LCI (542) - Naval Cruise Book

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12 filled the bunks and slept o-n the decks and even the mess tables. Early in the morning pilot Sublieutenant Taffy Constance C Elank j guided us out of the harbor to anchor in the Solent till daylight. The follow- ing trip- to Omaha to-ok the usual twelve hours, but this time the return trip began the same night, as soon as unloading was comp-leted. We returned to Calshot, where the compasses were compensated. Then on July 9 the Flotilla moved to its new base at Lymington. This time Sublieutenant Poot C Full j piloted us in at a more conservative speed. During the next two days everyone had an opportunity to become acquainted with Lymington, a hospitable, quiet town, almost untouched by the war, although it was there that we experienced our first flying bomb alert on 11 July. Shortly afterwards Pilot 'Taffy flanked us out through the low tide mud, causing us to hit bo-ttom, which p-roduced a heavy vibration in the fantailg so we anchored off Lymington and then Calshot, instead of making the scheduled trip to France. It was off Calsho-t at 0100 July 12 that our first flying bomb was sighted. Three came over, one to s-tarboard, one to port, and one directly overhead, each one trailed by a curtain of anti-aircraft fire from the shore bat- teries-a very upsetting experience, they were landing around South- ampton, and the ship had been ordered to Millbrook, just beyond the city. Millbrook proved to be a pier on a mud flat, where: we moored to the 411 and dried out. While some painted the ship- and helped install the new screw, others to-ok advantage of the first over-night liberties since April and went to London. July 14 brought the second encounter with the 4183 backing onto the mud flat, she contrived to scrape- all along our port side, marring our new coat of rich blue, chalky English paint. Upon leaving the next day the vibration proved as bad as ever, necessitating a return for more repairs. On the 18th Ensign Nave, a survivor of the lost 416, reported aboard as the new Engineering Officer, and the following day we go-t away from Millbrook at last, returning to Lymington. Having been out of operation for eight days, we were quickly put to work, 1-o-ading 162 troops at 0300 the next morning. The convoy this time consisted of 5 -LCIS, led by 408 and trailed, as usual, by 542. It was blowing as was customary on the far shore, even at the anchor- age inside the cr-owded mulberry. In the middle of the night our anchor dragged, followed by forty minutes of hectic activity. We nudged other ships, got caught on an LCT's anchor cable, drifted and steamed, and finally found a place to light in the blackness-not too good a place, since the ebbing tide left the ship half stranded by morn- ing. We tinally pulled off the beach, with a length of electric cable entwined in the screws. That meant a return to Millbrook, and by the

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11 while, as running lights fiashed on and off, but 'no further collisions. The following afternoon we arrived on our first visit to- Utah Beach and anchored inside the Gooseberry of sunken hulks, where the pas- sengers disembarked in LCVPS. Gn the way in Danielson had aj loud-hailer conversation with his stepfather, the captain of the liberty ship T. B. ROBERTSON, Port Control Vessel, and after we anchored for the night, he went off in a small boat for a visit. After dark came the regular nightly air raidi WC dragged anchor and almost hit a large LSI, which had been mined and was low in the water. Dan could not find the ship and had to spend the night on the 540. This 'was a jinxed voyage, for the next morning on the way to Omaha assembly area some uninvited British LCTs joined us, and one, the 455, unaccountably turned hard to port and rammed us in the starboard quar- ter, denting most of the frames in the galley and throwing all of johnny's fixtures o-ut of line. Undaunted, we started back to Eng- land in a convoy of 5 LCIs and 36 LCTS, anchoring in Weymouth Roads very early on june 19. Forthe next four days we rode out a bad storm at anchor. It was the worst Channel storm in years and severely damaged the beaches, the 542 had left the Far Sho-re just in time. She remained at Weymouth until 28 june, when the whole Flotilla moved to the Southampton area, where they moored to trots off Calshot Castle. On the afternoon of july 1 we paid our first visit to the Royal Pier in Southampton in order to embark 209 tro-ops. After anchoring in the Calshot sailing area, we sailed early the next morning for Omaha Beach in a convoy of LCIS and twelve hours later were anchored inside the mulberry, unloading into LCVPS. The return trip the following day found us once more escorting British LCTS 5 convoy, destination was Southamp- ton, but to our annoyance we were ordered to join the 413 shepherd- ing six of them to Weymouth. Our stay there lasted only long enough to get rid of our charges, and by noon of july 4 the ship was back at Calshot. That afternoon Mr. Hand left to have his back treated in the hospital, after which he was shipped home g all hands sorely missed him. Doc's assistant, Tedesco, was transferred the next day, having been with us since just before the invasion. In the evening of 5 july we paid our first visit to Lymington, fol- lowing another ship up the tortuousf channel without too much difficulty, only to find upon arrival that a pilot was always considered necessary. After mooring alo-ngside HMCS LCICLJ 277 many of us St1'e'tChCd OL11' legs ashore by walking up the quiet country lanes near the. Isle of Wight ferry pier where the ships were berthed. Around midnight 239 soldiers cam-e aboard, the greatest number the 542 ever carried, they

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-13 afternoon of July 22 we were -drying out o-nce more on the mudflat, with the 4018 and some British LC1s as companions. It took three days to rep-air pitch and screws and disentangle the cable. Then on the way back to Lymington one of the engines broke down, so most of us rested for three days longer, while the black gang repaired the engine. On july 29 168 soldiers were loaded at Royal Pier, and 'the ship sailed at dusk with eight LCIS, 'led by 408. That night, off NAB Tower, HM heavy cruiser FRoB1s1-1'R tried to cut through the convoy from the port hand g Mr. Hillman, who had the conn, did not dispute her, but it was close. At Utah the morning beaching was too far offshore t-o disembark the passengers dryshodg so we had to beach again on the evening tide. F og ,settled in on the return trip- the next day, and the 542, at the tail end of the processio-n as usual, followed Mr. Solomon in 539 on a new and different route to Lymington. Upon arrival the RN base commander's two small boys' assisted Taffy in pilot- ing us in. The next day was devoted to a brief annual materiel inspec- tion by Lt. Com. Henry, which we passed. On 5 August the ship sailed with six others for mysteri-o-us operations near NAB Tower. After a rendezvous with 8 British LCIS, we beached twice in the morning near Portsmouth with all hands at general quarters, sent false radio- mes- sages, and held drills-apparently a deceptive maneuvre to fool the Nazis. Nothing further happened until 12 August, when after taking aboard 157 army we sailed after dark in the midst of a lot of wayward RN LCTs. Following an easy unloading by LCVPS at Gmaha the next day, the ship anchored for the night in a new position off Cher- bourg Peninsula and then returned to England by the newly opened Cherb-ourg-N-eedles channel, acting as SOP for the first time. August 19 brought another load of 153 troops, fo-llowed by an eight-hour trip to Gmaha, leading the 415 and 418. The following evening, while anchored in a strong tide at the new anchorage, along came the 418, anchor out and dragging, from a position half a mile away and smacked us in the fantail, puncturing the starboard corner and tearing a large hole in her own engine room bulkhead. She moored to us while get- ting organized, and her extra weight tore our anchor loose .from the botto-m, straining the cable so that it snapped the next morning when getting under way in a high sea. Thus we lost our original anchor- a good record, since most of the ships had gone fh1'0Ugh SCVCT-31 bl' that time. The able deck gang quickly fitted a new one before we went in to Lymingto-n alongside the repair LCT 564 to have the fallfall welded. 1 ,