26 MAR 44
Task Group 36.2 continued steaming West-Northwest at 18 knots through the night of March 26th. Familiar destroyer escorts Bullard, Kidd, Black and Chauncey had been detached to proceed to Purvis Bay and were replaced by DesRon 23 composed of Stanly, Spence, Thatcher, Converse, Dyson and Charles F. Ausburne.
Today's activities would include underway replenishment from fleet oilers USS Ashtabula and USS Suamico who, along with two destroyer escorts of their own, were sighted at 0600. At 0710 fleet speed was reduced to 8 knots. While other ships maneuvered for the unrep, Princeton's engineers took the opportunity to secure her number four boiler to effect repairs. In addition, she secured her number three engine to remove and replace a faulty tachometer. By 1005, all repairs had been completed and The P was back in the "unrep" queue, 40 minutes later commencing her rendezvous with Saumico. From 1127 to 1221 Princeton took on 145,000 gallons of fuel oil and 15,089 gallons of aviation gasoline. The ability to replenish while underway, you will recall, was what Admiral Nimitz called the Navy's "secret weapon." Minimizing, sometimes eliminating altogether, delays allowed the Navy to attack relentlessly an enemy that was already on its heels.
The transit was not without a little excitement: "At 1304 USS YORKTOWN reported that one of her planes was dropping depth charges on an oil slick 5 miles from the formation. ... At 1335 sighted USS FRAZIER and USS MEADE, both engaged in dropping depth charges around submarine contact; another similar attack executed by the same vessels at 1425."
With our post on March 8th in mind, "At 1704 USS YORKTOWN recovered one VT from USS LEXINGTON." The Blue Ghost is in the vicinity!
As vast as the Pacific Ocean is, in the opening months of 1944 it was getting smaller and smaller..."At 1819 sighted three battleships and one tanker hull down on the horizon bearing 320˚, distant about 19 miles."
Some in Japan's highest levels knew, but were unable or unwilling to admit, that defeat was inevitable. Human pride being what it is, it would unfortunately take more than overwhelming naval superiority to convince them they had started something they couldn't finish.
27 MAR 44
0634 on March 27th brought the first positive identification of units attached to the Fifth Fleet and with this rendezvous came the following administrative direction from Rear Admiral Ginder:
At 0737 OTC ordered Task Group 36.2 to be designated hereafter as Task Group 58.3, attached for operational control to Task Force 58, Fifth Fleet, for ensuing operations."
Task Force 58, "The Fast Carriers" as it would become known, Commanded by Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher, was on this day not at all happy that he was about to have a new Chief of Staff named Captain Arleigh Burke.
Burke's order read as follows:
"You are hereby detached as Commander Destroyer Squadron 23 and Commander Destroyer Division 45. You will proceed via first available government transportation including government air to the port in which Commander Carrier Division 3 may be. Upon arrival report to Commander Carrier Division 3 as his Chief of Staff."
By all accounts, Mitscher was decidedly unenthusiastic about having a non-aviator as his primary subordinate. In his biography, E.B. Potter quotes a letter from Burke detailing Burke's apprehension as well:
"A couple days ago I received orders to be Chief of Staff to ComCarDiv THREE. They came out of the blue and since I know nothing of carriers or planes or little of big ships any more, I am at a loss to explain them."
In the same letter, Burke unintentionally reveals why he was not just the right man for the job, but why he left such an admirable legacy:
"I am going to start by seeing if they won't let me be a tail gunner in a TBF. This isn't a job I will like, nor one which I am fitted for, but maybe it will be good for my soul. At least I'll have to work like hell for a year so that when the Admiral leaves he will feel kindly enough towards me that he will let me go to a surface ship again."
Leading by example. So awesome.
Potter again:
"On the 27th on schedule, Desron 23 rendezvoused with the Fifth Fleet just north of the Green Islands, Commodore Burke's tasseled, sennet-decorated chair stood on the deck hooked to a high line stretching between Ausburne and carrier Lexington. ...'I don't want any cheers,' [Burke] said. "I'll always keep track of Ausburne. Tell the boys if any of them ever is in Washington where I live to look me up. They'll be welcome! Goodbye now—and for God's sake don't drop me in the drink!"
Not the 27th of March 1944, but an example the "highline" technique used to transfer individuals between ships. Chief of Staff to Commander, Task Force 58, Captain Arleigh Burke, is highlined from USS Callaghan (DD-792) to USS Lexington (CV-16), while off Iwo Jima on 18 February 1945. Photographed from on board Lexington, with Callaghan's starboard bow in the background. The latter's camouflage appears to be Measure 32, Design 7D. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Admiral Mitscher's opinion of Burke would change over the course of the next 15 months, and an exceptional, lifelong bond formed between the two as they fought together in the largest naval campaign the world has ever seen.
Task Group 36.2 having been dissolved, Princeton was now under direct tactical control of ComCenPacForce (Commander, Central Pacific Force), Vice Admiral R. A. Spruance, embarked in Fleet Flagship USS New Jersey. This fleet was composed of three Task Groups: 58.1, 58.2 and Princton's 58.3.
The War Diary closes on 27th March with an administrative description of the the new order of battle:
"Commander Task Force 58, Vice Admiral M. A. Mitscher, USN, is in USS LEXINGTON. Task Group 58.3 is composed of USS YORKTOWN, USS LEXINGTON, USS PRINCETON, USS LANGLEY, USS SOUTH DAKOTA, USS NORTH CAROLINA, USS MASSACHUSETTS, USS ALABAMA, USS CANBERRA, USS PORTLAND, USS INDIANAPOLIS, USS LOUISVILLE, USS SAN JUAN, USS MAURY, USS CRAVEN, USS GRIDLEY, USS McCALL, USS CASE, USS BANCROFT, USS CALDWELL, USS EDWARDS, USS FRAZIER, USS MEADE, USS STANLY, USS C.F. AUSBURNE, USS DYSON, USS CONVERSE, USS SPENCE and USS THATCHER."
As one of three Task Groups, 58.3 includes 4 Aircraft Carriers, 4 Battleships, 5 Cruisers and 16 Destroyers
It's almost too bad that Yamamoto, who would meet his end on April 18th, 1943, wasn't around to receive the answer to this question:
In the final sentence of the day's Diary entry, we find out where the Task Force is headed:
"Operating in accordance with...Order No. 06-44... to conduct air strikes on enemy shipping and installations in the CAROLINE ISLANDS."
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