to the maintenance of the fighting qualities of a First Class Warship. All hands manned theirtbattle stations on Ianuary 19, 1944 as the USS Boston got underway from Pearl Harbor and began her long war career as a unit of the soon-to-be famous Task Force 58. Planes from the old Saratoga, the later-to-be-sunk Princeton and the Langley soared overhead on anti-submarine patrol as the Boston pointed her prow towards the Marshalls. On February 2nd planes from the Saratoga bombed a direction- finding station on Utirik Atoll and as the smoke from their hits floated skywards men on board the Boston knew that this was it . During the following five days the carrier planes struck fiercely at Eniwetol Atoll while the Boston kept a wary eye out for lap planes and subs Covering the seizure of the Marshalls she roamed between Wotje and Eniwetok After Kwayalein was secured the Boston anchored in R01 Harbor for three days and then returned to Eniwetok where for 18 days she circled the Atoll with the rest of the force prepared to lend fire support to Marines ashore who fought to secure the base which was to become so vital in the prosecution of the war When Eniwetok was secured the Task Group put in to Mayuro and the Boston s crew received its first taste of Liberty in the Pacific Early in March the Boston left Majuro for Espiritu Santo in the ew HebrideE'X. 1 From th e,the B ton sailed n once more to rejoin Task o e 58, in the fi t raid on fthe Palaus ends he Western heavy ships in the fleet on the record of her gunnery she was established as a good gunnery ship .2-M E--1-f5 S 2- planes of March 30'rh::-Carrier Cabot s.....N r'-'wi' . . . . - ' ' 7 - 1 - - 1 X u I ' I I ' . . , . . - - 1 , . , 1 1 . I - 1 . ' 1 1 - . - 1 - . . ,, . ,, 1 I . 1 . J ' ' ' v . - . 1 is ' f 0 ,,-. - . ,Q -N, , 4 .f-- M- . , , - ' ,f c , .. l 9 l I - I' ' II 1 'QWWNN , . I, i . . l . I ' I 5q,,....,.va,.. , ' I 0 I 0 df ... ' g Num'-w MM:-. ' ff 2 ... ...,..,, . 'mm-:ha J' V- f -' ,. nz. , - :' ' .. ., f fQ.1ffL -5, A, 5 ' 2 ---.-gh -wav. -13 fax? 1 , - . L-421 ' - f - ' f - '- ' ,Q 4, dj- 1. .M z.2 ff,'.'E .Q - -' '4 r, 'W I 1 4' .4- E. .f Y -f ' '- Y -. - ', .. V U were kept busy det ting enemy!