Manus Island is a part of the Admiralty Islands off the coats of New Guinea. In 1942, the Japanese established a military base on Manus island. This base became a problem for the US, since it strategically interfered with shipping from the west coast of the US to Australia. Operation BREWER (which the USS Boston did not participate in), attacked the Admiralty Islands on February 29th, 1944. Manus Island was caputured and Seeadler Habor was established as a base by the US Navy.
The USS Boston arrived on November 21st at Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island to dry dock and repair her boilers. Among the constant reminders of war seen by the men on the USS Boston, must have been the remains of the USS Mount Hood. On November 10th, just 11 days before the Bostron arrived at Seealer harbor, the USS Mount Hood exploded. It was loaded with ammunition, and at 8:55am a small flash was noticed, followed by 3800 tons of ammunition exploding. Only small fragments of the ship were left. 18 ships were damaged in the harbor and 378 people died and 372 were wounded in this tragic accident.
Later I’ll describe the Boston’s trip to Manus Island.
-Bill