By Captain Lawrence B. Brennan, U.S. Navy (Ret.) - New Jersey ...

Lawrence B. Brennan NJ-Built Aircraft Carriers Page 31
Lawrence Brennan ~ NJ-BUILT FAST AIR CRAFT CARRIERS – Part II
From Eniwetok, Princeton retired to Majuro, before steaming to Espiritu Santo for
replenishment. On March 23, 1944, she got underway for strikes against enemy installation and
shipping in the Carolines. After striking the Palaus, Woleai, and Yap, the force replenished at
Majuro and sortied again on April 13th. Steaming to New Guinea, the carriers provided air
cover for the Hollandia operation (April 21-29), then crossed back over the International Date
Line to raid Truk (April 29) and Ponape (May 1).
Fig. 33: A number 6 embossed stamped airmail envelope with a handwritten return address for
USS Princeton C/o FPO San Francisco. It was sent by a sailor in the Deck Department, 2nd
Division. The cover was cancelled on May 22, 1944 with the (Locy Type 2z) postmark in black ink
over the orange six cent airmail franking. The cover is censored in the lower left with perhaps
initials "RDS" in black ink inside the double ring blue rubber stamp and is addressed probably to
an individual at a government contractor. The postmark is rated "C" or scarce in the Postmark
Catalog.
On May 11, 1944, Princeton returned to Pearl Harbor, departing on the 29th for Majuro.
There she rejoined the fast carriers headed toward the Marianas to support the assault on Saipan.
From June 11 to 18, she sent her planes against targets on Guam, Rota, Tinian, Pagan, and
Saipan, then steamed west to intercept a Japanese fleet reported to be en route from the
Philippines to the Marianas. In the ensuing Battle of the Philippine Sea, Princeton's planes
contributed 30 kills and her guns another three, plus one assist.
Returning to the Marianas, Princeton again struck Pagan, Rota, and Guam, then
replenished at Eniwetok. On July 14, 1944, she got underway again as the fast carriers returned
to the Marianas to furnish air cover for the capture of Guam and Tinian. On August 2, the force
returned to Eniwetok, replenished, then sailed for the Philippines. En route, its planes raided the
Palaus, then on September 9-10, struck airfields on northern Mindanao. On the 11th, they
pounded the Visayas. At mid-month the force moved back to support the Palau offensive, then
returned to the Philippines to hit Luzon, concentrating on Clark and Nichols fields. The force
then retired to Ulithi, and in early October, bombed and strafed enemy airfields, installations, and
shipping in the Nansei Shoto and Formosa area in preparation for the invasion of the Philippines.
Vol. 36/No. 4
223
NJPH
Whole No. 172 November 2008
Published by the New Jersey Postal History Society
Originally published in the pages of NJPH