2 JAN 44
On 2 January 1944 Princeton remains at anchor in Sinclair Inlet while continuing to replenish her supplies of fuel and weapons. Almost 4 years earlier to the day, and essentially a full year prior to Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt addressed the nation regarding the threat to our national security:
"We must be the great arsenal of democracy. For us this is an emergency as serious as war itself. We must apply ourselves to our task with the same resolution, the same sense of urgency, the same spirit of patriotism and sacrifice as we would show were we at war."
29 December 1940
An ammunition lighter (barge) approached Princeton as dawn broke over Sinclair Inlet and by 1030, the following weapons had been taken aboard:
12 2000 pound aircraft general purpose bombs
28 1000 pound aircraft general purpose bombs
108 100 pound oil incendiary bomb clusters
108 500 pound pound aircraft general purpose bombs
92 350 pound aircraft depth bombs (depth charges)
411 various types of bomb fuzes
At 1015, as the ammunition onloading was reaching its conclusion, fuel lighters approached Princeton and by 1415, she had taken on 122,000 gallons of aviation gasoline.
Bonus content:
I meant to include with yesterday's email a brief letter that Dad wrote back in 1994. He wrote it at the request of a former shipmate who was heading up the planning effort for the first ever reunion of the fourth (of six) ships named after the Revolutionary War Battle of Princeton. This ship, the first aircraft carrier to bear the name, was known to the men who served in her as “The Peerless P.”
Dad’s official service record summary (of which I have only an incomplete fragment) indicates that he reported aboard in “DEC 1943” and does not give a specific day. It appears from his letter that he reported on 15 December*. Nevertheless, in my mind I can see and hear and smell the chaos that was a fully wartime-mobilized Naval Shipyard on that December day. And I can’t help but smile at the description of his 25 year old self, having never set foot on an actual fleet ship (let alone an aircraft carrier!) or having been exposed as yet to the “real Navy.”
* I wanted to find out what the weather was like in the Pacific Northwest that day. I found weather for Spokane (25F, overcast) but it is far inland and higher elevation. Bremerton, being by the water, should be somewhat warmer, but having lived in the Puget Sound for many years, warmer is relative. Anyway, the best I could find was this chart from a then SECRET, 132 page document generated by the British Air Ministry in London:
If you look just below the “Ch” in the word “Chart," you will see that in the Puget Sound it is expected to be 37F with Fog (indicated by the 3 horizontal lines) and with a wind of 5-10 knots blowing from the North. Based on my experience living there, solid work by the weather nerds in London.
In my mind, as Dad boarded the “Black Ball Ferry” from Seattle to Bremerton, he did so in his winter Service Dress Blue uniform, likely wearing his long, wool bridge coat, perhaps with the collar turned up to protect him from the damp chill of the great northwest. Having been promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) in June of 1942 and with promotion to full LT generally automatic (assuming you hadn’t murdered anyone or personally insulted your boss), the gold stripes of his new rank would have been bright and vibrant as he began the journey that would be his war.
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