Brooklyn (CL 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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On Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, 1942, it is still very rough, but the Chenango decided to launch her planes anyway to keep a submarine patrol. A F4F Wildcat got off on a down roll, the wing hit the water and the plane sank immediately. When the destroyer got there, the pilot was swimming around and got picked up. How he ever got out, we can't figure out, only a few bruises. On the destroyer Wilkes a doctor lashed the patient to a wardroom table. Then lashed himself to the table and operated on the sailor for appendicitis. For Thanksgiving dinner had frozen turkey, dehydrated mashed potatoes and canned asparagus. Had to find things to eat it off of and then hang on to eat it. Sunday, the 29th of November, the worst storm the Brooklyn has ever seen calmed down after seven days. As a result of the storm, the Augusta had to put into Bermuda because of her damage. The Chenango had her 1.1 gun director and platform washed overboard and the forward part of the flight deck caved in. The Monadnock is still half full of water. Several of the transports have plates open and are taking water. Norfolk is only 250 miles away and we can look with satisfaction at a job well done. There is a wonderful pride in our officers and crew for our equipment and men. We really have the best. The surge in optimism in the whole Allied world following this successful operation is reflected in all the news releases. Yesterday the entire French Fleet at Toulon scuttled themselves, three battleships, seven cruisers, 25 destroyers and 30 subs, when the Germans tried to take them. The Russians started a counter offensive at Stalingrad that has put the Germans on the defensive with heavy losses. In Africa we have the Germans in a pocket in Tunisia and a big battle is a matter of days. Bring on New York and the Navy Yard. CHAPTER 7 LOVE I got more than I bargained for out of the trip to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. I had a severe attack of love. It makes a guy do funny things and changed the rest of my Navy story. We got back from Casablanca around the 1st of December and I really didn't expect much more to happen that year. But the first thing was promotion to a full two-stripe Lieutenant. Then as I stood the midwatch one night in the Yard, the chaplain came aboard and we started talking. Somehow I got on the subject of girls and how hard to meet nice ones when you're sailing around and looking around hotel lobbies ashore. He said he had just come from a visit to a friend of his who worked in the showroom of a millinery company that made high priced hats for the better stores across the country. He said the girl was very close to the couple that owned the business and he knew they had a very pretty niece that was a model at Milgrims Department Store on 57th Street. What would I say if he invited them all out to the ship for dinner. He had a feeling they would like it and could bring the niece along. I said, sure, and he made the invitation and it was accepted. The chaplain and I went down to meet their car as they arrived. The back door opened and the girl that tried to step out caught her heel in the hem of her dress and would have fallen down if I hadn't caught her. This was the graceful, beautiful model. I took Regina up to my room on the ship to see what could be done to the bottom of the dress. I had a needle and thread and gave it to her, but she explained she didn't know how to use it. So I fixed up the hem and we joined her charming Aunt Mable and Uncle Edgar Lorie with the chaplain's friend in the wardroom. After a very pleasant dinner, plus tour of the ship, and before they left, Regina asked me if I would care to go to a party that Grace Dalzell, a friend of their family, was having in her apartment in New York the next night. I went, we had a good time at the party and also got acquainted as I took a long time getting her back to her aunt's apartment where she was going to stay that night. Too far to go to Forest Hills where she lived with her mother and sister, the Arguimbaus. We had a date the next night too. Then Grace Dalzell, whose family had the Dalzell tugboats in New York Harbor, thought it would be a good idea to have another party with officers from the Brooklyn and it was a grand affair. Another date, then a visit to the ship for dinner. Then another visit to the ship for dinner when I knew we had to leave for a long trip the next day and I gave Regina an engagement ring. We left for the long trip two days before Christmas and didn't get very far when something went wrong with the engines. Were ordered back to New York.. The Amphibious Force was just being formed and a message was sent to all cruisers asking for volunteers of one full lieutenant from each cruiser to start this new force, lovingly nicknamed the Suicide Squadron. The commander announced this in the wardroom as we were on our way back to New York. I had an idea and followed him into his cabin. ' I told him I would volunteer if he would give me time off to get married. He agreed and told me the ship was going back in the Navy Yard for something that wasn't working right and he could give me whatever time we spent in the Yard and then I would have to be detached from the ship and report to Norfolk. Big excitement, rush, rush. The ship got back Christmas Day. I made the announcement to Regina. Her family was something. So were the boys on the Brooklyn with their bachelor party at the Ritz Carlton. I spent New Year's Eve on watch again this year, only it was at the Plaza' Hotel because a groom couldn't see the bride the night before the wedding. We were married in the rectory of St. Patrick's Cathedral on New Year's Day 1943. The chaplain that married us was the Brooklyn's chaplain, Father Francis O'1eary, the one who had introduced us. The affair afterwards at Aunt Mabel's was beautifully done and we moved into the Plaza Hotel. The ship was only supposed to stay for four or five days and I would call the commander each day and he would say, try one more day. It went on for two weeks and then he said, Tomorrow is it. I was detached from the Brooklyn with orders to report immediately to Norfolk for further duty. And that is how I got into the Amphibious Force. CHAPTER 8 LANDING SHIP TANK NUMBER 376 On the train down to Norfolk, I had some time to think about what I had gotten myself into. I knew they had to have ships ln an Amphibious Force, but I didn't know what kind. What I did know was a very good feeling for Denebrink for what he taught me. It was Captain Denebrink now and he had become Skipper of the Brooklyn before the convoys to England. Ever since that episode over Leeward in Auckland, I learned to. respect him for everything he did and what he did in training .me so I wasn't the least concerned about what I would find at Norfolk. Denebrink was born to be in the Navy - in Command. I recalled one incident while we were returning from the second trip to England with blg empty troop transports in the convoy. One of the transports, the USS Wakefield, way over on the starboard 4.1

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Commander Close. But the U.S. tanker Winooski also took a torpedo during the night. Didn't sink though There are about 98 German subs operating in the Atlantic area and a lot of them sure are right around here. We spent the day dodging torpedos and sighting periscopes. We go as fast as we can but are about out of fuel. At noon they decided it was too hot for these valuable ships and there were no more air attacks needed so they sent the three carriers and five destroyers with the Cleveland and us out to sea about 250 miles. We are to fuel from a tanker out here tomorrow They found we had sunk the Jean Bart a cruiser and several destroyers plus many merchant ships in the bombardment of Casablanca Harbor We passed a very big convoy from the States headed for Casablanca. The Arkansas was the head of it Friday, the 13th of November - We are still heading west with these carriers and tanker, but the weather is very rough and can't fuel. We can only keep this speed for another two days without re-fueling We roll, pitch and zig-zag and stand Condition 2 watch at night so not much sleep. But we are heading West and that's the U.S.A. Morning broke with 30-foot waves, falling barometer 35-knot wind and a cloudburst rain. One destroyer in desparation tried to fuel from the tanker and got her bridge bashed in. So there was nothing left to do The three carriers were too valuable to go slow through these sub waters. The Cleveland had just enough fuel as did four cans to make Bermuda. So the Brooklyn and three cans were left with the two tankers to go at slow speed save fuel and try to ride out the storm. We go to ten knots and can last five days at this speed. The ship, empty of fuel, jumps, twists, and bounces rather than the pitch and roll of a full ship. We can't sit down to eat, hard to sleep and heading east instead of west so everyone downcast tonight. Pray for a good day tomorrow. Morning came with no change. Big waves and high winds. Nothing else to do but leave the tankers in the area they had to stay in and take all three nearly empty of fuel destroyers and head for Casablanca at 20 knots zig-zagging. The submarines are having old home-week down here. There must be about seventy of them around. We found out the transports Bliss, Scott and Rutledge had been sunk by subs in the Fedala area since we left with a loss of many lives. The cargo ship Electra was hit, but afloat. As we approached the Casablanca area, there are so many subs around they sent out nine destroyers to protect us 1I1tO Casablanca. About 8:00 in the morning we saw the outline of the beautiful modern city that is Casablanca, brown-yellow buildings, looking like the Miami shorellne As we got closer we could see the large man-made harbor behind the breakwater, the big cranes and docks. Then we came around the breakwater and could see our handiwork. First was the mast of a French destroyer - sunk. On the shore a large 4000 ton destroyer leader - badly. shot up, beached and burned out. At anchor the cruiser Prrmauguet, her superstructure shot away and mast leaning - whole mam deck and sides burned. There was our cargo ship, Electra, with torpedo hole in her, very low in the water. Came ln further to the anti-submarine net and in front of us just the mast of a sunken merchant ship. Inside the harbor were the results of our shells and bombs: two French tankers overturned, a passenger ship on the bottom and another on her side, down at the end two destroyer leaders and a destroyer riddled with shell holes, in the corner two French subs sunk with the mooring lines still hanging. Right in the center the massive superstructure, stack and turrets of the mighty battleship, Jean Bart. Down by the bow, 191113.11013 too badly banged up. A beautiful ship. In all we had killed over 2000 French Naval personnel They hate our guts now but those weren t peanuts they were shooting at us The USS W1n0OSk1 and destroyer Hambleton were also there with big 15 foot torpedo holes clearly visible We put our stern to the breakwater between the Chenango and Maintlmoma The USS Terror was out laying a mlne f1eld Twice durlng the afternoon reat explosions were seen and heard with nothing aroun That could be subs hlttlng mines One of the destroyers further out the USS Woolsey got a sub with depth charges that evening We started fueling at once from the Chenango because It s crowded and th1s harbor IS hard to move around the sunken and damaged ships so we have to get out and make room for the convoy coming in to unload There are already cargo ships and transports putt1ng troops and supplies ashore at all avallable dock space Couldn t o ashore because there 1S too much work to do and besi es the natives weren t exactly friendly Some sniping and killing going on yet The Brooklyn s bombardment of Chergui was widely talked about We sent a photographer over to get some plctures of Chergul Some stories he brought back We fueled and took on aviation gas The skies around us have plenty of P 40 s flying to protect this harbor which full of ships is a perfect target for an Axis air attack Had a good night s sleep wlthout fear of subs and no rolling During the night the Br1t1sh Hospital Ship HMS Newfoundland got confused and went across the newly laid mine field It worked I mean the mine field worked She had to be helped into the harbor with a hole in her bottom Put her right next to us and we awoke to have nurses to talk to about 30 feet away across the water One of the crew, a radioman 2fC, died. He was buried at sea. The whole crew stood in ranks as the chaplain talked. We got a message to go to Norfolk first' then ten days in Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York. I was hoping it would be longer, but ten days is ten days. It was too rough to go topside so for the first time in weeks we didn't see the dawn as General Quarters was canceled. Storm still on and we have our old problem that the destroyers are short of fuel and can't go alongside the tankers. One of the carriers had the waves push in the bieams holding up the forward flight deck and can't operate p anes. The waves also pushed in the jack staff and bow of the Brooklyn, but nothing serious. On the minelayer Monadnock though, it buckled the plates and flooded the forward part of the ship. On Wednesday, November 24, the waves and wind are still high and the destroyers, three of them, are down to their last bit of o1l. So we set up the tanker with the wind coming across her port bow. The Brooklyn then steamed up on her port bow forming a lee and the big transport Brazil went up on the Brooklyn's port bow for another lee. The wind had to come across both the big ships and then the tanker to get to the destroyer that was to come up on her starboard quarter to get the fuel hoses. Each ship put over storm o1l to help calm the waves and we fueled the three destroyers after many unsuccessful attempts. At lunchtime a particularly big wave put the Brooklyn what seemed to be straight up and everyone fell all over the wardroom and any plates, etc., that were left were flnished off The wardroom was a mess from the food and broken stuff all over. 9 9 , . . , , , . . , . . . ' ' .in - U .. . . . . . . I C Q I ' 1, ' . i 9 9 ,. . . . . . 5 ., . ,V 1 ' , , . O 17 l . . , . . ., ' . . . I 2 V - .5 . , . . .. .. . . . , . . . . ' . . . - . - .. . . , . . . , D 1 I U , , . . . , . . . . . .. . . 1 . . . . . . . . , . . . . . , .

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outboard column, had a fire on board. Denebrink must plan these things out in his mind to be ready for any situation, because while all else were standing there with mouths open watching the fire, he had that Brooklyn out of our lead spot in the center column, around the entire convoy at flank speed and on our way along the port side of the burning ship. It was a very bad fire. Spread rapidly and left the ship a hulk sitting in the water. But not before Denebrink had our cruiser alongside right under the flames and cargo nets from the transport down to our deck. Men would hold the cargo net on the top of the transport's deck and Brooklyn do the same at the bottom. Then one at a time a passenger or crew member would wait for the right roll of the ships and he would roll down the cargo net to safety. Took off everyone of the hundreds on board without a casualty and it had to be done fast. I was with him and learning my whole time on the Brooklyn when he was Commander, Executive Officer and Captain, the Skipper. Many times I hated him for the moment but it was always his way of making a point that he knew would make a better Naval officer out of me or any of the other officers he was dealing with. He has a round face and when he was Executive Officer, I once took an ink mechanical drawing compass and did a portrait of his face all in circles. It turned out pretty good or I wouldn't have given it to him. I autographed it for the times we went round and round together on the Brooklyn. After all my care in doing the art work, I spelled Brooklyn wrong and he got a big laugh out of that. He framed it and hung it in his Exec's cabin and then the Captain's cabin. This was the first time since being on a ship that I had been without his protection. I felt kind of alone. I reported to the Landing Force at Naval Operating Base - Norfolk, and almost at once went before a board of high ranking officers for interview. The only thing I really remember was the first question, How old are you? and I replied, 22. About three questions later I realized what I said and blurted out, 'Tm 24, it's my wife that's 22. Making a big impression while being interviewed for possible command of a ship of the Navy and don't remember how old you are. Denebrink had done a good job. If he had written the questions, he couldn't have prepared me better for this interview. I was given command of LST 376 being built in Quincy, Massachusetts. The first thing I did upon leaving the interview was to find out what an LST was. A ship, longer than a football field. Three hundred twenty seven feet of ship that can be run up on a hostile beach and put off 50 tanks or trucks over the big front ramp that goes down after the big bow doors are opened. Crew of 120 men and six officers besides the captain with space to carry up to 500 troops. I was to report at once to Paradise Creek in Portsmouth to pick up my crew. After all the rushing: I had to wait three days for the officers and men to get t ere, but I spent that time finding out everything I could about a landing ship tank. I met the six officers: Stan Bowman, the Exec, Jones, the 1st Lieutenant, Hochman, Communications, Burns, Supply, Bankert, Gunnery, and Bower, Engineering Officer. The Exec had the service records of the crew. It was hard to believe as I looked through them. Seems like when they put out the call for officers to the cruisers, they did get volunteers. But at all bases they would take their troublemakers and threaten If you don't shape up, we're going to send you to the Amphibious Force. They d1dn't shape up and here they were in our crew. Their service records looked like the winners in a contest of who could get the most deck and general court martials. Some of those names I can't forget even from the first time I read their records, Virgillo, Pompillo. First order of business was to get us all to Boston. In a rainstorm we loaded everything in trucks to get to the Cape Charles ferry. Dave Jones fof all namesl, the lst Lieutenant, held things up a bit by getting married in the morning and Bankert's wife wanted to come along on the train. Burns almost missed the ferry but finally we were all on board. Got on the train at Cape Charles and found it was not a pullman sleeper the way it was supposed to be. Sat up all night. Had breakfast in Philadelphia and on to Boston. Got the men to Fargo barracks and ourselves to the BOQ. I called Regina, she said she would be up on Saturday and I had to find a place to live in this crowded city. Found a room and a big bath. In fact, the bathroom was three times the size of the room. It was in an old house on Commonwealth Avenue. We went to the Bethlehem Steel Company at Fore River, Quincy, Mass. to look over our ship. It was snowing and our first sight as we came up the ladder was a workman with a paint sprayer painting the deck with snow on it. We go every day to the ship mainly because the paper work to put a ship in commission is staggering. Regina arrived and my first taste of married life and commuting. Would get up in the morning and have breakfast. Put on my big fur-lined coat and boots and wade in the snow to the train. Work until about 4:00 and come home. The big day was the launching of LST 376 with ceremonies, champagne bottle breaking christening and the big party with wives, admirals, etc. Pictures, food, drink. Then the commissioning with more impressive ceremonies. Admiral Smith was on board and conducted the commissioning. Then the last paper had to be signed. I signed it and it said in fact, I hereby sign and receipt for 33,000,000 worth of ship. And a few days later we all sailed it up from Quincy inland waters to the Charleston Navy Yard in Boston with a pilot. Workmen are funny. If they like you they will do anything and have the time and material to do it. They liked us and help fit the ship up with many extra comforts. A radio and loudspeaker with record player in the crew's quarters and wardroom. A plexiglass windshield that I dreamed up because of my experience coming back from Casablanca without windows. Our conning tower Cbridgej is open and I could just visualize standing there at sea with head and shoulders above the sides of the bridge and freezing. They built a beauty with a solid metal frame that extended around three sides and was three feet high. We ran our trials. I sent Regina home to New York and were ready to try the ocean. The last thing we did was gunnery trials. Big deal after the Brooklyn, but the 3-inch gun on the fantail, 20 MM mounts on the bow and machine guns around the bridge were our armor. We also ran the degaussing range, calibrated the R.D.F. on 365 KC's and in 15 degree below weather with ice solid on the water we adjusted the magnetic compass and set the coils. I reported to the Commander of the First Naval District for orders and was told to proceed the next morning all along through New York and then out to sea and around to Norfolk without stopping at New York. When I heard the no stopping at New York, I called Regina and asked her to fly up for one night. There were no planes so she came by train and then all the hotels were full. We stayed in a house on Marlborough Street and the next morning the ice was so thick we couldn't get the ship out. Then the bow doors wouldn't work and we yelled and got moved to South Boston Navy Yard for one week to fix the doors. We had to move out of the rented room after one night but they let us stay in the ballroom at the Hotel Statler. The week was up and this time it looked like we were going. Bought Regina a railroad ticket. Re-confirmed our orders and were set to go. On the morning of Saturday, February 27, we got underway and I took the ship by myself for the first time. Backed it away from the dock without a pilot and out to sea. I wish I could say it ended up a proud first day but it did not.