"Steaming as before en route from operating area north of New Guinea, to fueling rendezvous in company with Task Group 58.3..."
Of particular interest to me is the War Diary's mention that "At 0559 USS MASSACHUSETTS...left the formation to proceed to SEADLER HARBOR, MANUS ISLAND...as previously directed."
USS Massachusetts (BB-59) was stricken from the Navy Register in 1962. Rescued from being sold for scrap, she was brought to Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1965, where she has remained as a museum ever since. My Mom was born in Fall River and I have a distinct memory of visiting my grandparents there when I was 10 and yes, we visited "Old Mamie," as BB-59 was known by her crew. As with my visit to USS Lexington in 1984, I find the chords of history fascinating: before Dad ever met Mom, one of the world's most powerful ships was part of his Task Force and would eventually become a museum in the town where his future wife was from, and upon whose deck, thirty years in the future, his yet to be born 10 year old boy would wander.
View of ex-USS Massachusetts (BB-59) as tugs maneuver it into position beneath a bridge in Fall River, Massachusetts, to its new home as a museum ship, 12 June 1965.
By 0803 Massachusetts and her escorts "passed over the horizon, bearing 130˚ on approximate course 160˚."
Minutes later the War Diary notes the sighting of a "formation of twenty-four B-24 bombers passing over the formation on a northwesterly course, apparently bound for WOLEAI ISLAND," the destination affirmed by an entry in Admiral Nimitz's Graybook. As Princeton's lookouts were peering through the gauzy skies of a Pacific morning, tracking the silent formation of 5th Air Force bombers, I imagine the bomber crews looking down with amazement on the entirety of the Task Groups 58.1, 58.2 and 58.3. Twelve American aircraft carriers and dozens of cruiser and destroyer escorts whose wakes indicate they are headed eastward, the aerial perspective presenting the fleet as a multitude of small, sleek gray arrows surrounding, seemingly protecting, the larger and less graceful carriers.
The Task Force continued eastward "with Task Group 58.2 to the north, Task Group 58.3 in the center, and Task Group 58.1 to the south."
Flight operations continued throughout the afternoon, with both fighters and bombers launching periodically for air and surface patrol missions. After recovering 12 aircraft at 1516, at 1531 Princeton "while maneuvering to regain station in formation, changed course hard left to avoid USS ENTERPRISE, which vessel had suddenly turned across this ship's bow without signal. Increased speed to 25 knots and passed ahead of USS ENTERPRISE. At 1538 USS ENTERPRISE hoisted signal indicating that the was engaged in conducting tests of steering gear; she remained astern of formation for the remainder of the afternoon."
It seems the people of Oklahoma aren't the only ones who don't use turn signals.
Local sunset on the 28th was 1808 and under cover of darkness, at 2000 "fleet course was changed left to 055˚" towards the Caroline Islands.
29 APR 44 (ZD Minus 12)
In the middle of the night, 0338 to be exact, Princeton and her accompanying Task Groups crossed the equator once again into north latitude. At 0631 the vessels of Task Group 50.17 were sighted to the northwest at 7 miles, and ships began maneuvering for an underway replenishment. During the rendezvous, it was noted that three vessels had now joined Task Group 58.3: USS Indiana, USS Pritchett and USS Cassin Young (DD-793), the latter of which would play a lifesaving role for many Princeton sailors six months hence.
Fletcher class destroyer USS Cassin Young (DD-793), circa 1944.
By 0835 a tow line had been secured to the port side of USS Cahaba (AO-82)...
Battleship USS Iowa and carrier USS Shangri-La receiving fuel from oiler USS Cahaba, 8 Jul 1945. United States Navy photo via navsource.org
...and by 0932 Princeton had onloaded 12,000 gallons of aviation gasoline and 150,000 gallons of fuel oil.
As the distance to the CAROLINE ISLANDS decreased, the chance of discovery by enemy patrols did the opposite. And that is what happened at midday: "At 1214 received report from CAP of USS BUNKER HILL that they had shot down one twin-engine Japanese medium bomber, type 'Betty', bearing 025˚, distant 35 miles from this vessel."
All carriers of the Task Force were conducting flight operations throughout the day, the War Diary essentially a running log of launches and recoveries. At 1559 an Air Group 23 Avenger that had just launched was forced to return with a rough running engine and "hit the barrier without damage." Two minutes later the Air Group Commander, Lt.Cdr. Miller, landed his Hellcat after attending a planning conference aboard Enterprise.
At some point during the 29th, unremarked upon by the War Diary, Princeton crossed the wartime date line, passing from "ZD Minus 12" to "ZD Plus 12," which meant that once again a calendar day would be repeated.
America's military leaders understood full well the potential pitfalls posed by the Pacific Ocean's 60,000,000 square miles and 10 time zones. Coordinating the movement of hundreds of thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines in their tanks, ships and planes was overwhelming enough without the chocolate mess that was the pre-war civilian time zone arrangement.
So, in order to make coordination across the vast expanses of the Pacific theater as simple as possible, while still accounting for the critical importance of sunrises and sunsets to military operations, American military leaders changed normal timekeeping practices in order to create a uniform time standard.
I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to locate a description of exactly what this standard was, and thus far my search has been unsuccessful. That said, I can make an educated guess based on information from Princeton's War Diary. Every day the log records The P's latitude and longitude at 0800, 1200 and 2000.
At 2000 on 29 April/ZD-12 Princeton was at 149˚30' East longitude.
At 0800 on 29 April/ZD+12 Princeton was at 151˚09' East longitude.
Therefore, it is my guess that the military date line was located at 150˚00' East, as opposed to the historically accepted International Date Line of 180˚00' (with exceptions for political boundaries):
With the 29th of April behind — and ahead — of her, Princeton and the Task Force steamed "north to reach launching position before dawn for attack on Japanese installations in the TRUK ISLANDS."
The Japanese base at Truk, first established in 1938 and home to 5 airfields, had suffered significant damage during the American attacks of OPERATION HAILSTONE in mid-February. Largely isolated from meaningful resupply, over the next few days Task Force 58 intended to, and would, prevent the base from regaining its importance to the enemy.
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