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USS Boise

USS Boise (CL-47) was a United States Navy Brooklyn-class light cruiser. Boise was launched in 1936 and commissioned in 1938. She was stationed in the Philippines when Japan attacked on December 8, 1941. Boise saw action in the Pacific from January to November 1942, and was damaged twice and sent in for repairs during that time frame. From June to September, 1943, it served primarily in the Mediterranean Sea. Throughout rest of the war, she was back in the Pacific, and was decommissioned in 1946. She was sold to Argentina in 1951, and remained in action until being decommissioned and scrapped in 1978.

USS Boise in The War That Came Early[]

The USS Boise was stationed in Manila when Japan attacked on January 12, 1941. Boise was part of the fleet that set out to meet a possible Japanese invasion later that day. Corporal Pete McGill was assigned to Boise as part of a five-inch gun crew. Boise survived the first two waves of attack, although the second one killed several crew members. It left the harbor before a third one came.[1]

Forced to flee Manila Bay, the Boise fled south to the Dutch East Indies where they regrouped with the Dutch and the British in an attempt to stop the Japanese. After another disastrous air attack, the Boise was forced even further south to the Australian port of Darwin. There, she found no safe haven ether as the port was already under heavy air attack. She snuck out of the port under cover of darkness, heading for New Zealand. Travelling through the Torres Straight, she just barely survived a submarine attack.

She reached New Zealand, then headed north back to Hawaii to regroup with the Ranger Task Force and take part in another naval battle against the Japanese. This one proved to be the Boise's undoing as she was struck by a Japanese dive bomber and sunk.[2]

References[]

  1. Coup d'Etat, Chapter 1.
  2. Ibid., Chapter 26.
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