If you’ve paid even passing attention to World War II history, you’re familiar with General Douglas MacArthur’s famous promise after his escape from the Philippines, “I shall return.” What you may have missed is exactly how it was he kept that promise. He went back on his flagship, the U.S.S. Boise.
The Boise, commissioned in 1938, happened to be in the Philippines when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The light cruiser was in the thick of it from the beginning. The ship assisted in the first attack on the island of Japan by sailing around to the south among smaller islands sending out confusing radio transmissions while Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle’s airmen carried out the Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid.
A few months later the Boise participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal, taking a hit from a Japanese heavy cruiser just minutes into the battle. That cost the U.S. 140 men. But the Boise wasn’t down. She limped to the Philadelphia shipyard for repairs.
In 1943 the U.S.S. Boise found itself in a different theater of war at the Battle of Gela in the invasion of Sicily. She participated in further battles for Sicily and for Italy in August and September of 1943.
As the war ended in Europe the Boise was part of the convoys bringing soldiers back to the United States.
Then, the ship returned to the Philippines in triumph as the flagship for General Douglas MacArthur from June 3-15 during his promised return.
The U.S.S. Boise was decommissioned in 1946 and eventually scrapped.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention that there is another U.S.S. Boise sailing today. The Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine USS Boise (SSN-764) was launched in 1991 and is still in active service.
The Boise, commissioned in 1938, happened to be in the Philippines when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The light cruiser was in the thick of it from the beginning. The ship assisted in the first attack on the island of Japan by sailing around to the south among smaller islands sending out confusing radio transmissions while Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle’s airmen carried out the Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid.
A few months later the Boise participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal, taking a hit from a Japanese heavy cruiser just minutes into the battle. That cost the U.S. 140 men. But the Boise wasn’t down. She limped to the Philadelphia shipyard for repairs.
In 1943 the U.S.S. Boise found itself in a different theater of war at the Battle of Gela in the invasion of Sicily. She participated in further battles for Sicily and for Italy in August and September of 1943.
As the war ended in Europe the Boise was part of the convoys bringing soldiers back to the United States.
Then, the ship returned to the Philippines in triumph as the flagship for General Douglas MacArthur from June 3-15 during his promised return.
The U.S.S. Boise was decommissioned in 1946 and eventually scrapped.
I would be remiss if I failed to mention that there is another U.S.S. Boise sailing today. The Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine USS Boise (SSN-764) was launched in 1991 and is still in active service.
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