5-18-15
During the height of the Philippines Campaign, the task force ships, including TG3.1 (the Boston’s task group) engaged in a strong and prolonged air war against targets on the Japanese super-stronghold island of Formosa (Taiwan). TG38.1 was less than one hundred miles offshore when the first of many counterattacks by Japanese fighter planes materialized. What happened next is referred to as the “Retreat of the Crippled Cruisers” and “the Streamlined Bait,” among other things.
Boston’s sister ship Canberra, identical to CA-69 in every way except for her camouflaged paint job, was hit by airborne torpedoes on Oct 13, 1944. Over the course of the battle, her replacement ship, the light cruiser Houston, was torpedoed during two separate attacks.
As mentioned in the last post, potable water was available on ship by the process of desalination – not by storage tanks. That whole system worked fine, providing the ship was under power. As you can imagine, when the Canberra has hit admidships at the waterline, there was massive flooding, fires and casualties in the engine rooms. She lost all power.
Below is a picture dated Oct 20, 1944, in which the Boston (r) is pumping fresh water via lines to the Canberra. Tow ship can be seen in the distance.
steve