LCI (542) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 21 text:

.17 were aboard- The 542 'Chen 3SSUI'HCd , her duties as standby Port Director, which meant touring the anchorage twice a day in good weather, signalling the few remaining cargo ships, and finding out how unloading Qby DUKWS onlyj was progressing. The .RO'BERTSO'N, with her amusements, had departed, so we only got to the movies once, aboard the ARL ADONIS. On the 6th the ship went out to the British LSD O'ceanway to pick up the crews from the LCMS she was loading. As soon as we were alongside, almost all hands swarmed over the rails, to the consternation of the Royal Navy. ,They soon came back with the LCM crews, so-me food and two bicycles, of which we were to hear more later. On the morning of November 10, to our surprise, the 509 relieved us, taking over the four officers and twelve men of the Port Director Party and even the firefighting gear. ,By ,that after- noon we were anchored off Lymington, only to find that We Should have gone to Plymouth for drydocking. So the next afternoon the ship jo-ined a slow British convoy of coasters off the Needles, LC1s were no longer permitted to sail alone along the Coast-too dangerous! November 12 found her moored once more at good o-ld Saltash. There followed two days of rest while we waited our turn in dry- dock, we did not mind, for by now we knew the repairs were being made for the voyage home. Many ships, including the 488, had been turned over to the British and their crews released to the general pool. On the afternoon of the 15th we were hauled out on the QAB marine railway fthe first drydocking since April, when we had undergone the air raid on the same spotj. All hands turned to in below-freezing weather to scrape and paint the bottom, 23M hours later the ship was waterborne once more, with paint scarcely dry. Ordered to Baltic Wharf for the night, we moored to the 413, with two YMSS and an abandoned LCT inboard and the 412 outboard. A bad southerly blow had been forecast. It came in the early morning. The untended old lines of the LCT began to part, and soon the whole nest of ships was perpendicular to the wharf, bows out and broadside to the driving wind. When the last line snapped, they began to drift towards the rocks on QAB. It was impossible to maneuver against the wind or to see in the hard rain. Engines were started, and tugs came out to help. The nest broke up as 412 and 413 cast off to blunder about on their own. The 542 was almost on the rocks, when, all else having failed, the engines were backed full speed. She slowly drew out of that danger, miraculously passed clear of the other ships, and backed into the wind. When she was well clear and approaching QAB O11 the other t2lCk, the stern anchor was dropped, and it held. EverYO'ne relaxed until after daylight, when we returned to SaltaSh-

Page 20 text:

16 and bedded do-wn, followed later by 4 Frenchmen. After waiting all the next day for the weather to subside Cthese waits on the weather were becoming too commonb, we set off, leading three ships to Utah, where we beached after dark and unloaded. Upon our return we stayed in Lymingto-n for an unprecedented nine days, there was plenty of room, since most of the Flotilla was at Southampton, fully loaded and waiting, some for a week, until the storms subsided. Shifting from pier to anchorage and back again, we remained idle for sixteen days- our longest period of leisure since the Invasion. Gctober 25 was elec- tion day aboard, between 0900 and 1100 all hands who were of age had an opportunity to sit alone in the sacred wardroom and vote. A few days later our new Group Commander, Lt. Reed, held another materiel inspection-to his dismay he found the hand whistle in the conn inoperative, because it was full -of water. Then o-n October 31 to- our dismay we were told to load up with supplies for another tour of duty off the beaches, which were supposed to be closed by then. Commanders Patrick and Henry came aboard that evening for haircuts, their conver- sation cheered those who happened to hear. November 1 we departed for Utah with the 537 and upon arrival moored to the RoBE.RTsoN so that Lt. Qjgj Scanlon and his gear could be transferred to us. The waves were running high during the fifty minutes alongside, causing four of our lines to part as well as some bad dents o-n the port edge of the gundeck. Finally we cast off and anchored, only to be disturbed at an early hour the next morning by Lt. Newman, Commander of LCT Group 11, who boarded us with instructions to escort 15 LCTs to Le Havre. The voyage across the Bay of the Seine at 6 knots took nine hours, so we anchored off Le Havre for the night. When we sailed the following morning, we were chased and turned back by a PT boat, for no reason that we could see, but after a co-uple of hours they let us go. Back at Utah mooring to the 537 inside the gooseberry proved difficult, since she and her stern anchor cable took up most of the distance between block ships and shore. Consequently we lost a few stanchions. We gained Lt. Cjgj Casey and six more or less ragged fugitives from abandoned beach signal posts, part of the Utah Port Director Party, the rest of which was remaining on the 537. We also received a large pile of rusted and useless firefighting gear to weigh down the gun- deck. We could not do much about that, but Mr. Littlejohn told the ex-beach-dwellers that they would have to shave and clean up now that they were back in civilization 5 at Beloin's insistence they did. When they came out from behind their whiskers, they proved to be a line group of men who added a great deal to the ship in the ten days they

Page 22 text:

n I. L41 1 Jul ll li li P . 1? l 1 W 1, . l , li 1 1 r W I lwg 1 'L li . 'A 1. , 1 l ll 1 r 1 r J l l li l rl ll l l ' . . 1 F E l l ll ll li l l :- 2? ,I 5 li il, . 18 The next day we returned to Weymouth with 401, 403 and 413, mooring to the docks, where a top overhaul of the engines was begun. There the ship stayed for ten days, except for short runs to test the engines and compensate compasses. December 1 was spent fueling to capacity at the Portland Fuel Pier. The Captain had forgotten how much added momentum a full load of oil gave to the ship, con- sequently, when mooring to the 414 back at Weymouth he did not back down soon enough, and we nudged the flagship right at the com- mander's porthole. Commander Patrick, who was sitting under the port, was knocked out of his chair to the deck. The Captain had to do some fast talking. Luckily, no harm was done beyond a few scratches on the new paint Qlt always was newj of the unmoving 414. The follo-wing week passed in last-minute preparations and rejoicing that we were still going home, when twelve ships C401, 403, 412, 413, 414, 415, 538, 539, 540, 541, 556 and 4081 were being held in Europe for further cross-Channel trips. QThey did not get home until june, 1945.5 December 7 Ensign Paul E. Allen, former Communications Offi- cer of the 411 and Group 34, reported aboard for transportation home, so did Vahlbruch, BM 2c, an ex-small boat coxswain. Two days later we bid goodbye to F lot 12' and sailed fo-r Plymouth, leading 417, 418, 419, 420 and 421 through high seas and arriving at Saltash in the afternoon. Lt. Pinson, who had been skipper of the 491, lost on D-Day, was now Commander of Group 35 for the voy- age home and would travel on the flagship 420. The next morning the 1 Captain attended the convoy conference and learned that we were to go in a towing convoy 'consisting of 4 damaged LSTS, one wrecked tanker, tugs to tow them, some extra tugs, 2 net-tenders, a Navy oiler, and 4 DEs for escort, convoy speed was to be 4 to 5 knots, if all tows could make that speed. At that rate it wo-uld take four weeks to get to the States. Since weather prevented sailing on the llth, we topped off with water and also took aboard Y lc Menagh of Group 35 Staff as a passenger. December 12 at 0922 the 542 left Saltash, our old stamping ground, slipped under Royal Albert railroad bridge, and passed through the Plymouth Harbor nets for the last time. The convoy assembled in Cawsand Bay and sailed at noon, with the 6 LCIs bringing up- the rear. At 2318 Lizard Light was passed, our last glimpse of England. By the next morning the convoy had formed into seven shallow columns, with the 542 as third and last ship in the sixth column 5 the convoy speed o-f four knots could be kept using one-third speed on one engine in each quad. The convoy commodore was the captain of U. S. S. MATTOLE, the oiler, while the escort commander was the DE division commander