Quincy (CA 71) - Naval Cruise Book

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in perfect alignment, so back to Bangor steamed the Then one sunny afternoon word was passed along the deck that the ship was sealed. DfDay was approaching. Immediately came a few days of intense preparations. Secret orders and charts, were unlocked. A last minute checkup of the guns and equipment was ordered. Finally, the .Quincy was readyg the new .Quincy was ready for her first vengeful crack at the Axis. NORMANDY The ship was on hair trigger alert as she picked her way through the Irish Sea in company with other heavyweights of the Allied Armada, As each English port was passed more and more ships HMS Nelson steams up the Clyde to Greenock. sailed out to take their places in the gigantic jig saw puz' zle which was moving secretly, silently toward Normandy. At the Southern tip of the British Isles the fleet turned toward Europe. DfDay, which the world had been await' ing, was only a few hours off. Unexpectedly the order to countermarch jumped from the shipftofship radio receiver. As the great ships heeled to reverse course apprehension swept through the crew and gathered weight on every tongue. What did it mean? Had the Nazis been warned? Was the vanguard being atf tacked? Radio broadcasts added their bit of misinformaf tion. Falsely announced news told the world the story of the invasion. Tenser and tenser grew the men. So that was it-some numbskull at headquarters had spilled the beans and the invasion was offf' Scuttlebutt had a field 17 U. S. S. Nevada and U. S. S. Texas are ships of two wars. day. The best scuttlebutt, though, as always, was furthest from the truth. Cfficial sources soon disf closed that the reason for the countermarch was disagreeable weather, the invasion was to begin tomorrow morning. The false report had not endangered the operation. The crew relaxed, even began to joke. The big show was still a day off. Twelve hours later, orders countermarched the fleet again. Darkness fell and the hours ticked away as the huge fleet felt its way through channel. At 2230 the bugler sounded the notes which sent the men to their stations to prepare for the battle that was awaiting them over the horizon. This time there was no confusion, no misunderstood motives. no turning back-the fight was at hand. But once more the same tenseness stole over the ship. Fighting would be bad, waiting to Hght was worse. Four o'clock found the ships in Baie de la Seine, slip' ping into their firing stations like actors setting the scene on a darkened stage. Ahead the Allied bombers were pounding the beach with everything they had, The trace of rockets, the flare of bombs, the vibrating roar of explof sives all lent an unforgettable feeling of awe of mankind's tremendous power. The stage was set. The first grey haze of the day, June 6, 1944, inched back the curtain of darkness. Suddenly a spout of water danced before the ship, then another, another, and another. The .Quincy was being fired at, the battle for the possession of Europe was on. The Migl1ty SZ, opened fire at 0557. Immediately all decks were en'

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-------- V'-l P-A CD 1-I ' L..1f11,1.Z.,i.,11', l' The Quincy passes part of the slow-moving armada on the way to France.