USS Princeton (CVL-23)-- Part 1: From Light Cruiser to Light Aircraft Carrier

From Wikipedia.

Earlier this week, I wrote about 101-year-old Al Oesterle recounting his memories of the sinking of this ship.  Here is some more information on the ship.

For part of this background information,  click on the USS Princeton label below and go back to my Feb. 23, 2013, blog entry.

The Princeton was laid down as the Cleveland class light cruiser Tallahassee (CL-61) by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in 1941 and was reclassified  as the Independence class light aircraft carrier CV-23 on 16 February 1942. and renamed the Princeton a month later.

It was launched  18 October 1942, sponsored by Margaret Dodds (wife of Princeton President  Harold Dodds) and commissioned at Philadelphia 25 February 1943, with Captain George R. Henderson in command.

After a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean Sea and reclassification to CVL-23, the ship, with Air Group 23 got underway for the Pacific and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 9 August.  She sortied with TF 11 on August 25 and headed for Baker Island.  There she served as flagship of TG 11.2 and provided air cover during the occupation of the island and construction of the airfield there 1-14 September.

During that time, planes from the Princeton downed  the new Japanese Emily  reconnaissance planes and more importantly provided the U.S. Navy with photographs of them.

--GreGen

Al Oesterle remembers Sinking of USS Princeton-- Part 3:

The Princeton's crew were ordered to abandon ship.  When it was Oesterle's turn to leave, he climbed down a cargo net only to find there was no boat at the bottom.  He climbed back up and discovered that he was alone on his burning, stricken ship.

"I came back onboard to help... nobody was there but me," he said.

Eventually, a boat did come back for him and took him to the Birmingham.  In all, 1,361 members of the Princeton's crew were rescued.

Two days later, he wrote his mother to let her know he was alright.  "All in all it was quite a day.  None the worse for wear & tear," he wrote.

He finished the war stationed on other ships.  Among his  service medals are a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, which he received for valor.

On September1, 1945,  he and Joan were married at the Philadelphia  Naval Shipyard.  During the rest of his naval career as a dentist, Oesterle was stationed at bases in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois and California as well as a stint at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Joan died in 1998.

Quite the Story.  --GreGen

Al Oesterle Remembers USS Princeton Sinking-- Part 2: One Powerful Explosion

The explosion from the Japanese dive bomber's bomb started a fire that spread quickly across the ship.  Oeseterle and the other crew members scrambled to fight the fires as other American ships came to assist.  The USS Birmingham (CL-62) a light cruiser, pulled alongside the stricken Princeton.

The Birmingham's crew used high pressure hoses to pour water on the burning ship, but the fire reached  stored munitions and a massive  explosion rocked the Princeton.

The explosion shot out a storm of fire and debris.  On the Princeton,  108 men were killed.  On the Birmingham, where many of the crew were on deck or superstructure fighting the fire and assisting in rescuing,  233 men were killed and  another 426 wounded (out of 1255 crew).

Oesterle, who was standing on the deck of the Princeton next to Captain John Hopkins at the time of the explosion, suffered light burns on his neck, but otherwise was not harmed.    Captain Hoskins lost the lower part of a leg.

--GreGen

101-Year-Old Navy Veteran Al Oesterle recalls the End of the USS Princeton (CVL-23)-- Part 1

From the November 10, 2020, Coloradoan "101-year-old Fort Collins veteran remembers escape from ill-fated World War II carrier" by Kevin Dugan.

This story originally appeared in my November 11 Running the Blockade blog in honor of Veterans Day.  There was so much about this event (which I had never heard of) that I figured to write the rest of the story here.

Al Oesterle left the U.S. Navy in 1965 after a long career in it.   And, he had a near run-in with death that his family didn't learn about until nearly 40 years after it happened.  It was at a reunion of the crew that had served on the USS Princeton (CVL-23), a light aircraft carrier that was lost during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.  His wife, Joan heard that her husband might have been the last man to leave the stricken carrier before it sank.

Mr. Oesterle grew up in Joliet, Illinois and joined the Navy in 1939 at age 20 and attended the University of Illinois Dental School.   He graduated in 1942 and was appointed to the U.S. Navy Dental Corps.  After further training, he was assigned to the USS Princeton in December 1943.

The Princeton was operating in the Pacific Theater.

On October 24, 1944, east of  the Philippine island of Luzon, a lone Japanese dive bomber emerged from the clouds and dropped a bomb on the Princeton,  penetrating the flight deck and exploding  in the hangar bay, where aircraft were being armed and fueled.

--GreGen