Author: bill

I came across this at the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum in Washington DC. This is the type of seaplane which saw service in WWII on the USS Boston.

From the Deck logs that you can read here: http://www.ca-69boston.org/Decklog-Month/jul43dl.pdf , after the ship was commissioned the regularity of leave caused some issues. A small percentage of sailors had trouble with arriving on time; this caused each that missed the deadline to be punished. A few sailors had trouble obeying direct orders and were punished. Some sailors were injured, one needed three stitches when he awoke a 3:30am and hit his mouth on the bunk, and another fell down a ladder. A few sailors came back from leave with badly injured hands.

Discipline metered out by the officers, looks particularly harsh compared with our current civilian standard. Typical were 5-7 day confinements on bread and water for 24 leave violations. A few summary court martials happened in the month for drunken brawls and resisting arrest; the punishment was dishonorable discharge, deferred if the sailor had good conduct for six months. Six months from now, these discharges would happen immediately, but to get the ship in better shape they represented a warning to the other sailors. Another all too typical matter was disciplining Stewarts Mates for insubordination, the underlying issue was Stewarts’s Mates were black (one of only two jobs blacks could hold on the Boston) and they had a disproportionate number of insubordination charges from their white officers across all navel vessels in World War II. Toward the end of the month, a huge increase in summary court Martials occurred for the many AOL’s that lasted for more than a few hours. Many sailors were given 15 to 30 day sentences of solitary confinement and bread and water with full rations every thirty days. There were two to three summary court martials for wearing ‘Clothing of another man’s possessions’ with sentences like ten days break and water and loss of pay.

Each night a shore patrol, made up of the crew, went on shore to ensure that the crew made it back on time, sometimes, like late in the month, they apprehended BOSTON sailors who had strayed from the Ship.

The ship undocked once this period, presumably for a voyage around Boston Harbor in which there are many Naval Photographs. Toward the end of the month, the Navajo Marine Telephone Talkers were instructed on communications, and the ship took on live ammunition.

Late in the Month one of a handful of deaths on the BOSTON during World War II occurred, Seaman 2nd Class J. A. Jeglieowski died of an apparent heart attack.

Steve has just published Volume 2 or Baked Beans!!!  This volume is packed with stories and pictures from sailors who were on the ship and lots of pictures from the National Archives and private collections about CA-69.

Volume II relates the events from Sept 1, 1944 through the end of March 1945 when the ship returned to San Pedro, CA for repairs. During this half-year, the Boston participated in the Philippines Campaigns and Iwo Jima. The incredible story of the crippling of two US cruisers by enemy torpedo bombers off the coast of Formosa (Taiwan) and the subsequent retreat (with Boston towing torpedoed cruiser Houston) comes alive in these pages.  The men relate some memories of the harrowing Typhoon Cobra that claimed three destroyers and 800 men. First hand accounts of what they witnessed on Iwo Jima will not disappoint you!

Like Vol. I, this book is loaded with primary-source materials: photos from the National Archives,   official War Reports from the Boston and Cruiser Division 10,   diary entries from two of the crewmembers, and first hand-accounts from men who lived through the events!
Click HERE to order this book!

-Bill