Boston (CA 69) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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. 5 Fighter planes struck at Airfields on Luzon, and in one day destroyed 224 'planes and damaged 90 by strafing. Subsequent strikes were hailed by Admiral Halsey as A brilliantly planned and executed operation. . When the Third Fleet locked horns with a -typhoon on December 18th, the Boston was there to ride it out, and al- though she recorded one roll of 46 degrees and many others in excess of 30 degrees, the ship's log solemnly reports that there was suprisingly little evidence of seasickness. Later, the Boston aided in the search for survivors from less fortunate, smaller shi s. pChristmas day was spent in the anchorage at Ulithi and a rather sad crew was cheered somewhat by packages from home, taken aboard the night before. On New Year's Eve the Boston was underway again, and headed for Formosa where our Carrier planes again took a heavy toll of enemy Aircraft. Then Task Force 38 headed south for a two-day strike at Northern Luzon Airfields, designed to keep the Nips grounded so they would be unable to attack our Amphibious Forces approaching Luzon from the south. On Ian- uary 9th, Formosa was hit again in the first strike of an operation that would take Task Force 38 into the South China Sea to hit at targets on the China coast. That night the Boston was the first heavy ship of the Force to enter the South China Sea through Narrow Bashi Channel,- a difficult feat in itself, for the visibility was such that no navi- gational aids could be seen and the ship was necessarily man- euvered entirely by Radar. It became known that the Task Force 'was seeking some remnants of the lap Fleet last reported in Camranh Bay on the coast of French Indio-China. Although the emptiness of the Bay was disapp-ointing, our planes took a heavy toll of lap shipping from Tourane to Saigon, a distance of over 400 miles. Thirty-two enemy ships were sunk, including a Katori Class Cruiser, and 47 vessels Ctotali-ng 80,000 tonsD were damaged. Twelve planes were shot down, 88 destroyed and 24 damaged on the ground. Admiral Halsey again recognized the splendid work of the Force in a message which read, Well done to the Force in a superlative attack. The strategic effect of yesterday's performance will be great. ' On Ianuary 16th our planes hit Hainan and the Ho area, meeting only slight opposition. It was in this area that they Boston rode typhoon, and escaped with only slight damage shields, which were quickly repaired sea whichtossed she was the last to leave through bottle-necked Balantang Chan- nel, although the laps hysterically declared that no American ships would leave the China Sea. It was here too, that the Boston added another enemy plane to her mounting score. A twin engined Irving passed speedily over the ship at a 300 foot altitude, turned and headed straight for the big cruiser. But the Boston's gunn rs had been too Well trained and the lap was downed by fins from the five inch and 40 MM Batteries. North once more sailed the Heavy Cruiser and her company for a last fling at Formosa, and this time the Iap's struck in force, probably in an attempt to save face at having been duped in the China Sea operation. The final tally in this all-out Iapanese attack was 10 enemy planes downed, 97 destroyed on the ground and 101 damaged. Admiral Halsey again saluted the Task Force and called it a Landslide victory for the Big Blue Team. Before heading south again, the fleet took another swipe at Okinawa, sinking 10,000 tons of shipping and destroying numerous planes. A proud crew stepped ashore on Mog-Mog Island for much needed recreation, for the Secretary of the Navy had radioed a message stating that All hands take hats off to the performance of the Third Fleet. In a summation of operations engaged in by the Boston up to this time Admiral Halsey said that We have driven the enemy off the sea and back to his inner de- fenses. I am so proud of your that no words can express my feelings. To the traditional Well done he added that word Super1atively. V Early in February the Fleet set sail again, with the Boston protecting the Carriers as before. After a fast run north-some fifteen hundred miles-the Boston participated in the first Carrier attacks on the Iapanese Home Islands since General Doolittle's raid in 1942. Closing in on Tokyo during the night of February 16th, the Carriers launched their planes at dawn the next day from a point only 130 miles Southeast of the Iapanese capital. All day Fighter sweeps continued over the city, and the next day we struck again, piling up a two day score of 141 planes shot down, 26 destroyed on' the ground and 55 probables, 92 damaged in the and 35 ognghe ground. Coasfal Qs-sel were also sunk and two major Air- four Tokyo ' 'elds were severely damaged. Of the Commander of thi?'Ta'sgGroup said, I hope the lfie Bosion of leading you...-.to victsYy Ior you--W 2. -4. -as--fr' '