steve

Second Battle of the Philippine Sea

11-3-14 By the middle of October, the Combined Imperial Japanese Imperial Navy began heading for the Philippines to try to thwart American amphibious landings up and down the archipelago.   The landings on Leyte were the final straw for them.   The series of battles lasted three days (Oct. 23 – Oct. 28)

Late October

10-23-14 By the 18th, Task Unit 30.3.1 had morphed into TU 30.3.2 as all the capital ships were redeployed back into their respective task groups.   The Boston, flagship of Cruiser Division 10, was now the only capital ship protecting the two crippled cruisers on their long

Streamlined Bait

10-21-14 After the Houston was hit by an aerial torpedo, the captain decided to abandon ship.   Halsey was faced with a dilemma –   the ship was damaged; in fact two cruisers were damaged.   The Canberra was deemed “salvageable”   – but the Houston was more seriously wounded.   Halsey knew that he might have

October 15, 1944

10-15-14 The USS HOUSTON (Cl-81) under tow by USS BOSTON (CA-69) after being struck amidships by an aerial torpedo during action off Formosa.   Destroyer removing personnel from damaged cruiser.

October 14

10-14-14 George Pitts: Oct 14 – 44:   Early dawn found us at our battle stations waiting for them to close in again.   Few of us were able to find time for a couple of winks of sleep last night.   All day long they kept heckling us by sending in one plane

Formosa

11-13-14 From the diary of George Pitts: Oct 12-44: Our fighters took off early this morning to sweep Formosa before our bombers went to blast the hell out of the place.   The day turned out to be quite eventful.   At sunset the Japs provided us with a little excitement.   They

the Battle off Formosa

10/10/2014 After spending the entire month of September ranging off the Philippines participating in “Operation King”, the Boston spent the last couple of days anchored in the lagoon at Eniwetok.   On Oct. 1, the ship, a unit of Task Group 38.1, embarked on a continuation of Operation

Late September 1944

9-23-14 More from Frank Studenski’s diary: September 22, 1944:   Early this morning as e were going to dawn general quarters, the other task force was firing at Jap planes.   A couple of planes trying to get away from the other task force, ran into us.   We opened fire but

mid Sept. 1944

Sept 13, 2014 While I am tempted to continue the chronology of the last several posts and talk about Occupation duty, I have chosen instead to look at Sept. 1944. After spending the entire month of August, 1944 anchored in the lagoon at Eniwetok (Marshall Islands)   –   during which time the

Sept 2, 1945 - War, Politics, and Surrender

Aug 31, 2014 The documents of Surrender were signed aboard the USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay, to much fanfare on September 2, 1945.   Given the finite size of the Bay, not every ship afloat in the Pacific was going to be able to squeeze in and be present during

AUGUST 15, 1945

August 15, 2014 From Frank Studenski’s Diary: August 15, 1945:       This morning we returned to the Tokyo area and the carriers had launched their planes for the first strike when we heard the final news of the Japanese surrender.   So the war ended for the U.S.S. Boston,

Aug 9, 1945

Aug 9, 2014 The Boston, along with cruisers: Quincy, Chicago and St. Paul, split off from Task Group 38.4 at 0300 hours, and met up with battleships: Massachusetts, South Dakota and Alabama by 0500 hours and formed a formidable Bombardment Group.   By 1200 (noon), they were within 20 miles

August 6, 1945

August 6, 2014 Discussing the last days of the war, Pat Fedele says this: We were ordered to prepare for ship-to-ship battle with the Japanese. The Quincy, the Boston, the destroyers – not the carriers though, were going to go in and shoot shells at the Japanese Navy.   It got called

Working on it . . .

Aug 2, 2014 The calendar is lining up in a weird way for me.   As July ends and August begins, the story of the Boston and all the other ships of the Task Force shuffles headfirst into the forthcoming Armistice Day (Aug. 15).   The ship participates in the shelling / bombardment

Paul Block, RM3c

7-31-14 Got an email from Rick Block informing me that his grandfather, Paul Block, passed away on the 27th.   Paul was a radioman who came aboard in early August, 1944, and stayed aboard until mid April, 1946   –   part of the mothballing of the great ship in Bremerton, WA. After I

Late July 1945

7-25-14 (on July 16, 1945, in the desert near Los Alamos, New Mexico, a newly-developed bomb was tested [cynically called “The Trinity Test”]   for the first time.) The ships of the Task Force were within one hundred miles of Honshu, Japan by July 24. The carriers would unload deckloads of

July 1945

7-18-14 The ship left San Pedro on June 1, after months of repair / retrofit construction and headed back to the Pacific via Pearl Harbor.   She left Pearl Harbor on July 2nd in a small group of destroyers and the cruiser St. Paul, and headed for Eniwetok (Marshall Islands).   On July

the FOURTH of JULY

6-28-14 Our 4th of July celebrations – fireworks, picnics, patriotic parades, (days off from work!) are a reminder of the bloody struggles our young nation endured to break free from the King of England.   It also reminds us of the continuum of blood spilled throughout our history in war after war

More Okinawa

6-8-14 By the time the invasion of Okinawa rolled around (March 1945), the Japanese were clearly losing the War and had all but lost their once-formidable Navy.   All their defensive strategies, from Operation A-Go to holding their defensive ring of islands and   atolls across the Central Pacific had long-since failed

D DAY and OKINAWA

6-5-14 Tomorrow, June 6, marks the 70th anniversary of the massive amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy, which we call and remember as D-Day. I have always been struck by the “disparity of history” in the media coverage and collective consciousness of   World War II between the War in

Harry J. Nickel, S1c

5-31-14 Plankowner Harry J. Nickel, mustered onto CA-69 on Commissioning Day, June 30, 1943 and served aboard her until he was transferred off the ship at the tail end of Occupation Duty (12/26/45). photo submitted by Harry’s granddaughter,   Tonya Nickel

DAUNTLESS

5-24-14 From the Planes of Fame collection: DAUNTLESS: adjective 1. not to be daunted or intimidated; fearless; intrepid; bold: a dauntless hero . (dictionary.com) Today is the beginning of Memorial Day weekend.   I can’t think of a better time to be typing the word “dauntless” on my keyboard. When

Our planes

5-10-14 The Planes of   Fame Museum also has some of “our planes” from WWII.   One of the hangars is divided in two, with one room dedicated to the heavy carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6).   CV-6 was no stranger to the men on the Boston; she was one of the carriers they

Vals / Judys / Jills - dropping in for a visit . . .

5-3-14 From Frank Studenski’s War Diary: April 30, 1944     (the Hollandia Invasion) This morning planes took off the carriers to bomb Jap airfields and ships.   All of the planes were in the air by 0630 hours. Jap planes spotted us at 0900 hours.   We were attacked by 22 torpedo

Planes of Fame

4-27-14 Two weekends ago, I drove down to the Greater LA area.   I had two “jobs” to do:   visit Norm Bayley’s grandson (we are working on a “Norm project”), and see Pat Fedele who was about to celebrate his 90th birthday (which fell on Easter Sunday.) Happy birthday, Pat.