Anchorage

The task force ships  converged in lagoon anchorages in between operations.  They did emergency maintenance on the ships, reprovisioned the ships with food, fuel, supplies, armament, men, etc.  The men had time to write letters, work on advancement, clean uniforms, and participate in recreational activities.

FEB 7-10 1944 (TF58) in Kwajalein  (Marshall Islands)

FEB 22-MAR 2, 1944 (TF58) in Majuro (Marshall Islands)

Feb 23 – March 1, 1944:  Today we have liberty and two cans of cold beer per man and went swimming in the lagoon. This is our first liberty on a Pacific Island west of Pearl Harbor. Majuro Atoll is a beautiful lagoon and there is very little damage on the island. With warm weather and cool breezes. The lagoon is the deepest blue and the coral beach is a cream color. The ocean side has large white surf breaking on the beach.

March 2, 1944:  This morning we weighed anchor and all the ships left the lagoon. There must have been over two hundred ships at anchorage. Frank Studenski

APRIL 5-17, 1944 (TF58) in Majuro (MI)

MAY 5-17, 1944 (TF58) in Majuro (MI)

MAY 24-JUNE 5, 1944 (TF58) in Majuro (MI)

JUNE 27-30, 1944 (TF58) in Eniwetok (Marshall Islands)

AUG 1-29, 1944 (TF38) in Eniwetok (MI)

SEP 27-30, 1944 (TF38) in Eniwetok (MI)

OCT 28-NOV 1, 1944 (TF38) in Ulithi (Caroline Islands)

NOV 22-DEC 11, 1944 (TF38) in Ulithi (Carolines)

DEC 22-DEC 29, 1944 (TF38) in Ulithi (Carolines)

JAN 26-FEB 9, 1945 (TF58) in Ulithi (Carolines)

MAR 4-MAR 14, 1945 (TF58) in Ulithi (Carolines)

JUNE 13-July1, 1945 (TF38) San Pedro Bay (Philippines)

AUG 19- SEPT4 + 1945 (TF38) Tokyo Bay

One day while at anchorage in Eniwetok I had liberty and went walking along the beach on the lagoon side and I came across a waterlogged paper box. I turned it over and to my surprise it was a kotex box. I could not believe it, what was this box doing in a lagoon so far away from civilization. I dried it out in the sun and took it back to the ship and showed it to some people who offered to buy it.

While at anchorage I had to pull duty on one of the Higgins boats. I was the bow man, and we had to make a trip to the battleship Indiana to pick up a passenger. The lagoon was choppy and as we came alongside the starboard gangway, the Coxswain was having trouble coming alongside, we tried two more passes, but could not get close for me to grab the lines. The Captain happened to be standing on the quarter deck watching us. He finally yelled down for us to stay where we were and he would up anchor and bring the ship alongside us. We were looking for a place to hide, because several hundred people were watching us.  Frank Studenski

(note:  copyrighted map compliments of Baked Beans – Life Aboard USS Boston CA-69.  Please contact us for permission to use this map.)

Sources:  War Diary USS Boston CA-69 by Frank Studenski,               and http://pacific.valka.cz/forces/tf58.htm and tf38.htm