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USS Princeton (CVL-23) was an Independence class light carrier, and during her year and a half of active service built an impressive combat record, before eventually being lost at the battle of Leyte Gulf. This book looks at the development of the Independence class carriers, and the combat record of the Princeton , before finishing with a detailed look at her loss.
The Independence class light carriers were conceived in an a attempt to speed up the arrival of new aircraft carriers, largely under pressure from President Roosevelt, who before the US entry into the war was concerned that the new Essex class carrier weren’t expected to arrive until 1944 (in the event both types mainly entered service in 1943). Built on the hulls of incomplete Cleveland class cruisers, the Independence class carriers were fast enough to operate alongside the fleet carriers, and ended up making a valuable contribution to the US Navy’s war effort in the Pacific – at the battle of Leyte Gulf each of the fast carrier task groups contained a mix of larger Fleet carriers and Indepedence class light carriers.
We start with a loog at the development of the Independence class, and their characteristics as carriers, and the construction of the Princeton. We then move onto her combat record. This saw her support the occupation of Baker Island and the invasion of Bougainville in 1943 – during this second battle her aircraft took part in a major raid on Rabaul that damaged five Japanese heavy cruisers that were part of a force about to attack the American fleet at Bougainville. In 1944 she took part in the invasion of the Marshall Islands, Hollandia, the Marianas, the battle of the Philippine Sea, the invasion of the Philippines and finally the battle of Leyte Gulf.
A nice feature of this book is a focus on the crew serving on the Princeton. This includes a full chapter focusing on Fighting 27, the squadron that served on her in the second half of her career, looking at its experiences before moving onto the Princeton.
The last three chapters look at her loss. The Princeton was hit by Japanese bombs during the battle of Leyte Gulf and at first the damage looked to be controllable. However events proved that not to be the case – the fires onboard couldn’t be put out, although they did appear to be under control. Other warships came alongside to help control the fires. This led to a second disaster, when a massive explosion on the almost deserted Princeton killed hundreds on the cruiser USS Birmingham, which was alongside attempted to help fight the fires at the time. These chapters help demonstrate just how difficult it could be to control fires in a complex ship such as an aircraft carrier, which combined a maze like structure and a vast number of explosive or flammable materials. Despite repeated efforts to dump muntions, aircraft etc overboard, it wasn’t possible to get to all of them, leading to the explosion that finally ended the salvage efforts.
This is an excellent study of a single ship, with good material on the human side of the ship as well as her combat record, and of course the desperate attempts to save her after she was hit by Japanese bombs.
Chapters
1 – “Sweet P”
2 – Joining the Fleet
3 – A Time for Battle
4 – Task Force 58
5 – “Fighting 27”
6 – Forager
7 – “Uncle Sam’s Cyclone”
8 – Task Group 38.3 East of Luzon
9 – A New Battle
10 – Princeton Eternally Defiant
11 – So Long “Sweet P”
Author: David R. Leick
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2024