Admin Note: Two more friends of the family are joining us in our journey … everyone please say hello to Les Gelvin and Bill Hart. Welcome Aboard Shipmates!
9 JAN 44
“At 1158 underway to shift berths from Berth “H-3”, Fuel Dock, to berth "X-17”, Pearl Harbor, T.H.” … “At 1226 moored in new berth.”
A 28 minute evolution to move a 622’6” long, 109’2” wide, 15,100 ton vessel 1 1/4 miles through a confined, crowded and active harbor.
When I land at Newark and wait 47 minutes for a Gate, I will ponder this.
10JAN 44
This day was spent largely offloading weapons to both the Naval Air Station at Ford Island and the Naval Ammunition Depot. In addition, staff planning was underway in preparation for an at-sea training evolution scheduled for 11-13 January, all part of preparing “The P” to participate in a campaign whose goal was the total defeat and unconditional surrender of the Japanese Empire.
At the time, many in positions of power thought this effort would continue for several more years, perhaps even to the end of the decade. Knowing how it ended, it is satisfying and seems fitting to me that the final months of Princeton’s participation in the conflict would begin in the same waters and skies where those sneaky sons of bitches started it.
By the way, the hangar door windows at Ford Island, lo these many decades later, still exhibit unrepaired bullet holes left by Japanese strafing runs (I took this photo taken 14 SEP 2014):
Why offload weapons when the ship would be heading to war in a matter a week or two? I have absolutely no doubt that the bleary-eyed young men who were providing the physical effort to make this happen were asking the same question. That said, I learned early in my career that, when faced with edicts from an unknown and unknowable leviathantine* bureaucratic ether-voice, it was beyond pointless to question. Just salute, smile, and comply.
It won’t shock some of you to know that I didn’t always follow my own advice.
“At 0430 completed loading the following ammunition on a lighter for transfer…
18 Mk. 13-1 torpedo warheads
18 Mk. 13-1 torpedoes
18 Mk. 12 gyros
18 Mk. 4-1 exploder mechanisms
40 cases miniature bombs
14 500 pound water fillable bombs
2000 miniature bomb signals
247 primer detonators
2071 pounds of smoke mixture F.S. in smoke tanks
18 1000 pound General Purpose AN-Mk 44 bombs
36 AN Mk 47 depth bombs”
Presumably these weapons would later be onloaded to other vessels that would be deploying prior to Princeton. While the numbers aren’t necessarily awe-inspiring, they provide further perspective of America's unrivaled economic power, particularly when one considers that during the war the US Navy had built 1200 major combatant ships, to include the staggering number of almost 100 aircraft carriers.
When I read this list and saw “water fillable” I assumed they were some manner of training weapon, and that does appear to be the case. I could not find photos or information on the 500 pound version but I did find this:
PRACTICE BOMB MK 15 MOD. A...
Not a far cry from the many 500 pound “concrete” bombs I dropped over the years. Presumably the water or sand would allow the aircrew to see the bombs impact point and therefore the relative accuracy, or not, of the hit. Without that feedback, there is zero training value.
NOTE: All training weapons are painted blue, or have a blue stripe in order to identify them as inert/incapable of exploding. It would not do to mistake live weapons for a practice training mission. And yes, this has been done.
Here is a modern day 500 pound practice bomb (known by its Ordnance nomenclature as a “BDU-45”):
Wait! Whut?
I just looked at the website where I snagged that photo. It was taken aboard USS Constellation on 10 JANUARY 1989 during an exercise called “PAC-EX” in 1989. Please note that date, 10 JANUARY 1989.
Connie's administrative callsign is "NNUL":
I was also intrigued by the “smoke mixture” tanks. Having read many descriptions of naval battles, I know that laying smokescreens was often a critical and effective defense at sea — the surface warrior equivalent of an aircraft hiding in the clouds (prior to the adoption of onboard airborne RADAR systems).
Truth be told, smokescreens have been used for protection for a pretty long time:
And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion,
and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night:
for upon all the glory shall be a defence. — Isaiah 4:5
Recall the previous discussion of USS Hoel’s participation in the Battle of Samar. Below are Destroyer USS Heermann (foreground) and Destroyer Escort USS John C. Butler laying smoke in the opening minutes of that engagement, an effort to hide the position of the CVE’s they were trying to protect.
Here is an amazing 15 second clip of Taffy 3 destroyers making smoke:
An excellent history, with outstanding photos, of the US Navy’s history of using smokescreens is here: https://laststandonzombieisland.com/tag/naval-smoke/
Tomorrow Princeton will get underway for routine training.
And it is always good to keep in mind that training is routine right up to the point where it is not.
Until then…"Taps, Taps, Lights out, all hands turn into your own† racks, maintain silence about the decks, now taps."
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