Boston (CA 69) - Naval Cruise Book

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l 2 5 5 l v F i ............ QA... reported that her fighters had shot down all enemy planes in a formation of seven. At dusk Iapanese torpedo planes attacked- the Task Force and for the first time the guns of the Boston fired at the enemy. Later a Iapanese pilot was picked up by a ship of the group, and his story indicated that his plane was the Boston's first victim. It was in this area also that planes from the Boston rescued an officer pilot and two enlisted men from a plane that crashed during one of our carrier strikes. On the return trip to Majuro, sideswipes were taken also at Woleai and Yap. The Iaps, having felt the sting of the Task Force were leaving it strictly alone and no trouble was ex- perienced. D On April 22nd, the Boston once more sortied from Majuro with the Task Force to support General MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Forces in the seizure and occupation of Hollandia in New Guinea. One week later, on the way back from Hollandia, the Task Force journeyed slightly afield to deliver a sharp crack at the Iap Fortress of Truk. An enemy plane fifteen miles away sighted the deadly group and radioed a warning to fellow air- men on the island. Knowing the Iap was alerted, the Carrier Monterey launched ten planes to repel the expected attack. Suddenly an enemy plane was sighted off the Boston's starboard bow and the Boston's guns opened fire. In the subsequent action, which has been recorded in technicolor for the movie Fighting Lady, the Boston scored her first definite kill shooting down the at- tacking Iill Seconds later the drum like sound of the Bostons Forties and the chattering of her Twenties were heard as gunners opened up on a smoking enemy plane which was headed for the Carrier Yorktown Accuracy of the fire stopped this plane short of its goal and all hands cheered as it burst into flames after striking the water In this action the Boston claimed two of the three planes which had pierced the formation The next day the Boston journeyed southward to Satawan where her guns threw five and eight inch shells into that Iap held island without opposition Explosions were heard and fires were still raging as she turned her back on the island and headed once more for Majuro and a brief relief from war Salty now the Boston was assigned in Mid way to escort some newly islands of Marcus and Wake which proved to be more of a pleasure cruise than a war mission Formed up once more with Task Force 58 the Boston headed for Guam with a new commanding officer at the helm Captain E E Herrmann USN of Washington D C who boarded the ship on Iune 5 and was destined to carry it safely through many missions against the enemy Guam was the first stop on what was to be one of the longest cruises of her career, and also one of the most vital missions of the entire war-the attack on the Marianas. When it had been completed, we had secured operating bases for the B-29s, had nearly snipped in two the Japanese Life Lines to the South, and had almost annihilated Iapan's Carrier Air Power. As the force approached Guam, a Jap plane, spotting the mighty ships, radioed a warning: but fighter planes making a sweep over the island, nevertheless took'the enemy by surprise by their departure from the usual procedure of striking at dawn. Results were very successful. Speeding northward, the group then -struck swiftly at Iwo lima and headed southwestward again with orders to launch a long range search for the Iap fleet reported passing through San Bernardino Straits, their obvious intent being a bolstering of the defense of the Marianas. At 10 O'clock on the morning of Iune 19th carrier planes were launched to intercept a raid of 30 enemy planes. This was the first of seven major raids during the day, numbering from one to 90 planes. The most significant fact of the action was the complete annihilation of every enemy plane. The following day searches for the lap fleet were con- tinued, and late in the afternoon one of our airmen radioed that he had sighted the enemy Task Force 215 miles to the west. The Boston increased her speed, hoping for a surface battle. Again our carrier planes struck and badly damaged one Iap carrier and other units of the enemy s dwindling fleet. The next day the lap force was out of range but the mission was successful for the enemy had been chased back to his lair, and the amphibious landings of the Marianas continued with- out interruption The Commander of our Task Force expressed sympathy that our ship s gunners did not get a chance to take a crack at the lap fleet and labelled the enemy Not only yellow in color but 1n spirit as well A summation of damage inflicted showed that 402 enemy planes were destroyed in the action which will be forever re- membered by airmen as the Marianas Turkey Shoot Darn- age to the enemy fleet was also revealed to be substantial, in- gglcillgg the sinking of one Carrier two Destroyers and a Tanker amage to three Carriers one Battleshr ' I p two Heav Cruis- ers one Light Cruiser two Destroyers and three Tankers Y Warm congratulations were received from Admirdl Nimitz 31123 13113221 glggjt Your Air Groups have just turned in an- althinithef Punch at Iwo lima was landed on June 24th and 9 Our planes were outnumbered we quickl shortened h Y Qfehjids Score for the dUY 116 planes shot down to our loss I , I Er ' ll I ll If . . , I , ' ' - ll - Il - - . , 1 I E . . . . . . H . . . . . . . ,, . , I ' ' , - l 1 . - . - - . ,I - I V' . . ' . 2, I ' ' .. - - I , arrived carriers on a combat shakedown cruise to attack the , ' ' I ' ' ' bf i - I . I I ' I I -- - I - I u .ll is ' - - 'Q ' ' I I 1 0 vi . .2 ' H ' ' 1 gg . . . - , ' I . .

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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!

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-? '2ln At the end of Iune. a rush trip was made by the Boston to the new base at Eniwetok for provisioning, and then the ship returned to Iwo lima to celebrate the Fourth of Iuly by giving that island its first plastering by naval guns. For more than an hour, the Boston lobbed in eight- and five inch shells, hitting installations and its Southern Airfield, where almost seventy aircraft were lined up like lambs for the slaughter. A splendid afternoon's work, radioed the Commander of the Task Unit, Smartly carried out by all hands and understood by the enemy. From Iwo, the fleet headed south towards Guam and for two weeks ably fulfilled its assignment of keeping airfields on Guam and Rota neutralized: intercepting and destroying enemy aircraft approaching the Marianas from the south: and destroy- ing enemy installations on Guam After the Guam landings were well underway, the fleet struck at Woleai, Palau, Yap and Ulithi In giving credit to the Boston and other ships of the Task Force the Marine Command- ing General said No higher credit can possibly be given to any force than is due to Task Force 58 You keep the enemy off our necks Admiral Nimitz again praised the group and declared that The successes achieved advanced America far on the road to winning the war The first of September found the Boston proceeding out of Eniwetok with the newly formed Third Fleet under Admiral Halsey on a mission which was to result in shortening the war perhaps by months Strong fighter sweeps against Palau were launched on September Sth but were reduced to half on the following two days for Airmen reported that they were running out of targets In rapid succession Mindanao Cebu and the Negros Islands were hit Over the last two named Islands 35 enemy planes were shot down 34 destroyed on the ground and 47 damaged Zamboanga was next on the IISI and then the Boston headed for Morotai to support landings there while others of the fleet backed the landings at Peleliu and the peaceful occupation of Ulithi On the 19th of that month Clark and Nichols Fields and shipping in Manila Bay were hit All hands were feeling a quiet exhilaration and seconded the commendation of the Task F Commander who said They cannot stop you In the second week of October the Boston was with the Third Fleet after a short stay at Manus Admiralties Taking the laps once more by struck at Okinawa from 20 miles away N M ,,, ,,,:,i ,, J -vm-ff 1-,u1....,es.v.,s-..,.r,..,-...sues-W1--v--fe ' -' : '-'K C 2 -lt . 1 Formosa was the target on October l2th,,ffand this time the enemy sent planes out in force. The'Boston's iguns opened up, driving them off and downing at least one. But enemy Torpedo planes succeeded in hitting the Boston's sister ship, the Canberra, which had to be taken in tow by the Wichita. The Houston took the Canberra's place in the formation, and she too 'was hit by enemy planes, although the Boston downed two more lap Air- craft. - The Houston reported her engine rooms and fire rooms flooded, and said that she was abandoning ship. But in the black and squally night, the Boston took the Houston under tow, and through 36 tense hours inched her away from the threat of the laps on Formosa only 75 miles distant. lust a few hours after the Fleet Tucf, Pawnee had taken the tow line, a force of enemy fighters swooped down, only to be driven from the sky by a group of eight fighters from the Cowpens and the Cabot Relating to the withdrawal of the damaged ships under tow Admiral Halsey messaged For skill and guts the safe retirement by the damaged Canberra and Houston from the shadow of Formosa while under a heavy attack will become a Navy tradition To all hands who contributed to the job well done Leaving the Canberra and Houston safe in friendly waters the Boston rejoined the Carrier Group A short 24 hours later an SOS came from the Escort Carrier Group off Samar then under attack by the Iapanese Fleet which had come through San Bernardino Straits early in the morning Two air strikes from our carriers were launched and our bombs scored hits on three of four enemy Battleships and three out of nine Heavy Cruisers A subsequent strike scored two more hits on Battle- ships and one on a Cruiser with another Cruiser left dead in the water A Kongo Class Battleship was left burning and listing badly . More severe damage was inflicted the following day and with the lap Fleet knocked out of business for a long time perhaps for good our Fleet returned to Ulithi for provisioning and recreation for the crews on Mog-Mog Island Then back again to keep the lap Air Force off the necks of our forces ashore' on Luzon at enemy aircraft in the Manila area estroved or damaged Considerable inflicted in Manila Bay and docks at Manila and V detached to proce 'to Ma-nusrlsliind anirboilers A miraculous 9 , more of