Boston (CAG 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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Decommissioned to the mothball fleet in 1946, BOSTON came to life again in 1952 when she was towed to the New York Shipbuilding Company ' s yards in Camden. New Jersey, for conversion to a guided missile cruiser. This she became in 1955 - the world ' s first such ship - and joined the Fleet as an air defense platform unequaled in any Navy. Until 1967, USS BOSTON (CAG-1) sailed under the Second and Sixth Fleets, taking part in operations in all parts of the Atlantic and Mediterranean as a deterrent to aggression and as a commanding force on the seas. But when her country became involved again in a far-off war, BOSTON was ready to answer the call. On 4 March 1967, USS BOSTON steamed from her home port of Boston, Massachusetts, for the Western Pacific and Vietnam. From mid-April until September, BOSTON was an active unit of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, participating in operations designed to prevent the enemy from moving troops and supplies into South Vietnam. She steamed almost 60,000 miles during her deployment, fired more than 14,000 rounds of ammunition, and took part in some 750 missions. She visited ports in China, Japan and the Philippines, along with Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. And she carried 1,200 men into Harm ' s Way. This book is the story of that cruise and the men who fought BOSTON so majestically. It is not intended as a complete record, for to be so inclusive would require 1,200 men to put the thoughts of eight months into words. This cannot be done. But what can be done is show BOSTON in some of her finer moments, and in some lesser ones, too, with the hope that these pages will revive some memorable events for all hands. USS BOSTON (CAG-1), World ' s first guided missile cruiser.

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In 1776 - the year of Independence - a tiny armed gondola was launched against the British on Lake Champlain. Although it (ought but a (ew weeks and was sunk to avoid capture, the gondola was signi- ficant for one reason - this was the first warship to hear the name of the capital city of Massachusetts, BOSTON. Later that same year, a frigate named USS BOSTON was commissioned with the same purpose and sailed under the small, but efficient, Revolutionary Navy. A third USS BOSTON was launched in 1799 and was to fight the pirates of the Barbary Coast and the British during the War of 1812. A fourth USS BOSTON joined the Fleet in 1825, but her grounding in the Caribbean enroute to Mexico in 1846 pre- vented her from seeing action for the United States. An armored cruiser hearing the name BOSTON was commissioned in 1889, fought with Admiral Dewey in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War, and served the Fleet as a training ship until 1946. Thus, it was only fitting that in 1943, as the United States lay embroiled in yet another struggle, another mighty warship with the name BOSTON would enter service of her country. At the Fore River Yards in Quincy, Massachusetts, the heavy cruiser USS BOSTON (CA-69) was born to fight the Japanese in the Pacific. She fought in ten campaigns, anchored in Tokyo Bay in 1945 when the Japanese sur- rendered, and she steamed home an honored veteran of the world ' s most terrible war. Old Armored Cruiser BOSTON. igum dki i

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ptain m Archer R. pa on Commanding 29 March 1966 3 July 196 7 Captain Archer R. Gordon was born in New York City on January 15, 1921. He attended St. John ' s University in Brooklyn and was commissioned in the Navy in June 1941, following completion o( the Navy ' s V-12 program at Northwestern University. His (irst duty was in USS CHEMUNG (AO-30) and soon after he attended Navy Submarine School, graduating in 1943. His first submarine was USS SEADRAGON (SS-194) of which he became Executive Officer in 1945. He served as Executive Officer of USS SEA ROBIN ISS-407), assuming command of that submarine in 1950, and then became Force Ordnance Officer in Submarine Force Pacific. Captain Gordon assumed command of Submarine Divi- sion 91 when it became the Navy ' s first guided missile submarine unit in 1955, and later commanded the Pacific Fleet Submarine Training Facility at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In 1961. Captain Gordon took command of the Atlantic Fleet Oceanographic System, and his first deep-draft command was USS HASSAYAMPA (AO-145) in 1964. He took command of USS BOSTON in Boston. Massachusetts, on March 29, 1966. Captain Gordon is married to the former Virginia Utz of Port Washington, New York.