Boston (CAG 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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JULY 30, 1943

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4-U. S. S. BGSTON-1883 After a tour of Mediterranean duty off the coast of Tripoli, this grand. ship re turned to Washington, D. C. for de commissioning whe re she was summarily destroyed to prevent her capture by the Britishin their attack M on that city during the War of 1812, y by 8 The fifth BOSTON beganher career in 1888 on prote ctive duty about Guate - gp p mala and Haiti. g With the outbreak of the Spanish-Ame rican War she became a unit inn' the famous fleet of Admiral Dewey, taking part in the action which destroyed the Spanish, fleet at Manila Bay. From here she went to patrol duty during the course' of which she was on hand to assist at the disastrous San Francisco fire. Today with her fighting and even sailing days definitely ended, this proud ship con- tinues to serve as the USS DESPATCH, Receiving Ship at Yuerba Buena Island, San Francisco, California. 8 a From this proud lineage came the sixth USS BOSTON which took to the water on -Tull' 30, 1943. The second ship of the Baltimore class of heavy cruisers, She was built for SPSCCI, Hlaneuve rability and tremendous fire power and Was commissioned CA-69 , Following a shakedown cruise to Trinidad and Venezuela, the USS BOSBTONJ set ou and t in November of 1943 to fulfill the job for which she was designed b ' '-- . ' uilt the defeat of this country's enemy in the Pacific. y

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On February 2, the BOSTON joined company with the old SARATOGA, the ill-fated PRINCETON and the LANGLEY and saw her first action against Utirik Atoll in the Marshalls with the famous Task F01-Ce 58. Covering the seizure of the Marshalls, she roamed between Wotje and Eniwetok and left on com. pletion of this job for the New Hebrides and then the Western Carolines. It was here at dusk on March 30th that BOSTON chalked up her first kill, fighting off Japanese torpedo planes that attacked the Task Force. . y Following raids against Wole ai and Yap she joined in support of Gene ral MacArthur 's Southwes t Pacific forces in the seizure and occupation of Hollandia in New Guinea. In an action off the Jap fortress of Truk one week later, the BOSTON brought down another attackeroff her starboard bow, an incident which was captured on film and widely publicized in the technicolortmovie, Fighting Lady. Seconds later her chattering forties and twenties opened up on a smoking enemy plane which was headed for the carri- CIQ YORKTOWN. Accuracy of thefire stopped this Plane short of its goal and all hands cheered as it hit the water, bursting into flames. The BOSTON claimed two of the three planes which had pierced the formation. '