Status - John Skinner - USS St. Croix
The St. Croix remained in the Solomons area ferrying passengers and equipment between Guadalcanal the Florida Islands until the 18th, and then left for New Caledonia, reaching Noumea on the 26th. There St. Croix boarded army troops for transportation to the Philippines.
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The island of Iwo Jima was secured by US forces on the 26th. The invasion of Okinawa began on April 1st. Many of the Haskell class transports like St. Croix were used at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Planning was already underway for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan; slated for November 1945, it would certainly have included St. Croix and all of her sister ships that were available. So John and his shipmates would already be preparing for this final invasion.
Despite the capture of Manila, fighting would continue in the Philippines until July. The St. Croix would bring troops to the Philippines several times during 1945.
The western European allies were crossing the Rhine River at many places along its length. Soviet forces were advancing throughout what is now central Poland. Gdansk (Danzig), the focus of the start of the war in 1939, fell to Soviet forces.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 641-653.
- The Liberation of the Philippines, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 228-302.
- Victory in the Pacific, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 64-169.
- USS_Saint_Croix
- Events of March, 1945
- Events of April, 1945
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