23 MAR 44
Ten days after arriving at Espiritu Santo, it was time for Princeton and Task Group 36.2 to get back to the war.
The military can sometimes seem utterly heedless of time and completely unconcerned with things like circadian rhythms, body clocks and sleep cycles so it was unsurprising to me that "four officers under verbal orders for transportation to USS ENTERPRISE" requested permission to come aboard the P at...yaaawwwn....0103 hours.
By 0600 preparations for getting underway were in progress and by 0700 the "Heavy ships" of the task group, USS Canberra, USS Boston, USS Baltimore, USS San Juan and USS Langley had stood out. At 0730 Princeton followed suit "to sortie in accordance with secret despatch orders." Her destination is unrevealed in the War Diary.
By 0920 the Task Group had cleared the swept channel and entered the open ocean with all units on station. The heavies were joined by a bevy of destroyers: USS Maury, USS Gridley, USS McCall, USS Craven, USS Case, USS Kidd, USS Bullard, USS Black and USS Chauncey. Course was set northwesterly at 340˚ and speed at 24 knots. The Air Group aircraft operating from Bomber Field 3 were taken aboard beginning at 1056, with 11 Hellcats and 5 Avengers on deck — with no incidents! — by 1118.
"Air Group 23 now consists of 24 F-6-F and 9 TBF aircraft."
"At 1745 sighted the TORRES ISLANDS bearing 032˚, distant 25 miles."
24 MAR 44
Other than the intriguing comment that Princeton was "Steaming as before...to rendezvous with Fifth Fleet..." the War Diary betrays nary a hint of eventual destination or operations plan. Projecting the base course of 330˚ indicates the possibility of operations against Japanese forces in the vicinity of Truk in the Carolines, the Marianas or perhaps as far east as the Palau Island group.
In the meantime, Princeton and her companion carriers Yorktown and Langley reverted to the routine of launching daily ASP and CAP missions.
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