Boston (CAG 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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FRGM THE PAST - PIRATE FIGHTER A smart wooden frigate of 1776 with twenty-four bristling smoothbores was the first of an impressive line of ships to bear the name USS Boston. This frig- ate gave an auspicious beginning to the men-of-war which were to follow by boldly sailing the Mediterranean, where she captured several British vessels for the Revolutionary cause. ln succeeding years, as the national situation de- manded, new and more powerful Bos- tons were launched. The third of the fighting tradition captured six pirate ships. During one year she visited port for a mere fifteen days, a sturdiness her successors were to show at neces- sary times. Four wooden vessels sailed before the first steel cruiser USS Boston was launched in l884. This 3,000 ton cruiser, fighting in the battle at Manilla Bay, conducted herself, in the words of T BOSTON OF 1799 Admiral Dewey, With the very high- est quality . . . with courage and spirit . . . . From the days of the rather cumber- some Great White Fleet of Dewey to contemporary times, the ability to con- trol the ever important seas has de- manded a radical progression in the character of the sea-going man-of-war. The demand was particularly poignant in the l'940's. Needed was a speedy craft that could traverse great areas of the ocean and maneuver in complex patterns while a member of a vast for- mation. She must be able to steam in- dependently with confidence where the fury of the storm makes seaworthiness a necessity. Also, she must have the dual ability to muster a powerful bar- rage of fire power against surface and air targets, and be sufficiently armored to withstand the counter-attack of the