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 down many attacking planes. On April 4, the ships enter the anchorage at Majuro (southeastern Mariana Atoll) and remain there until the 17th. During that time, Majuro fills up with arriving ships for the Next Action – the invasion of strategic enemy bases in New Guinea (the Hollandia Invasion — Operation Reckless.)
WORDS
Words . . . written or spoken . . . Is there a more powerful manifestation of man’s intelligence?
Words have enormous power. They can be devastatingly negative and hurtful. They can be exhilaratingly beautiful. They can heal. They can teach. They can destroy.
A reader of both my book and this blogsite contacted me by email. Did I have any copies of the newsletter? she asked. [I have worked on dozens of newsletters – all aspects from writing to production — for organizations large and small.] Barely able to contain myself, I asked if she would be willing to send me copies of her copies. After some time elapsed, several emails going and coming, and navigating the complexities of sending LARGE files across cyberspace, the files started to populate my “in box.” First one newsletter, then another, then yet another. Three issues of The BeanPot – the weekly newsletter aboard the “Big B” Other documents came as well, including yet another newsletter named the “BEE.”
Courtesy of the family Of Augustus Harris, S1C, CA-69
So, here we have it – yellowed and tattered-edged pieces of paper, full of drawings by crewmembers, full of columns of words pounded out on old typewriters — some words faded and almost illegible, some clear and strong. Jokes. Words of wisdom by the Chaplain (who doubled as the Editor). Bits and pieces of “inside jokes” and info about what different divisions were doing. The first issue complains about the on-going lack of participation in the newsletter by the crew (4 pages) The ‘second’ one — six months later is 10 pages long. The last one reflects an entirely different tone – the war was over and they were on Occupation Duty. That issue is all about boxing matches and other pressing matters.
Sixty-five years later, these documents and their words reach out across time in a way that no history book, no documentary ever could. A little piece of the fabric of the crewmembers’ lives aboard the Boston during the epic Pacific War, frozen in time, comes to life on fading, yellowed sheets of paper. A big-smile bonus for me and my siblings: seeing my father’s name in one of the articles.
My youngest son, Thaddeus, turns 20 the end of next month. A whole ship full of kids his age served aboard the “B” – doing everything from producing a weekly newsletter to shooting down enemy divebombers swooping in to sink their ship.
Steve
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 entrenched, well equipped and tenacious Japanese soldiers, who were ordered to fight until the last man fell – no surrender.
Iwo Jima, like all the “landings” before, proved to be a grueling battle of attrition in which only 216 of the (approximately) 22,000 Japanese defenders taken prisoner by the time the island was declared “secure” on March 26, 1945 – 35 days after the initial assault. The rest were killed. Despite the massive air and ongoing ship bombardments leading up to and during the invasion, there were almost 26,000 American casualties (6,825 dead).
The next “Home Island” target was Okinawa, which proved to be a horrifying harbinger of the planned Invasion of Japan (Operations Olympic and Coronet). There were as many as 500,000 Okinawan civilians living on the island. “Final” casualty counts estimate that as many as 42,000 civilians died, including unknown hundreds who hurled themselves en masse off cliffs rather than be captured by the barbaric Americans. About 108,000 Japanese soldiers (including about 20, 000 Okinawans “conscripted” into the Army) were killed. American assault troop casualties totaled 12,000 killed and about 38,000 wounded.
Japanese strategists had a special surprise for the Americans. They unleashed ten massive raids of kamikaze planes and fighter escorts against both the invasion fleet just offshore and the Task Force ships ranging further offshore. Between April 6 and June 22, 1945, Kikusui Raids (“Floating Chrysanthemums”) swarmed Navy ships day and night. Total numbers are unknown, but some of the raids consisted of several hundred kamikazes and equal numbers of conventional fighter planes and bombers. Hardest hit group were the “Picket Destroyers” stationed in strategic locations around Okinawa as “early warning radar posts” to protect the beachhead invasion and the carriers further offshore from enemy air attacks. The kiketsui extracted a heavy toll: more than 5,000 sailors killed, 21 ships sunk and 66 more damaged — some so heavily they were out of commission for the rest of the war.
The Boston and her crew escaped this madness. They were ordered home for retrofits and repairs in advance of the planned invasion of Japan.
LOGISTICS
In my early research prior to writing A Bird’s Eye View, I was struck by the magnitude of the logistics of the Pacific War — the moving of men, equipment and materials. For example, Task Force 58 (and TF38) was a collection of 97 warships that ranged widely all across the Pacific, attacking enemy bases over hundreds of thousands of square miles of ocean. There were about 100,000 men aboard those ships.
When the Task Force combined with other fleet components for the invasion of Iwo Jima, for example, there were more than 650 ships steaming toward that tiny volcanic island — ferrying Marines and equipment in a massive armada.
At some point, I read that it took one metric ton of materials per man per month to prosecute this war. The Navy (combined Navy, Naval aviators, Coast Guard and Marines) totaled over 3,000,000 men (and yes, there were some women). [We’re not even factoring in the ARMY and all the other personnel involved in the Pacific.] Thirty six million metric tons of fuel, bombs, food, equipment and supplies a year flowing across the U.S. and over the waves . . .
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I was lucky to receive my late uncle Wilson’s “Navy stuff” a few years ago from his wife, my aunt Marge. Wilson was a coxswain aboard the destroyer Erben during the war. The Erben was mostly attached to the Seventh Fleet, also known as “MacArthur’s Navy” and had about 100 men aboard. Their duty was mostly screening the Invasion Fleet that delivered Marines and Infantry soldiers to their destinations.
I have some of the ship’s newsletters. Gleaned from the 1 year Anniversary issue (5/28/44): [Engineering] “During its first year, the ERBEN traveled 68,964.7 miles at an average speed of 15.8 knots.” “We consumed 3,082,056 gallons of fuel oil, at an approximate cost of $88,000.” “Every man on board uses almost 20 gallons of fresh water a day.” [Communications] “The Radiomen and Signalmen have used up 50,000 message blanks” [Supply] “The Supply Division has prepared and served 328,425 individual meals at a cost of $71,427.03.” “339 tons of food have been consumed.” [Ordnance] “We have fired 3,420 rounds of 5”/38 ammunition [5” guns], 7,834 rounds of 40mm, and 12,694 rounds of 20mm ammunition [anti-aircraft] . . . The total expenditure on ammunition was $328,537.50.” [C & R] “While in drydock [6 times], four and one third tons of anti-fouling paint have been applied to her bottom . . . the paint would completely cover five and one-half football fields.”
In a future blog, I will share comparable stats about the Boston, gleaned from the first year anniversary issue of the weekly newsletter The Bean Pot, sent to me by the family of Seaman 1st Class Augustus Harris.
Late March aboard the Boston
1944: The men, still sore from their Crossing the Line hazing, pull into anchorage at Espiritu Santo (in the New Hebrides) on March 10 and remain at anchor with liberty ashore until March 24. On the 25th through the 31st, CA-69 participates in the Task Force raid on the Japanese stronghold of PALAU in the Caroline Islands (Operation Desecrate).
1945: While the rest of the Task Force is engulfed in the action at Okinawa, The Boston steams home to San Pedro CA (Long Beach / Los Angeles) for major overhauls in preparation for the planned final push — the massive invasion of the Home Islands of Japan. (Japan surrendered before those operations were launched.) The ship arrives on March 25, 1945. The men were split into two groups — each had three weeks leave. The first group left that afternoon. THE MEN WENT HOME — only to return aboard the ship and face the grim task of grinding the enemy into eventual surrender.