steve - The USS Boston in World War II (Page 13)

The USS Boston in World War II

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ONE YEAR LATER

10-31-10 A year ago, my brother Bill and I launched this website dedicated to the men who served aboard the heavy cruiser USS Boston during the height of the Pacific War. We knew that the ship’s story encompasses four decades — that she was retrofitted into a guided missile cruiser

The Battle for Leyte Gulf

Six days after the Canberra was slammed by a “fish” dropped by a Japanese dive-bomber, the Boston and the Crippled Cruisers were met by more fleet tugboats. Two of them each joined in a tandem tow of the cruisers. Next morning, (Oct 20), Boston received orders to rejoin her task

More on the damaged cruisers

Here’s a Really Big Overview of the situation in the Pacific in mid October, 1944. By the 10th or so, Japan began to scramble her defenses in anticipation of an American invasion – by their reckoning, Formosa or the Philippines were the most likely targets. In fact, the Americans had

The STREAMLINED BAIT ordeal

By dusk (October 13), the ships came under attack again, and a well-executed attack by enemy torpedo bombers resulted in Boston’s sister cruiser, the Canberra being slammed by a torpedo that instantly killed dozens of men below decks. The events that followed over the next week or so are

A Hornet's Nest Swarms off Formosa

The four task groups of Task Force 38, having closed to within 100 or so miles of the coast of Formosa on Oct 12, 1944, began launching a series of airstrikes at dawn. Through the day, naval forces inflicted heavy damage on enemy planes (in the air and on the

THE "B" SPLASHES THREE . . .

THE "B" SPLASHES THREE . . .

October 1944 began with the men aboard the Boston steaming north and west after a few days of rest and resupply in the lagoon anchorage of Eniwetok (Marshall Islands). Operation King was in full swing, and Task Force 38’s job was to support the various amphibious attacks on enemy

OCTOBER

The time the Boston spent participating in the epic struggle in the Pacific in the early 1940’s was not-so-long – a year and nine months from their Pearl Harbor departure as a unit of Task Force 58 until the signing of The Surrender in Tokyo Harbor. By today’s standards,

Then and Now

On liberty in late 1944, Pasco “Pat” (de) Fedele. (Right) Pat at home Aug. 2010 Photos courtesy of Mr and Mrs Pat Fedele

SEPTEMBER

1943: The “Mighty B” is preparing for final departure to the Pacific. The ship steams south along the Eastern Seaboard to the Caribbean in extensive combat-readiness exercises; along with other new warships (the battleship New Jersey, most notably). Boston reaches Trinidad off the north coast of South America. The men

Augustus Harris

Augustus Harris

Born: 5/12/25 Enlisted 3/10/43 He was a plank owner of the Boston, serving from 6-30-43 until he separated from the Navy in February 1946. He died in 1993. On liberty: Augustus (seated first row left) with some of his pals.

AUGUST

By the beginning of August 1943, the men (a hundred or more, according to plank-owner Pasquale (Pat) Fedele) stationed in Boston and barracked at the Fargo Building, were doing “able-bodied” labor aboard the not-quite finished heavy cruiser Boston. She was nearly complete, and had been moved from the Navy shipbuilding

JULY

1944: After dispatching the Japanese Combined Fleet on June 21, the ships of TF 58 attacked Iwo Jima again on the 24th, and on the 26th they dropped anchor in the lagoon at Eniwetok (the westernmost atoll in the Marshall Islands.) After reprovisioning the ships supply of food and armaments,

JUNE 20, 1944 - NIGHT LIGHTS

On the morning of June 20, both Japanese and American commanders launched search planes trying to find each other’s whereabouts. Throughout the day, search missions proved fruitless. Japanese Admiral Ozawa, whose flagship carrier was sunk the day before, still planned to implement A-GO on June 21. He had been

June 19, 1944

The A-GO plan for defeating America in a decisive naval battle required a combination of successful attacks on US ships from carrier planes launched from the west and from land-based planes in Guam and Truk and the Bonins hitting the ships from the east. Unfortunately for Japan, Task Force 58

Mid June, 1944, aboard the BOSTON

After four days of steaming west toward the Mariana Islands, the ships of Task Force 58 finally came into carrier plane range of Guam. On June 11 and 12, they launched wave after wave of fighter and bomber planes, hitting targets up and down the island. Attacks against enemy bases

JUNE ABOARD THE BOSTON

1943: More men arrive daily as the construction of the ship nears completion. The men are barracked in the Fargo Building in South Boston and work as able hands on the ship as her commissioning day approaches. 1944: After two weeks anchored in Majuro, the ships of Task Force 58

MAY aboard the BOSTON

1944: On May 5, the ships pull into Majuro, the southernmost deep lagoon anchorage in the Marshall Islands. The fleet is regrouping and preparing for the upcoming campaign to capture the Mariana Islands. On May 19, the Boston regroups outside of the lagoon into a new Task Group, 58.6,

Bean Pot

In an earlier post, I mentioned that a few copies of the ship’s weekly newsletter, the Bean Pot, were sent to me by family members of seaman Augustus Harris. I waxed on about how words can touch us – even when they float across a period of 65 years . . . Well,

LATE APRIL / EARLY MAY ABOARD THE BOSTON

1944: On the 18th and 19th, the ships of Task Force 58 steam west towards New Guinea. The dawn fighter launches from the carriers on April 20 marks the beginning of Operation Reckless — the support of General MacArthur’s invasion of Hollandia. On the 29th, the ships left the area

ROBERT HEIDL

Courtesy of: the family of Robert O. Heidl, EM2C, CA-69 Born: April 14, 1923 Died: January 27, 1994 Robert attended boot camp at the USN Training Station, Great Lakes, IL. He was a plank owner, serving on the USS Boston from pre-commission until he was transferred for discharge December 20,

FROM A DIFFERENT WORLD

In the early 40’s, our country was still trying to shake off the devastation of the Great Depression. Whole sections of Rural America were still not yet Electrified, nor did they have telephone service, or highways for that matter. For those Americans who had electricity, listening to the radio

The Hard Way

April 3, 2010 Dear Dad, Five years ago today, a few minutes before 2 am Pacific Time, you died just the way you lived — The Hard Way. Admitted to the hospital around 6 am on April Fool’s Day, you were in a coma. You faced death just the way

APRIL on the BOSTON

1944: April opens with the men still involved in Operation Desecrate, the raid on the Japanese stronghold in the Western Carolines (halfway between The Marianas and the Philippines). The men had spent most of their time between March 29 and April 2 manning their battlestations and shot at and shot

OKINAWA

Task Force 58 (and its alter-ego Task Force 38) was the “first-man-in” as the United States (the Allies) advanced methodically westward across the Pacific toward Japan. The ships would attack island groups and enemy bases in advance of amphibious landings in which Marines and infantrymen would slug it out with