Brooklyn (CL 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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Quarters at every alarm and the danger was not so much from the bombs, which did a lot of damage, but the ung0d1Y amount of flack all these ships put in the air as all shot. That flack would come raining down pieces of metal and it was lethal. In the morning went into a pier 1n the inner Bizerte Harbor and started to unload. Walked out into the wasteland 'that surrounds the city after the big battles that were fought here. Wrecked German planes ly1ng.around. Had a meeting in the afternoon to be told the time and place had been set for our next action and we had to be ready. On the way out, took the ship to another dock and discharged our cargo of fuel oil. This ship is sure useful. Can carry a lot of things. As we unloaded fuel, German planes came over very high as they were to do in the days to follow. We figure they are taking pictures of this buildup. We have an air strip right along the west side of the lake and all day and night spitfires take off for patrol and heavier bombers to bomb Sicily and Sardinia. There is no liberty here. Bizerte is a deserted, battered city full of unexploded shells, mines and booby traps. A Got underway and went to Ferryville on the other side of the lake. Sent small boats in to pick up Army troops. Loaded and unloaded them several times and then had a dress rehearsal of sailing in near the beach, lowering the troops in six small boats and they went ashore in waves as shells and mines exploded to make it realistic. Did the same thing the following day and I was put in charge of 12 LST's for the operation. Somehow, as they always did, my crew with their anti-regulations instincts mana ed to et in where they weren't supposed to and pickecf up a :fog in the ruins of Bizerte. Dirty Gertie from Bizerte they call her. Cute little thing and we now have a dog on board. Today we picked up the troops and went all the way down the channel with the tricky turn to go out and landed the troops in small boats on the beach. Pulled out and let the LCI's come after us. Then had to maneuver that tricky turn just at dark to get back in the lake. During the day over 100 flying fortresses went over in formation heading north. Never saw that many big planes before. Quite a sight. That afternoon the news that we had invaded Pantalerria, a small island about 50 miles north of us. Had orders to get underway empty and go out the tricky channel and alon the coast to Phillippeville to pick up a load of tanks ancf trucks and bring them back to Bizerte. Picked a bad night to do it because two bombers got through to Phillippeville that ni ht and did quite a bit of damage to the dock area near where we were. On the way back we tried to go through that 70 foot turn at start of channel in a high wind, the stern swung over with the wind and current and we heard the starboard propeller snap as it hit one of the sunken wrecks. Went the rest of the way on one screw, up to the dock to unload. Unfueled into the LST 300 to get ready to fix the screw. Two heavy air raids tonight and we are next to some Merchant cargo ships where the men on board get a special bonus for every air raid they are in on a trip. They are next to us in the most protected spot they can hide in cheering on the raid because it's more money for them. My men are exposed shooting the guns and giving the merchant seamen a bad time. Are starting to bomb Sicily daily. Getting them softened up for us we think. The bombing raids on the lake here in Bizerte go on now almost hourly day and night. We have a conference and are told the plans for final dress rehearsal. Only LST 376 won't be in it because of broken screw. I am to be a passenger on the 375 to witness the show. Packed my bag to get ready to move over to the 375 the next morning. We all went out that channel the next morning, 230 ships of all types, without a mishap. Made me feel kinda silly that I had to mess up here. Moved down to the Bay of Tunis in formation, night came and we started the approach and went through an entire dress rehearsal of the landing. Very late when completed and just anchored and stayed there. There are many officers on this ship observing the rehearsal but skipper to skipper he lets me sleep on the transom couch in his cabin. As we all again came through the channel without incident, I saw my alongside a dock getting fixed and got back on board. F1n1shed the repairs and moved out into the lake. Word that a small ship was sunk and two LST's torpedoed and beached just outside the Bizerte breakwater. Also got news that in the Pacific we have taken Munda and New Georgia. Had to get underway to go into a dock in Karouba and, my gosh, you can't move in the lake. British cruisers, American transports, destroyers, etc., etc. The lake is. jammed. We are having daily meetings now on final briefing for the operation. One of the low things is fresh water. It's pretty scarce anyway here and all these ships. We have to cut our supply way down that we carry so as to make the ship light when we beach. We practiced with another type of beaching, with pontoon causeways. When we hit a shallow beach as Licata, Sicily, might be and the LST grounds too far out, a ship carrying these huge causeways will put them in the water and push them to the LST. When put at the bow with the ramp down, it makes a roadway almost 300 feet lon Ctwo pontoons fastened together in the middlej to the beach. Our final meeting tonight. The Admiral said, Good Luck, and then about 5:00 A.M. all hell broke loose. The Germans who have been sending constant small raids sent everyplane they own in this area over Lake Bizerte. Planes all over the place and with so many ships shooting along with the bombs from the planes. It was like a raining hell. Only way to describe it. I wanted to find the thickest thing I could find and get under it. On board we had four men Wounded and we personally saw four German bombers burst into flame in our sector and fall in the lake, and that's how it was on Tuesday, July 6, D Day minus 4 getting ready to invade Sicily. A good part of those skippers and officers getting ready are 90 Day Wonders. ' CHAPTER 9 SICILY We'll start with the morning of D Day minus 4 CD Day is Saturday, July 10, H Hour is 0400, 4:00 A.M.l. LST 376's objective is to land the assault troo s in the first wave of small boats at Licata and after to beach and unload the tanks and trucks of the armored division. On .the morning of D minus 4 we loaded all the heavy vehicles and equipment of the second armored division and then the troops. Also take on a doctor and three hospital corpsmen. It is so hot this doctor is trying to take a man's temperature and can't get the thermometer below 104 degrees unless he puts it in the wardroom refrigerator. fFrankly, it went right up again when it came out.J At 0600 wenloaded the assault troops of the 15th Infantry that will go in on the initial small boats. They sleep in every conceivable Position and place. The wind was blowing very hard as we went through that narrow turn in the channel and I had my fingers crossed. Anchored in the outer bay and then started to form u . Ships as far as your eyes could SGP, hundreds of them - big, little, medium. Out on the fringe we saw the Brooklyn go by. I blinked them a message and 8012 H reply. The convoy gradually took shape and W0 turned into the Gulf of Tunis and when night came turned due east. To .pass the time away, the assault troops gave aodemonstratron to our crew on how they approached.a P111b0X With dynamite in hand and got the explosives ln the slots of the pillbox. Fvate had to bling this day from somewhere out in left field. ithout warning the Mediterranean, which is usually quite ca m, had the worst storm in its recent history. Ram and

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- run at it, dropping the stern anchor right on time and ramming the bow way up on the beach. Swing open the doors and down went the ramp. Didn't realize it but we were scaring the life out of the natives. This big monster coming at them right up on land and opening its mouth and sticking out its tongue. They all ran up in the hills with their goats. They soon came back very curious and tried to sell us eggs and handmade baskets. Pm making this beaching of a big LST sound easy. It really is if you have a nice calm day, know the slope of the beach from the chart and nothing better to do if you happened to get stuck. The process of beaching is to study the slope of the beach first and know if it is steep or shallow. A steep one is better because you can put the bow on and not much of the rest of the ship is aground. On a shallow beach you are pretty much all aground and probably will have quite a bit of water between the bow door and dry beach. The real secret to getting off is the handling of the stern anchor. It is on a reel on the stern of the ship and has 1100 feet of cable not secured at the end. It is up to the captain's eye, and this alone, to know when to drop it going in. The worst thing is to drop it too soon and when 1100 feet run out, so does the end of the cable and you will have to find other means of getting off the beach. The next worst is to drop it too late so you don't get a bite on the bottom and pull the anchor up when trying to get off. This is bad but at least you will have the anchor and if all else fails, you can put it in a small boat and take it out the proper distance to get a bite. W It is obvious you must drop it right and every skipper I knew had his own method. I tried to have a place where I stood on the conning tower and put my head at eye level with the railing and site the approaching shoreline against the edge of the bow of the ship. Even as I write this I know I knew what I meant when I did this. I know I wanted it to look to the men with me on the conning tower that I was doing a scientific thing and give them confidence. Remember we were to do this in poor li ht of dawn with smoke, haze and shells going off arouncl us on a hostile beach. What I really did was to get a point that my judgment told me was right. Say a little prayer I knew that I timed to take ten seconds for insurance against being too soon, and then with all the authority I had from my squatting position looking at the beach I would yell, Let go stern anchor. It worked for me and no skipper ever taught anyone else on the ship how to do it. It was one responsibility you didn't want to delegate because you couldn't teach anyone else how you did it. We beached once more and went back to a little cove just inside the harbor at Nemours and anchored. If there are going to be air attacks, it's better out here. And there was an air alarm after midnight. We went to General Quarters fast, could hear the planes but nothing happened near us. Explosions over near the town. Next morning found out five soldiers were killed and nine sailors injured. We will have air alarms every night now. The next day we had gunnery practice shooting our mighty A.A. battery at balloons filled with helium. That was our only gunnery practice. On Wednesday, May 26, we moved out and went up to Mostaganam about 100 miles closer to Bizerte. They put us in between two Liberty Ships unloading ammunition and this place has one or two air alarms a night. The next morning we open our doors and ramp on the dock and have our first loadin of tanks, half tracks and trucks. Also took on six boats and the crews for them. As the tanks and trucks load, they come up over the ramp and the first ones are run on the elevator just aft of the ramp and lifted to the main deck. There they are maneuvered into their spot and chained down solidly in position with chains and special holding clamps in the deck. After the main deck IS filled, they come right into the main tank deck and are also secured by chains and clamps. Big loading job and I thought it Was going okay in the hot sun. I was on the dock by the ramp giving directions when I heard a loud voice behind me ask, What the hell is holding up the loading of this ship? I never really appreciated the situation until I saw the movie. It was General Patton riding around in a jeep. He asked me a few questions and was off. But he did make an impression. Was impressed how much George Scott looked like I remember him that day. We are loaded now and in the morning move out to outer harbor and anchor to make room for other LST's to load. In the evening come back in to the more protected area for night. Mostaganem is also a town where the night life consists of the free sandwiches at the Red Cross plus donuts and coffee. All that night we fueled and took our capacity of fresh water. I now have on board 100,000 gallons of fuel for cargo, 50 tanks and trucks and over 400 men. German planes come over at night and we could see shooting from Arzeu, but no damage here. Tuesday, June 1, at 9:00 A.M. we go out the harbor and join up with 26 fully loaded LST's plus LCI's and LCT's as far as our eyes can see. We are going to Bizerte that was just captured a couple of weeks ago, to end the African war. We are column leader with seven LST,s behind us. We can see the coast of Africa all the time and have fighter planes over us and move around the edges of the convoy., Picked u five more LST's as we passed Tenes. Went to General fsuarters at 7:00 P.M. and didn't secure until after 10:00 because the sun goes down so late. While at General Quarters before sunrise, we do an emergency turn as a sub pops up right in front of us. Turns out to be French. Pass under Sardinia and Sicily with a very good air cover. I took a pair of khaki pants and cut them off for shorts and a shirt that I cut the sleeves off and this becomes my uniform. Held drills while underway putting troops in boats and lowering the boats down but not in the water. Both our side and the Germans have taken turns laying mines in these waters for a long time so we slow down to be sure we go through the newly swept channels in daylight hours. Wind is much stronger and we are rolling. One of the small boats was not properly secured in the davit and it came loose and was banging out and in as we rolled. Had a tough job gettin it back in place and secure. We are nearing Bizerte ani the columns are forming to enter when a sub chaser came right alongside us, hit a mine and sunk in four minutes while we watched. Some depth charges went off while there were men in the water. The wind was too strong for us to try an entry even into the shelter of Bizerte breakwater because of all the sunken ships there. So we anchored outside with the mines. The next mornin we got inside the breakwater and anchored. Took small boat to conference in a shell-torn building in wrecked Bizerte. We were shown a big chart of the channel we will have to go through to get into the inner harbor and lake. The channel is fine once you get to it but there are 29 ships sunk at the entrance to block it. They had made a path as best they could 70 feet wide four ship is 50 feet widel. To get past the sunken ships, it required an angle approach marked by buoys and then a sharp left, sharp right and left again into the straight channel. There were buoys there. All you had to do was stay in them. A few feet outside were pieces of sunken ships sticking up. We had our turn with a pretty strong wind, made the turns and were going up the channel past the blasted city when someone started shooting at us. Snipers, a couple of shots hit in the water alongside the ship. And into Lake Bizerte which looked so pretty now but was to become a real nightmare. As more and more ships were put in here, and it is a big lake, the Germans sent bombing planes, anywhere from one to big formations five or six times a night. No one really got any sleep because we would go to General c ,,.. ,,,.. ..,.,.,.. , .,., .. .,., ,,

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winds over 70 knots. There seemed no hope of holding the convoy together and Joining up with the rest of the smaller ships. We rolled an pitched and went along as best we could. When we turned north, the winds really hit us. The LCT's and LCI's somehow got to the rendezvous on time. The 90 Day Wonders were doing quite a job. Many were damaged from the storm but none turned back. As night came, we were in one long approach disposition extending for miles behind. We were late and had to go to flank speed to keep up and in thejdark was hard to keep from getting lost. At midnight we made the difficult approach and the 376 found our assigned spot off Green Beach and dropped the anchor at the same time as the LST 375 and we were too close together. So close that I could look right down in one of their small boats as it hung on the davit and the troops were getting in. There was a flash as a smoke type flare ignited for an instant and a Navy officer from the 375 jumped in the boat and smothered it with his body. CBuck, the skipper, wrote of how this officer prevented exposing the entire force. He died from inhaling the smoke and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumouslyj Our small boats were loaded and away for the first wave when the Italian searchlights on the shore illuminated them. Shooting started from all over and we lost two of our boats on the beach. The searchlights were shot out. Shooting kept up and, as it got light, German planes were coming over the hills and dropping bombs. One went right into the deck of the 375 alongside us and we waited for the explosion. Later we figured it went all the way through the ship. What really happened was it went through two decks and slid to the bottom of a compartment at the bottom of the ship filled with salt water ballast. It was found three months later when the 375 was in a yard for repairs. When it was our time to go into Yellow Beach, the 375 and ourselves were pulling anchors up at the same time and more planes to Sicily and had to scatter to keep out of their way and then reform On Monday July 12 we entered the outer harbor at Bizerte to go inside for a fast loading job and back to Sicily We were the first convoy back from Sicily and the troops waiting their turn to go were lined up all along the sides of the channel leading into the lake My 376 was the second ship in and the troops were all gaspin and pointing to our battered ship as we went by We coul hear shouts of You really caught hell up there I felt like making signs and han ing them over both sides saying Relax we were just hlt y our own ships Went down to Karouba and up to the dock bow first Other LSTs followed and we were a line of 11 with bows against the dock doors open and ramps down They were really ready and waiting for this first turnaround and had been drilling on what to do Some LST's carried prisoners and they marched out on the docks and whisked away. The ambulances were waiting for the hospital cases and they were rapidly taken away. We all loaded the waiting trucks, ammunition, fuel, water, medicine, etc. according to plan. One LST was assigned Arab troops and horses. We took two aeroplanes, piper cubs. Worked all night and were ready to move out at dawn. There were 15 of us now and we are the leader of the left flank. Sail southeast and then up to Pantelleria on a clear warm day. Our planes go back and forth over us and it is a good feeling that this time we won't be bombed so much. Reached Licata on the 14th of July. Beached and did a good job unloading over pontoons and by evenin formed up and headed back. Counted up that we, one LST, had already landed 143 vehicles and over 600 men. During the day we see convoys coming and going to Sicily Hard to realize one year ago these were the most dangerous waters in the world for Allied shipping. Reached Bizerte after midnight and anchored out in the bay. At daybreak into the channel and alongside the dock where another load was waiting and started on board immediately. Had a full load at 1:00 A.M. . . 9 ' ' , I 0 an ' ua - ' . . . . . . . c u u . 5 . ,, . . . . , ' ' ' cc ' Q Q 'Q ' as . ' 1 . . , , s . . . . were coming in. In the excitement, the 375 pulled her bow into the starboard side of our ship knocking down one of our boat davits. We ran a good beaching on Yellow Beach and were unloading good too when an LCT coming in lost control and ripped into our port side with a long gash. Within minutes another LST misjudged on the starboard side and rammed us all along the side with a big hole, all the stanchions, etc. knocked down and the whole side scraped. We were only half unloaded but were told to pull off and anchor. CTO save us from more damage, I guess.J It was while we were closing up to pull out, we found those Army pillbox assaulters had left some of .their dynamite in the small boats and we were still carrying it around. We anchored offshore and early in the morning were directed into the now cleared port of Licata. We were the first ones in the port and all by ourselves when two German planes came in straffing right at the Brooklyn who was guarding us. All the various A.A. guns of the Brooklyn opened up and it was massive, but those two planes straffed and flew right through it, over the Brooklyn and right at us straffing our whole deck. This could have been one of my finest moments if I wasn't diving for a place to hide. Those wonderful part-time criminals of mine manning the two 20 millimeter mounts should have run too, but they sat there, spotted and fired. One plane blew up over our ship and the other was burning as it went over the hills behind us. The destruction of one and possibly two enemy aircraft by the LST 376 is noted with gratification 1S the Way the Admiral's report of the landing and. letter of Commendation to the ship read. The Brooklyn raised a flag Signal Well Done. Finished unloading fast so we could join the rest of the LST's waitin for us. Went into formation and 11 LST.s with not much escort headed for Bizerte. Passed Pantilleria close on our ort side and headed for Cape Bon Afl'lCa- About midniglit we ran right into a convoy coming across and got underway to anchor in the lake. Underway at 5:30 A.M. and out the channel with 34 ships. We are the leader of the first column. Quiet day and ni ht, into Licata Sunday afternoon and anchored off the harImor. We were called in once then told to stay out. We anchored and waited and got word an air torpedo attack was coming. The unloaded LSTj's got out in a hurry but we were loaded and had to stay. The attack never came but we waited all night for orders and at daylight the 357 and ourselves found we were deserted. All the others had left. On checking we found out that loading system that seemed so efficient in Bizerte wasn't fool proof. We had cargo that was supposed to be in Syracuse, Sicily. Way around by Italy. So with a destroyer escort we went around. We got within 300 yards of the Syracuse Harbor when things began to happen. Three German E boats roared in out of nowhere and fired nine torpedos at us before we knew they were there. All nine missed and hit the rocks of the shore behind us with mighty explosions. The harbor quickly laid a smoke screen and at the same time there was a heavy air attack on the docks of Syracuse. CThe German air bases are only a short distance away in Italy.J And at the same time our destroyer commenced firing at the E boats and they returned the fire as they sped away. And, of all things, a heavy fog set in and we just couldn't see anything. These are heavily mined waters and you must stay in the swept channels. Night set in and we just drifted around because we didn't know where we were. What a night! I sat up on the conning tower scared and confused. I took the hand fog horn from the quartermaster and for lack of anything else .to do, I. gave a big blow on it with my mouth every three minutes, timing myself with my watch. The only thing we bumped into was a British mine sweeper and it was just a little bump. Hardly noticeable on my beat up ship. Dawn came and the fog thinned out so we could see the harbor and also found the 357. I led him into the small crowded harbor andanchored just off the docks that had taken some good hits in the air raid last ni ht. I went over in one of our small boats and had a harcf time finding someone in authority to talk to. The British told me I was the first American in Syracuse