5 JUN 44
Remember all that rehab work done during the maintenance availability period at the shipyard in Pearl Harbor?
"At 0845 USS ARETHUSA commenced approach to port side, and at 0857, in making approach, came into contact with port 20 mm. gun sponson, guns 2, 4, and 6; damage to this vessel was limited to the bending and dislocation of the container for floater life net number three."
But Arethusa had more to offer...
"At 0905 USS ARETHUSA commenced clearing the side to make a second approach, and in clearing, at 0910, struck port 20 mm. gun sponson with her starboard upper works, bending the gun shield and tearing off some small fittings."
The third time however, was the charm...
"At 0949 USS ARETHUSA...was secured alongside to port" and commenced fueling operations in concert with fueling barge USS YO-46. Between the two vessels, by 1430 Princeton had received 40,000 gallons of aviation gasoline and an impressive 705,000 gallons of fuel oil.
During the refueling evolution, an unidentified aircraft was detected to the southwest at 25 miles necessitating General Quarters stations. Despite this annoyance, work continued. Two new F6F-3 aircraft were craned aboard from a lighter, followed by the transfer off the ship of "two dud" Hellcats.
SS Gargoyle, steaming in convoy, 6 June 1942, off Jacksonville, FL. This vessel became USS Arethusa (IX-135) in 1944
6 JUN 44
"At 1138 underway from Berth 222, Majuro Atoll Lagoon, Marshall Islands, to sortie in accordance with secret despatch orders from ComTaskForce 58 [Admiral Mitscher] and ComTaskGroup 58.3 [Rear Admiral J.W. Reeves]."
TG 58.3 consisted of carriers Enterprise, Lexington, San Jacinto and Princeton, along with 13 Destroyers.
Departing Majuro, Princeton's Air Group 27 consisted of Fighting Squadron 27 (VF-27) with 36 pilots and 25 F6F-3 Hellcats and Bombing 27 (VT-27) with 16 pilots and 9 TBM-1C Avengers. Lieutenant Commander Wood wore "two hats," one as Commander of the Air Group and another as Commander of Fighting 27.
A steady flow of gray-painted American steel departed Majuro throughout the day and by 1630 the four Task Groups — 58.1, 58.2, 58.3 and 58.4 — that comprised Task Force 58 continued on course 280˚, with occasional turns into the wind enabling the carriers to recover aircraft launched from ashore. Admiral Mitscher's flagship Lexington, part of 58.3, was designated the Task Group "force guide" and as such would be the focal point which the other Task Groups would use to maintain assigned positions in the formation.
By nightfall of 6 June, the 101 ships of the 4 Task Groups — 16 Carriers, 4 Battleships, 20 Cruisers and 61 Destroyers — had traveled 55 miles west of Majuro.
With the exception of Lt. Cmdrs. Wood and Haley, along with Captain Buracker and a small number of staff officers, few likely knew their destination or what the future may portend.
7 JUN 44
By now we have learned that opportunities to train were rarely, if ever, squandered:
"At 1405 VT from this vessel's ASP (Air Search Patrol)commenced making simulated torpedo attack runs on ships in the formation...This was made a standard practice for this date, each plane on ASP making an unscheduled low altitude approach on the formation for the purpose of training lookout and radar personnel in picking up and reporting this type of attack and proved to be valuable training."
Sea Story: When I entered the world of Naval Aviation it was quickly apparent that, like our WWII forebears, opportunities to train were not to be wasted. And so it was that one dark Pacific night during my first deployment, I found myself in an A-6E Intruder a hundred miles from the ship and boogeying along at 100 feet and 480 knots or so. My BN (Bombardier Navigator) on this evening was the squadron Executive Officer ("XO," or the number two in command). He is a quiet and extremely competent man, and as a "nugget" or "new guy", I was a bit intimidated by him. I would, to this day, follow him into whatever battle he might choose. But I digress...
On this evening our mission was to simulate an inbound missile in order to test the carrier's capability to detect a similar threat. At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, flying as fast at the airplane will go, 100 feet above the water, at night, tends to focus the mind. Ergo, my attention was biased almost exclusively to the radar altimeter as being distracted even for a moment could, in this instance, negatively affect our collective health. While I was doing my part, the XO — let's call him "Nickel" — was doing his, focused intently on his radar screen while fine tuning the position of the boat as we closed at 8+ miles per minute. Unlike a normal night low level mission, there was no terrain or trees or towers or buildings for us to run into, so our normal banter was at a minimum. Which is why, after a long moment of silence, I was a bit flummoxed when Nickel keyed the mike and this question reached my ears: "Oyster, what's the square root of 147?" (I can't remember the actual number he used, but that doesn't matter, even a little bit)
Having dropped Business Calculus three times in college before eventually passing it with a C--, and being somewhat occupied at the time, I didn't respond right away. But after freeing up enough brain cells to comprehend the absurdity of the question, I just started laughing. Which likely wasn't the answer he was expecting. No matter though as, if memory serves, there was no response to my response. I learned later he was trying to work out how the weather conditions might be effecting the ducting layer and its potential consequence to our aircraft radar's capability. I don't remember anything else about that hop other than that little vignette, but it obviously left a mark. It was perhaps the first time I had been given cause to comtemplate Nickel's intellect, but it wouldn't be the last. Someday I'll try to weave in a story about him determining how we could get the Intruder, an aircraft some have described as a bowling pin with wings...
...to break the sound barrier. But that's another sea story for another time.
With Nickel, discussing square roots over beers, 27 years later.
8 JUN 44
8 June found Princeton and the other ships of Task Force 58 devouring nautical miles through the Marshall Islands and continuing West-Northwest into the vastness of the Pacific.
"At 1515 Task Group 58.7 closed this task group and units assigned joined formation, as follows: DesRon ONE, USS WASHINGTON, USS NORTH CAROLINA, USS SOUTH DAKOTA USS INDIANA and USS ALABAMA. Other units of Task Group 58.7 joined Task Groups 58.1, 58.2 and 58.4, as assigned."
9 JUN 44
In the early hours of 9 June, Task Group 58.3 absorbed 5 Battleships and 6 additional destroyers from two Destroyer Squadrons.
At 0530 the fleet changed course in preparation for refueling, a sign that potential combat action was approaching. Princeton was alongside USS CALIENTE and taking fuel at 0819 and by 0944 had disengaged, having taken on 125,000 gallons of fuel oil and 5,000 gallons of aviation gasoline.
The day continued with fleet vessels continuing to top off their tanks while others sent out patrols and conducted training.
"At 1459 USS INDIANAPOLIS approached to join the formation, with Commander Fifth Fleet [Admiral Raymond Spruance] embarked."
In the late afternoon, USS Stanly, a Fletcher class destroyer, began shuttling amongst the fleet delivering official mail. In addition, at 1840 a PB4Y flying boat "passed over the formation and dropped container with secret material near USS LEXINGTON."
Things were happening.
NNNN
ADDENDUM: Arethusa's namesake is a nymph of Greek mythology.
Silver decadrachm showing the head of Arethusa surrounded by leaping dolphins. Minted in Syracuse, Sicily (405–400 BCE)
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