Brooklyn (CL 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 In the four days from 5-9 July, a huge armada of 3266 vessels carried some 160,000 troups with their 1,008 guns, 600 tanks from Africa to Sicily on Operation Husky. The Yank soldiers, seasick in the troubled waters, moved in on the beaches of Licata, Gela and Scoglitti early on the 10th, quickly fanned out under an umbrella of fire from Naval artillery. At Licata, Rear Admiral Laurence T. DuBose in BROOKLYN directed the fire support group CBROOKLYN and BIRMINGHAM, a destroyer squadron, and other numerous American and British small craftl. Under this watchful eye, troops and supplies which had crossed the Mediterranean in landing boats poured into the beachhead. Except for the rough seas, all was going on schedule. The Gunnery Officer gave the order to commence fire at 0430 on 10 July. The Army's Third Division pushed their way inland, soon clashed head-on with determined enemy troops. Luftwaffe planes bombed and straffed the ships lying offshore and the artillery installations around Licata chimed in to complete the stentorian crescendo in this symphony of destruction. BROOKLYN fired volley after volley of devastating explosives that day. She patrolled and knocked out targets of opportunity on the 12th, and nosed cautiously through thick mine fields on the 13th to hit and land concentrations and shore installations at nearby Agrigento. Only when there were no more targets in range were her guns allowed to cool. On 14 July the cruisers BROOKLYN, BOISE and SAVANNAH left for Algiers to await further orders. Orders were received and mid-August found BROOKLYN once more relaxed and safe in New York City's mammoth harbor. While training the crews of new cruisers at Boston, BROOKLYN was ordered to return to the Mediterranean area. In her absence the wobbling Italy had bowed awkwardly out of the Axis triumvirate. And the USS SAVANNAH had taken a glider bomb through her number three turret and had all but sunk, except for the faith of her skipper in his crew. Together they sailed her to Malta for temporary repairs for her return to the U.S. The light cruiser sailed for Palermo, Sicily, on 13 September 1943 and arrived some 11 days later -. to take the place of SAVANNAH. - In Palermo on the 11th of October, Captain Robert W. Cary, USN, the Skipper of SAVANNAH when she was hit, relieved Legion of Merit winner, Captain Ziroli fawarded for his handling of BROOKLYN at Sicilyl. Captain Cary took his cruiser BROOKLYN on diversified missions in support of Allied Mediterranean operations. BROOKLYN was caught in a heavy night air attack on Allied shipping in Naples harbor on 23 October, fortunately came through without any more than a few pieces of schrapnel falling on her decks. Captain Cary's best strategy that night was to keep the larger caliber guns silent unless directly attacked so as not to reveal BROOKLYN'S presence in the harbor. . l ' ' X . s ions 'yuan o o nm , dws nl lvl nvvia A lfl ' couldn't stem the Allied tide. Somewhere off the Sicilian coast, geiyfserstgf :did explcidmg snliell' . u v i fragments till the air as Nazi planes score a direct hit on an invasion vessel. This foto was held up by Brit- ish censors. Yesterday a bitter aerial battle was being fought eye: the Italian toe wg 1,7 Axis planes were shot down. I p p V. If ,FSQW 03 page ,5 4 below, No Change, Fire for Effect below, Another Spotting Plane is launched . -V 1 T 5 'E 1 F s l I ,P 'T Hina.. sv-,gifmx 4

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- ini-'M' ' ...A -......,.,. 'T I .. vvgwyc The Executive Officers word on Palermo Liberty. Mid-November that year found BROOKLYN escorting the USS Iowa through the Straits of Gibraltar to Oran, North Africa, with President Roosevelt and his many starred Staff who travelled on further to Teheran, Iran, for another Big Three Meeting.-At this time BROOKLYN was the Major American Warship attached to the Mediterranean Fleet. She was the Flagship of Cruiser Division Eight's Rear Admiral Lyal A. Davidson. Christmas 1943 was spent at the shell-pocked Island of Malta, the British Mediterranean citidel which had withstood the crushing blows of constant enemy aerial poundings. The Crew was warmly welcomed by the Maltese inhabitants. They reciprocated by throwing a Christmas party for the many Maltese Orphans. The Maltese returned the favor many times with parties and a lot of good will to every member of BROOKLYN,s Crew. Nothing that weekend was too good for them. This Christmas tree has a special meaning to the members of BROOKLYN's Crew. Seems Chaplain O'Leary wanted a tree for the Christmas party. He sent some, Good Sailors, for a tree. Never dreaming that the, Best Place, was the Island Governors drive. This is a true Sea Story, it did happen. Maltese Orphans enjoying a Christmas Dinner. After a good battle, a Good Liberty, Palermo, Sicily Later, in 1944, at a press conference, Navy Secretary James A. Forrestall said, Malta is a jewel in the crown of England, being place there by the many sacrifices of countless British flyers and sailors - a symbol of the tenacity and resolution of British character. Charging up the boot heel to Rome, the American invaders had been stopped cold at the Gustav line. To deploy the dogged Nazi troops and engage their tactical reserves, the Yanks poked a double-thrust into Italy's western coast some fifty miles to the North of the Gustav defenses at the twin resort towns of Anzio and Nettuno. BROOKLYN was called in for artillery assistance and was quick to answer the call. The amphibious landing craft had met little opposition as they proceeded into shore on 22 January 1944, but once they had beached themselves and disgorged soldiers from their gaping mouths, all Hell broke loose. The sky was filled with zooming Nazi planes of every nomenclature. One seventy millimeter guns posted in the mountains inland rained a steady' stream of flaming steel on the Americans crowded in that little pocket of Italian soil. With meticulous plotting by her Navigation Officer, BROOKLYN eased her way through mine fields to shallow water positions where her main batteries were within range of hostile shore targets on the morning of D plus 1. BROOKLYN'S Captain Cary rendered outstanding service as Commander of the gunfire support flotilla, raked the Anzio-Nettuno area with her pulverizing 6-inchers as Army spotters indicated the targets. The Navy sharpshooters standing off Anzio underwent air raids throughout the day and night Cless concentrated attacks in the daytime, large scale bombings during the nightj. At dusk on the evening of the 24th, BROOKLYN sustained without damage the heaviest aerial assault of her career. below, Flares dropped by a Hi-flying German Plane, during the Anzio Operation, night of 24 January 1944. 4.