Heavy Cruiser BOSTON CA 69
June 1943 - February 1946


Click this photo to view full size painting.
The Above Painting: The BALTIMORE-class heavy cruiser USS BOSTON CA69 is shown here on the morning of April 29, 1944. A Japanese JILL torpedo bomber has been hit and mortally damaged by the BOSTON's 40mm gunners, and is about to wing over and splash off the post side.

The BOSTON earned ten battle stars in World War II.


Built: Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, Massachusetts
26 August 1942 - 30 June 1943

Length: 673' 5"
Beam: 70' 9"
Displacement: 13,600 tons

Complement: 1701 men

Power: 4 steam boilers, 4 engines

Screws: 4

Shaft Horsepower: 120,000

Speed: 34 knots (design)

Armament: 6" belt, 8" turret faces, 9-8"/55 in 3 triple turrets; 12-5"/38 in 6 twin mounts; 12 quad 40mm mounts; 14 twin 20mm mounts

4 OS2U spotter planes, 2 catapults

The sixth BOSTON, a BALTIMORE-class cruiser, was sponsored by Mrs. M.J. Tobin, wife of the Mayor of Boston. Captain J.H. Carson was the first captain.

BOSTON reported directly to the Pacific fleet in December of 1943. She took part in the raids on the Marshall Islands; Palaus and Western Carolines; Hollandia and New Guinea; Truk; Saipan; 1st Bonins; Battle of Phillipine Sea; 2nd Bonins; 3rd Bonins; Guam; Palau-Yap-Ulithi; Morotai; Southern Palaus; and Phillipine Islands. She then participated in the Okinawa raid; Northern Luzon and Formosa; Luzon; Battle for Leyte Gulf; Formosa; China Coast; Nansei Shoto; Honshu and Nansei Shoto (bombarding the Japanese homeland). The BOSTON participated in the bombardment of Iwo Jima as the prelude to that famous campaign. After a quick overhaul in Long Beach, she returned to the Pacific for more raids on Japanese home islands including Kamaishi Honshu.

The CA69 earned ten battle stars in the Pacific theater of the war, and never lost a man to enemy action. In February of 1946 she returned home and was mothballed in Bremerton, Washington.

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