14 JUN 44
The morning of 14 June found Princeton and Task Group 58.3 "steaming as before, in the vicinity of MARIANAS ISLANDS." At 0520 the large carriers and battleships maneuvered into column formation at 10 knots in order to effect the refueling of multiple destroyers.
The remaining combatants, including Princeton, were operating 50 miles Northwest of Rota Island, enabling the Task Force Commander a favorable defensive posture against a potential Japanese air threat while simultaneously allowing flexible and timely striking ability to multiple enemy ground forces and support facilities.
At 0625, Princeton's first of three strikes began with the launch of 8 fighters and 8 bombers for attacks "against Japanese airfields on GUAM ISLAND."
Specifically, according to the action report, this strike targeted Agana Field, located midway between the northeast to southwest orientation of the island.
VF-27 Hellcats would escort and protect the bombers and strafe targets in the vicinity of the airfield if conditions permitted. The 8 Avengers of VT-27 dropped 31 five hundred pound bombs on aircraft maintenance facilities and ramp areas just southwest of the runway, 27 of which impacted in the target area. The Hellcat debrief reported "ten apparently operational aircraft, including six twin-engine planes" including one that was "set afire by strafing." The tactic used was a "strafing angle from 35 to 50 degrees with pullout from 600 to 1500 [feet]."
Absent anti-aircraft fire, that sounds like a thoroughly fun and enjoyable morning.
The P's second strike of the day was airborne by 0959. It comprised 8 bombers and 12 fighters which would attack targets on Saipan, in anticipation of the amphibious landing by the 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions the following morning.
The Hellcats did double duty, strafing “anti-aircraft positions on Cape Obiam…which ceased firing after attack” in addition to “eight small boats along the west beach of Saipan just south of Chan-Kanoa” near the main amphibious landing point. The Avengers “bombed and strafed four heavy AA emplacements on Cape Obiam” and reported hits in the target area and “none of the guns appeared to be firing during or after the attack.”
As aircrews for the third strike of the day were arriving on the flight deck, the second wave was recovering. Aircraft VF-16 “crashing into barrier while landing without injury to pilot.” By 1345, 9 bombers and 12 fighters were airborne and pushing northeast to continue attacking Saipan’s defenses.
“Twelve F6Fs strafed trench positions on Agingan Pt., Saipan, as well as nearby AA positions, observing many hits.. The F6Fs also strafed the town of Chan-Kanoa, setting numerous fires with tracers; and strafed the runway at Ushi Pt. Airfield, where four twin-engine enemy planes and one single-engine plane, possibly a Zeke or Hamp, were set afire and probably destroyed. … Seven TBM-1C bombed and strafed enemy gun positions and beach defenses from north limits of Chan-Kanoa north to the S. end of the Charan Kanoa air strip and Afetua Pt., all bombs hit in area. 2 TBM-1C carrying 12-100# Incend., each made run on cane fields west of Aslito Airfield. A fire about 400 yards in radius was started.”
By 1659, the last aircraft from strike three was recovered and The P’s air group and ship’s company began preparations for the next day’s action.
Local sunset was logged at 1853 and as the western horizon faded into the endless expanse of the sea to the west, the last of the Task Force’s aviators returned to the familiarity and relative comfort of their respective ships.
“At 2010 USS NORTH CAROLINA reported a man overboard; cries in the water proved to have come from Ensign WHITWORTH, a pilot from the USS CABOT, who had been on a rubber life raft for a period of 4 days, and he was picked up by USS CAPERTON.”
Any reprieve that Japanese forces on Saipan may have expected with the coming of night was abandoned within a little more than an hour as three and a half dozen ships of Task Group 52.17 surrounded the island.
The War Diary: "At 2005 sighted several star shells bearing 110˚, distant about 30 miles, and believed to be Task Group 52.17 shelling Saipan Island."
7 Battleships, 6 heavy Cruisers, 5 light Cruisers and 24 Destroyers surround Tinian and Saipan in preparation for the amphibious assault on Saipan which would commence on 15 June, 1944.
Tomorrow’s amphibious landing on Saipan would be a direct attack on the self-proclaimed “Japanese National Defense Zone.” Should America and her allies prevail, the Japanese homeland would now be under direct threat from Marianas-based American airpower and the path to ultimate victory, while long and violent, would be clear.
Princeton and her Air Group would, by all accounts, play an outsized role in the days to come.
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