EARLY DAYS ABOARD USS PORTLAND
A visit to Australia and marriage
On 3 March 1941, Portland together with three other cruisers and eight destroyers, departed Pearl Harbor and headed south-west. On 7 March, we crossed the equator and on 9 March we arrived in Pago Pago, Samoa. On 12 March, Portland, together with the heavy cruiser Chicago and four destroyers, left Pago Pago and headed for Sydney, Australia. Portland also called at Brisbane before leaving Australia on 28 March for Suva in the Fiji Islands.
Portland arrived back in Pearl Harbor on 10 April.
The heavy cruiser USS Portland is shown in Pearl Harbor in 1942.An SOC seaplane can be seen mounted on its catapult between the funnels.
On 3 June 1941, my fiancee Kay arrived in Honolulu and we were married that same day. We then lived in an apartment in Pearl City which projects into Pearl Harbor.
A visit to the Philippines
On 13 October 1941, Portland departed Pearl Harbor and escorted the United States Army Transport USAT Liberty to Manila in the Philippine Islands. Portland called at Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tarakan in Borneo before reaching Manila on 12 November. We arrived back in Pearl Harbor on 26 November.
News of the attack on Pearl Harbor
Portland, departed Pearl Harbor on 5 December, 1941 and had been at sea for two days when the ship went to "general quarters" at about 0840 hours on Sunday, 7 December. Since my battle station was in my Curtis Seagull SOC-1 seaplane, I quickly assembled my flight gear and plotting board, and ran to the bridge to receive flight mission orders. It was there, on the bridge, that Portland's seaplane pilots learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that morning.
My immediate concern was for my wife Kay. I was naturally worried about her safety because of the close proximity of Pearl City to the naval base.
Using the ship's PA system, Captain DuBose then informed the ship's company of what had happened. We had departed Pearl along with two other heavy cruisers and five destroyers, and were escorting the carrier USS Lexington for the purpose of delivering US Marine Corps aircraft to the Midway Islands. Portland, along with the other ships, was directed to turn back towards Pearl Harbor and intercept and destroy the Jap forces.
Lexington had a Combat Air Patrol (CAP) circling our force all that day. On that day, also, Portland's four SOC seaplanes were each loaded with two 100-pound bombs, and fixed and free machine guns were installed. The ship threw overboard all useless items, such as the pulling whaleboat (non-motorised), both gangways, wood, cans, boxes, etc. The hangar doors and the ship's decks were painted a greyish blue. We went to general quarters again at sunset and set Condition Two (all water-tight doors and hatches closed and secured), fully expecting to contact the enemy the following day.
We cruiser seaplane pilots were catapulted at 0640 hours on the following day to search for the enemy. We made no contact with the Japanese and learned afterwards that they had withdrawn at high speed after their attack on Pearl Harbor.
After 7 December, Portland was engaged in convoying ships to and from Pearl Harbor. I did not see Kay again until Saturday, 27 December.
Portland is fitted with Radar and anti-aircraft Guns
From 29 January to 18 February 1942, USS Portland was in the Vallejo Navy Yard near San Francisco for mounting of radar equipment and anti-aircraft guns. On 18 February, Portland departed San Francisco and convoyed three Matson ships to Pago Pago, Samoa, arriving there on 4 March.
Portland carried four SOC-1 seaplanes, nicknamed "Goony Birds", and I was one of six pilots flying them. The seaplanes were launched from two catapults; one mounted amidship on each side of the ship. A seaplane was stowed on each of the two catapults, and the other two were stowed in hangars on each side of the afterpart of the well deck. The wings of the SOCs could be folded to enable them to be stowed in the narrow hangars.
One of the three ships being convoyed was the cruise liner Matsonia on which I had worked as a Bell Boy during my three summers in college 1936, 1937 and 1938. Now, four years later, I was piloting my combat aircraft over my former ship looking for enemy submarines! On 7 March, Portland departed Pago Pago and arrived in Suva, Fiji, two days later on 9 March. The ship was in Suva harbor for only one and a half hours. Officers from ashore came aboard for a conference, then Portland departed.
On 14 March 1942, Portland joined the combined ships of Task Forces 11 and 17 under the command of Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher. The combined Task Forces consisted of the carriers USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Yorktown (CV-5), nine heavy cruisers, including HMAS Australia, twenty destroyers and two tankers. A few days previously on 10 March, the two American carriers had attacked and bombed a Japanese invasion force on the northern coast of the New Guinea mainland. The Japanese were taken completely by surprise and lost four transports sunk and seven damaged. It set back the Japanese timetable for capturing Port Moresby and Tulagi by at least a month. Portland was now in Task Force 17 with Yorktown, cruisers Astoria and Pensacola, and six destroyers.