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LATE JANUARY ON THE BOSTON

1944: On January 19th. The ships take turns leaving Pearl Harbor for the last time.   The Boston forms up with other ships in Task Group 58.4 and the rest of Task Force 58 as they accompany the Invasion Fleet — destination: the Marshall Islands.   It takes six days for the ships to reach striking distance of their objective. January 26 marks the beginning of the first Central Pacific offensive operation against Japan   – starting the attacks and simultaneous amphibious assault on targets spread all across the Marshall Islands — known as Operation Flintlock. The Boston’s task group bombarded and attacked the southeastern atolls through early February, concentrating on Wotje Atoll, Maleolap Atoll and Majuro Atoll.

1945:   After refueling on the 11th,   Boston’s Task Group 38.1 is joined by TG 38.2 and begins Operation Gratitude –   attacks on Japanese targets in Occupied Chinese territory.   The ships are in the South China Sea, the furthest west   American warships have been in the war.   Admiral Halsey is eager to find the Imperial Japanese Fleet — reported to be anchored in CamRahn Bay — and engage it in a great surface battle. (The Japanese Fleet had already departed.)   The next six days the ships rode out a typhoon — launching planes whenever possible against targets in Hong Kong, Canton, and IndoChina (Vietnam).   The ships come under attack while in the South China Sea. On January 20, the carrier planes are launched against targets on the huge enemy bases on Formosa (Taiwan). The ships begin heading for anchorage at Ulithi Atoll (south of the Marianas – which they reach on the 25th). On the drive-by, they attack targets in the Okinawa group of islands (Jan 22.).   The Boston is in anchorage from Jan 26 until Feb 10.

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TYPHOON COBRA – Dec 17 and 18, 1944

The ships of Task Force 38 were east of the Northern Philippines by December 13 to begin support of the Mindoro Landing. The strategy was to blanket Luzon with round-the-clock fighter coverage over the airfields of Luzon — squashing kamikaze attacks before they could materialize against the US Invasion Fleet off Mindoro.

Admiral Halsey ordered the ships to a refueling rendezvous starting early Sunday morning, December 17.   After three days of raids and attacks against Luzon, the ships were low on fuel   –   especially the destroyers.   TF38 ships met up with the Service Group — oilers, escort carriers and their destroyers, but the wind and seas were kicking up and refueling had to be called off.   over the next twenty four hours, three more refueling rendezvous were scheduled, but none could be exercised.   The men and ships were seasoned by several typhoons since heading to Pearl Harbor a year earlier.   They had endured many days of foul weather.   No one on the ship was prepared for the monstrous storm that was now heading their way, however.

A fierce, tight, fast moving storm had began developing days earlier a thousand miles away and went undetected by traditional weather observations in place at the time.   Despite each aircraft carrier having aboard a meteorologist, the storm eluded detection until it was too late.   By nightfall on the 17th, the ships were struggling against giant waves and fierce winds, and were scattered across sixty miles of ocean. Mighty aircraft carriers were bobbing down so low that they scooped sea water across their decks. Planes broke free and crashed into each other or were swept into the sea. The destroyers, most dangerously low on fuel and de-ballasted, were at the mercy of waves taller than their ships and at times, winds that gusted past 100 mph.

This is what the men of the Boston endured on that awful night between Dec 17 and December 18.   The ship recorded side-to-side rolls that went way beyond the danger-point.

Halsey had continually ordered the ships on a southerly course, because his “weather guys” thought the eye of the storm was a hundred miles to the east.   This would take them south of the worst part of the storm, and would allow the ships to refuel in calmer waters. In fact, though, the eye of the storm passed right through the formation of ships, causing some to be whacked on all sides, making navigation impossible. Most ships lost power and/or radio, and visibility was zero.   During that awful night, three destroyers went down: the Hull, the Spence, and the Monaghan. Total loss of life: almost 800 men — mostly sailors aboard the three destroyers, but also includes men swept off other ships throughout the storm.