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Boston Port of Embarkation
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Boston Port of Embarkation
The Boston Port of Embarkation (BPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. In World War I it was a sub-port of the New York Port of Embarkation. During World War II it became an independent Port of Embarkation with the second greatest number of passengers embarked and third greatest tonnage of cargo embarked by east coast Ports of Embarkation. In passengers it was exceeded on the east coast only by New York and in cargo only by New York and the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation. Within three months after entry of the United States into World War II Boston was being established as a sub-port of New York. With establishment of the United States Army Transportation Corps in March 1942 the Boston sub-port became the independent Boston Port of Embarkation.
The Boston Army Base, preexisting the establishment of the POE, was a major component of the port. The cargo only sub-port at Searsport, Maine was a sub-port of the Boston POE specializing in ammunition and explosives. Camp Myles Standish, a component of the Boston POE, was the main staging area for troops. Other facilities under the command included Camp Curtis Guild, Camp McKay and the Maynard Ammunition Storage Depot.
Boston was a sub-port of the World War I era New York Port of Embarkation. After that war the ports had eventually been disestablished to become U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps facilities. The New York POE was disestablished on 24 April 1920 and reestablished 6 May 1932. When war began in Europe in 1939 New York had already been reestablished as a POE with sub ports, including Boston, being established within three months of the entry of the United States into World War II. The port commands were broadly given responsibility for specific theaters of the war with Boston focused on the North Atlantic and northern Europe. Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland, and Iceland were supported by the Boston port but the heaviest cargo tonnage were shipments to northern Europe.
In a major reorganization of March 1942 the transportation responsibilities of the Quartermaster Corps, including the ocean shipping function of the Army Transport Service and Army port operations, were transferred to the new Transportation Corps. The Boston sub-port became an independent Port of Embarkation under the Transportation Corps in July 1942 using both Army owned and leased port facilities. Sub-ports of Boston were established at Providence, Rhode Island (brief operation early in the war), Searsport (ammunition and explosives), Maine and at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Quebec City and Montreal in Canada. After incidents involving ship damage in over crowded New York harbor where all Atlantic convoys were being assembled for their escorts the Joint Chiefs of Staff authorized Army transports from Boston to assemble at Halifax to join the Atlantic convoy.
The passengers embarked at Boston Port of Embarkation between December 1941 and December 1945 totaled 768,898 with none in 1941, 26,747 in 1942, 116,476 in 1943, 456,651 in 1944 and 169,024 in 1945. Cargo, in measurement tons of 40 cu ft (1.1 m3), for the same period was a total of 9,481,780 with 160 in December 1941 then 600,612 in 1942, 1,959,969 in 1943, 3,953,680 in 1944 and 2,967,359 for 1945. Ammunition, excluding that for small arms, and high explosives shipped from the Boston Port of Embarkation totaled 457,626 short tons out of Boston and 435,573 out of Searsport.
As of 31 December 1944 the Boston Port of Embarkation employed 12,558 people of which 4,881 were military, 4,570 civilian and 3,107 other workers that included contractors, Italian Service Units and German prisoners of war. Its Searsport sub-port employed 850 people of which 186 were military, 128 civilian and 536 other workers.
Boston handled 10.7% of the returning troops during the period 1945-1946 with 74,185 arriving in December 1945 and 679,196 over the full period.
The days immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack congestion and backlogs at the ports had demonstrated the necessity for port control of incoming shipments of troops and cargo. The commanding officers of the ports of embarkation, port commanders, exercised control far beyond the bounds of the ports themselves as only the ports had full information regarding both capacities at the port for troops and supplies, ship loading and capacity and exact sailing information. The port commander controlled movements from points of origin to the port for both troops and supplies giving detailed instructions on preparation of troops before departure from points of origin as the port was required to finish both training and equipping before sailing. To prevent port congestion and conflict between the Army shipping and Lend Lease shipping, which was handled commercially, a port agency was established in Boston during October 1941. That agency coordinated with the Traffic Control Division in the Office of the Chief of Transportation. Late in the war, to better coordinate usage of shipping by Army and Navy joint Army-Navy Shipping Information Agencies (ANSIA) were established with one at Boston.
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Boston Port of Embarkation
The Boston Port of Embarkation (BPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. In World War I it was a sub-port of the New York Port of Embarkation. During World War II it became an independent Port of Embarkation with the second greatest number of passengers embarked and third greatest tonnage of cargo embarked by east coast Ports of Embarkation. In passengers it was exceeded on the east coast only by New York and in cargo only by New York and the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation. Within three months after entry of the United States into World War II Boston was being established as a sub-port of New York. With establishment of the United States Army Transportation Corps in March 1942 the Boston sub-port became the independent Boston Port of Embarkation.
The Boston Army Base, preexisting the establishment of the POE, was a major component of the port. The cargo only sub-port at Searsport, Maine was a sub-port of the Boston POE specializing in ammunition and explosives. Camp Myles Standish, a component of the Boston POE, was the main staging area for troops. Other facilities under the command included Camp Curtis Guild, Camp McKay and the Maynard Ammunition Storage Depot.
Boston was a sub-port of the World War I era New York Port of Embarkation. After that war the ports had eventually been disestablished to become U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps facilities. The New York POE was disestablished on 24 April 1920 and reestablished 6 May 1932. When war began in Europe in 1939 New York had already been reestablished as a POE with sub ports, including Boston, being established within three months of the entry of the United States into World War II. The port commands were broadly given responsibility for specific theaters of the war with Boston focused on the North Atlantic and northern Europe. Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland, and Iceland were supported by the Boston port but the heaviest cargo tonnage were shipments to northern Europe.
In a major reorganization of March 1942 the transportation responsibilities of the Quartermaster Corps, including the ocean shipping function of the Army Transport Service and Army port operations, were transferred to the new Transportation Corps. The Boston sub-port became an independent Port of Embarkation under the Transportation Corps in July 1942 using both Army owned and leased port facilities. Sub-ports of Boston were established at Providence, Rhode Island (brief operation early in the war), Searsport (ammunition and explosives), Maine and at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Quebec City and Montreal in Canada. After incidents involving ship damage in over crowded New York harbor where all Atlantic convoys were being assembled for their escorts the Joint Chiefs of Staff authorized Army transports from Boston to assemble at Halifax to join the Atlantic convoy.
The passengers embarked at Boston Port of Embarkation between December 1941 and December 1945 totaled 768,898 with none in 1941, 26,747 in 1942, 116,476 in 1943, 456,651 in 1944 and 169,024 in 1945. Cargo, in measurement tons of 40 cu ft (1.1 m3), for the same period was a total of 9,481,780 with 160 in December 1941 then 600,612 in 1942, 1,959,969 in 1943, 3,953,680 in 1944 and 2,967,359 for 1945. Ammunition, excluding that for small arms, and high explosives shipped from the Boston Port of Embarkation totaled 457,626 short tons out of Boston and 435,573 out of Searsport.
As of 31 December 1944 the Boston Port of Embarkation employed 12,558 people of which 4,881 were military, 4,570 civilian and 3,107 other workers that included contractors, Italian Service Units and German prisoners of war. Its Searsport sub-port employed 850 people of which 186 were military, 128 civilian and 536 other workers.
Boston handled 10.7% of the returning troops during the period 1945-1946 with 74,185 arriving in December 1945 and 679,196 over the full period.
The days immediately after the Pearl Harbor attack congestion and backlogs at the ports had demonstrated the necessity for port control of incoming shipments of troops and cargo. The commanding officers of the ports of embarkation, port commanders, exercised control far beyond the bounds of the ports themselves as only the ports had full information regarding both capacities at the port for troops and supplies, ship loading and capacity and exact sailing information. The port commander controlled movements from points of origin to the port for both troops and supplies giving detailed instructions on preparation of troops before departure from points of origin as the port was required to finish both training and equipping before sailing. To prevent port congestion and conflict between the Army shipping and Lend Lease shipping, which was handled commercially, a port agency was established in Boston during October 1941. That agency coordinated with the Traffic Control Division in the Office of the Chief of Transportation. Late in the war, to better coordinate usage of shipping by Army and Navy joint Army-Navy Shipping Information Agencies (ANSIA) were established with one at Boston.
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