USS Boston CA-69 in WWII

1-21-12

All,

We are participating in the internet protest to work to defeat the bill working their way through congress right now; the bill is called SOPA or PIPA.  Content on the internet is vital to be free and have  legitimate process if someone removes content on a whim.  Two events in World War II remind us of the sobering potential of the government and censorship: The detainment of US citizens of Japanese origin, and the post war McCarthy abuse of power.

Please call your senator.

Bill Kelly

1-14-12

Bill’s first trip to the National Archives yielded a treasure trove of stuff from the Boston, including a lot of photos – many of which have appeared in this blog over the last year or so.  Included in that “first batch” were a half dozen or so pics taken in some of the inner “nooks and crannies” of the ship  -  places like the mechanical/machine shop and parts of the engine room.  We get a glimpse into some of the “nuts and bolts” of the ship  -  with the added bonus of crewmembers making repairs and adjustments.  I think you’ll enjoy these pics as they unfold over the next several weeks.

Some context for this unusual gallery of pictures:  As Task Force 58 finished up its support of the Invasion of Iwo Jima and regrouped to support the Invasion of Okinawa (March 1945), the Boston was sent back to the states for repairs and to retrofit new radar and new targeting devices for the big guns  -  all in advance of the upcoming invasion of the home islands of Japan in a last ditch push to end the War.  Japan surrendered prior to the massive mobilization of US ships, marines and infantymen.  Fortunately, the crew of the Boston and the other 97,000+ sailors aboard the other ships of the Task Force, as well as perhaps 500,000+ foot soldiers and countless pilots and plane crews were spared this horrendous series of battles.

So, these pictures, taken May 31 and June 1st (1945) at the Navy Yards in San Pedro CA, were of final preparations to return to the Pacific.  Hope you enjoy them.

1/11/12

Compliments of Susan Cowan

George enlisted in the Navy on 8/27/42

He reported to the Boston (as a S1c) on 6/30/43 and is a plank owner

He separated from the ship on 9/13/45

I am happy to point out that George is alive, active  and well.

1-2-2012

All,

You’ll find a new tab in the front page of the Blog labelled ‘Info’.  This is texual data about the USS Boston.  So far I’ve placed the first 4 months of Deck Logs in the tab marked info.  Deck Logs are an interesting read, complete with unavoidable puns like ‘Hit the Deck (log)’ or ‘Deck the Log with balls of Folly’;  but I digress.  Decklogs were monthly records that have 4 parts, a title page (missing or stolen from the first 4-5 decklogs), next comes a list of the addresses and names of the next of kin of each of the officers, then each day comes a page called ‘columns’ which list critical data about the weather of the day, the ship’s position at noon, and a list of water and fuel on hand, finally after columns, comes administrative notes for each day which account for what happened in detail on that day.  Disciplinary hearings, people leaving and arriving on the ship, and during the war, how the ship was navigated every 4 hours.

I’ve put July 1943 through November 1943 and I’ll be adding decklogs as I finish assembling them.  I photographed all of the decklogs in Washington DC and I’ll try to assemble them as they should be assembled, not as I found them.  Many people are uninterested in Columns, for many months, the columns have been sorted as a group and placed in the end of the folder, I’m trying to assemble the deck log as it would appear when created.

The cover pages of the first several months are missing, and the Officers next of kin pages are missing form the first two decklogs.  Either they were removed at Nara by people who wanted a keepsake, or they never made it to Nara.  This is why NARA is so crazy about protecting documents.

Each month is a file (PDF) which is 33-50 Megabytes.  Translation: it’s really large!  make sure you have a fast internet connection to look at it!  My plan is to update individual personnel records with links to individual decklog pages.

Enjoy and let me know if you have any questions!

-Bill