Boston (CAG 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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Sixth Fleet Deployment I While deployed in the Mediter- ranean, the U.S.S. BOSTON sei-ved as a unit of the United States Sixth Fleet. As such, she played an integral part in carrying out the policies and programs of that Fleet. The Sixth Fleet ' s existence in the Mediterranean is primarily to act as a deterrent to war. BOSTON and the 50 other ships of the Fleet represent a vast amount of mobile power not only throughout the 2,700 mile length of the Mediterranean, but also 2,000 miles inland. The Sixth Fleet is capable of launching conventional or nuclear strikes in defense against ag- gression throughout Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and far into the Soviet Union. It can land 2200 Marines on three continents in a matter of days. The Sixth Fleet is mobile, self- supporting, and self-protecting. It is tied to no particular land base but is completely supplied while at sea. It operates from international waters where no permission is needed to launch strike or defense aircraft or to shift its forces as a new situation de- velops. In its 18 years of existence, the Sixth Fleet has never fired a hostile gun, although it has been continually prepared to do so in case the need should ever arise. It has never been involved in war largely because its very presence gives those who would infringe upon American Allies and interests second thought. The Sixth Fleet representing the U. S. Navy ' s slogan Seapower for Peace , forms with our NATO Allies an armed force sufficient to meet any military challenge from the Com- munist bloc in the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. In these 18 years, however, the Fleet has projected American power in other directions by building good- will among the people in these na- tions bordering the Mediterranean. BOSTON participated in this in two ways. The fii ' st was through a thorough educational program de- signed to give her officers and men an understanding of what they could expect ashore. This program at- tempted, for example, to explain why there is such a difference between the north and south of Italy, to explain the nationalism and pride of the Turks, and to explain the causes of the Cyprus problem. This allowed the BOSTON sailors to be a better guest of a country — one who, be- cause he understood what he saw, was more likely to enjoy his visit, and one more likely to leave a better impres- sion of America upon the people. The other means was Project Hand- clasp, the U. S. Navy ' s program of assistance to needy people overseas. Project Handclasp is an outgi ' owth of individual efforts by naval personnel to aid the underprivileged in foreign countries. Given official status by the Department of the Navy, the program provides for the transpoi-tation of Navy ships for donations of clothing, medical supplies, and books from civilian sources intended for distribu- tion to needy people in over-populated areas, to those who have lost their homes through disaster, and to hos- pitals and orphanages. In her role as delivery agent, BOSTON took aboard hospital sup- plies and equipment donated by nine Greater Boston hospitals, drugs do- nated by nine nationally-known phar- maceutical firms, Red Cross gift packages, and sporting goods, the total worth being more than $60,000. Much of the hospital equipment was refurbished enroute to the Mediter- ranean by BOSTON ' S International Team, members of the crew who also presented the goods upon arrival in each port. Thus, for each of the 365 days every year the Sixth Fleet actively protects and projects American for- eign policy in the Mediterranean Sea. BOSTON was there 138 of those days in 1964. She was there with carriers, destroyers, oilers, auxiliaries, sub- marines, minesweepers, and other cruisers. For 138 days her 1100 men sweated, froze, cried, and laughed . . . and did their part. This is the log of those 138 days.

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BOSTON ' S story took on new luster in 1943 when CA-69, a heavy cruiser of the Baltimore class, was commis- sioned at Quincy, Mass., on 30 June The sixth ship to bear the name of BOSTON, she entered the Navy dur- ing the global war, carrying a proud heritage into the fighting in the Pacific. Serving with the famed Fast Carrier Forces, Pacific, CA-69 pro- vided anti-aircraft cover for the air- craft carriers of the Third and Fifth Fleets. Her eight and five inch guns also pounded enemy-held beaches dur- ing many of the Pacific campaigns of 1944-1945. The sixth BOSTON was present during the ofi ' ensive action at the Marshalls and the Marianas, during the invasion of Iwo Jima, during the Okinawa and Philippine campaigns and at the Tokyo Bay surrender on September 2nd, 1945. She returned to the United States on February 10th, 1946, proudly displaying ten battle ribbons for action in the far- flung Pacific Theater. Decommissioned in 1946, BOSTON was taken out of the mothball fleet at Bremerton, Washington in Febru- ary, 1952 and towed via the Panama Canal to Camden, New Jersey for conversion to a guided missile cruiser — the world ' s first. The Terrier missile battery was added during BOSTON ' S conversion, replacing her number 3 gun turret, and 3-inch guns replaced her World War II 40mm ahti-aircraft battery. After these and other moderaizations, she was recommissioned as CAG-1 on November 1st, 1955. Since her recommissioning USS BOSTON has served with the U. S. Second and Sixth Fleets in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Al- though no longer in her grim camou- flage paint of World War II days, she still carries on the proud heritage and traditions of her five predecessors. Playing multiple roles in the mod- ern Navy, BOSTON is able to act as a powerful anti-aircraft ship, to pro- vide gunfire support for amphibious landings, and to perform as a fleet or force flagship. As an anti-aircraft defense ship, BOSTON helps to protect Naval Task Forces, such as attack aircraft carrier striking forces, amphibious ships loaded with Marines on their way to distant shores. Naval logistic and supply ships on which we depend so much for our mobility, and the vital convoys so familiar during World War II. This mission incorporates three phases of air defense. For the first BOSTON is fitted with long range radar and communications equipment. This enables her to con- trol and direct defending Navy planes from aircraft carriers to intercept and destroy threatening enemy planes at great distances from the fleet. For the second phase BOSTON is equipped with the deadly Terrier anti- aircraft guided missile. Terrier flies at twice the speed of sound to inter- cept enemy airplanes which may have slipped past the long-range cordon of defending planes. For close-in air defense, BOSTON has three and five inch guns, capable of throwing a hail of bursting flak into the air. BOSTON ' S five and eight inch guns fulfill her combat mission as a sup- port ship for amphibious landings. The big guns soften up the beaches before the Marines land, and act as artillery during the early stages of their advance inland. These same guns might be em- ployed against enemy warships or enemy merchant shipping either while on patrol as a surface raider, or act- ing as part of a blockading force. BOSTON ' S modern and extensive electronics equiiiment, especially that in the field of communications, makes her well suited to act as a flagship for almost any Naval operation. Thus, BOSTON is a versatile weapon possessing capabilities wliich make her suitable for almost any type of task force operations.

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Rear Admiral Frederick H. Schneider, Jr. Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla Ten 25 Septembei- 1964 Captain Miles R. Finley, Jr. Chief of Staff 24 April 1964