Fitch (DMS 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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4 v 3.29 1 ii 4- .. 5.3, 1 'is iz ni W' '41 o 0 -, 5 R 0 O 1 iii. TEE- 'Eff' fig. fi' sl X1 NY figm, --vqrgx. Slip' 5 ,NX 1 Q- 5 ' ' .rj -. 1. ,.. , V .f Q, N4 2155 . y L: Tiff ur 'ff I Sv bf . Jig- ' su Q 'uv -I L'- w,, 6' uf V'Ifi',:.' 529 ,sem 4' - .. I ,f. .dir Eff. 0 42? 0 0 T5- 0 'H o 0 Ziff .att ly- ,,,. . 1 ,, S-I sd 'lf il NP' 6 -1 :F L, 7. 5, if ...rl H 1 Zi ff 5. this . 'r-S., '11 .. Y 'f . ., li? .11- - ' - -i- WV N4-qp,'! 7' pattern of fourteen depth charges. Although an oil slick appeared on the surface, the ship was credited with only a Nprobablev. But the FITCH was no longer a green ship with a green crew. W ith action behind her, a bronze star in her European African-Middle Eastern campaign ribbon, and a sea bag full of stories for the folks, she set a course for home, minor repairs, and a well earned period of liberty and recreation. In April 1943, the FITCH, over a year old and manned by an experienced crew, once more turned her bow away from home. This time her destination was the North Atlantic, where she was to operate with the British home fleet. Part of her duties at this time was to help protect the important Murmansk convoy route. While assigned this duty, the Fabulous Fitch, as she was beginning to be called by her crew members, took part in several raids on the German-occupied Nor- wegian coast, and crossed the Arctic Circle over twenty times. After three grueling months of battling ice and snow, she once more turned homeward in company with the USS SOUTH DAKOTA and the USS ALABAMA. After completing a yard overhaul, the FITCH, in company with the RANGER and the cruisers AUGUSTA and TUSCALOOSA, returned to the North Atlantic to begin several months of very exciting operations. She screened the USS RANGER during her bombardment of 'German forces and installations near Bodo, Norway. Nine ene-my merchant vessels were sunk during this strike and the land based units were severely pounded. As a fitting climax to this period of operations, the FITCH reached a point in latitude of 78 degrees and 18 minutes North, GEN- ERALLY BELIEVED TO BE THE MOST NORTHERLY POINT EVER REACHED BY A UNITED STATES WARSHIP UP TO THAT TIME. After a brief yard overhaul in Boston and a training period at Casco Bay, 4Maine, the FITCH, in December of 1943, again put the States behind her.. It was at this period during the war that the famed killer groups were having tremendous success in combating the U-Boat menace. The FITCH, now a salty veteran of the Arctic Seas, was assigned to Task Group 21.14 and set out to hunt the U-Boats under the tropical sun of Southern waters. She hunted submarines in the South Atlantic until the twenty ninth of March, 1944 when she returned to Boston. History was being made. The invasion of France seemed imminent and the eager destroyer was sent to Belfast-Lough, arriving on the second of May, 1944. Assigned to escort duties between various British ports, she impatiently awaited orders to action. Finally, on the twenty fourth of May, the FITCH was assigned to Task Unit 125.83 and ordered to proceed through unswept waters to within 2000 yards of the French coast in order to observe German coastal emplacements. The night air was filled with the drone of hundreds of planes. On the FITCH'S bridge the concussion of the bombs falling on the French Coast, fifteen miles away, could be felt. She was leaving England and going forward to meet history of the French coast where smoke, flames, and the criss cross pattern of anti-aircraft fire resembled a scene from Dante's Inferno, At 0530 that morning the destroyer steamed in at five knots, to begin a very busy morning,s work. At 1533 the FITCH opened Ere, THE FIRST SHIP T0 FIRE INTO UTAH AREA. - if ' -A-A 1125, ig, ,if ti. .V 1. li ' I! 751, .59 -N1 Y ,435 Lg I fin eg, W W ifi .5 -'E , .. if fl I . .1 -1 B. 5. li izj' ,QTY if.. f . .'U - .' Na 5 N, sr. '34 5.5 -1.1 .-, . 1. .- f : ,.,,. cr- :1 .4 4- A fx .- x Il' 'I' ff. V., if ., 5' 'Q Q: . 3 E V-Il QT? I. Q f i . .lr . ', l U 7. 0 I 0 ' 0 43411 . ,gli ni 21? :ji .. in n v an N..-Q J 'iv Z 3' xr- if jf 1 2 . I Y' in ., .5 , . , iz, 1.- .. , .v. f 1 If .I -P' V. , Y? I H .

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..F. sl EZ 1 1 1 .KA .xg ,. y. N- 1553 Z 5: 5? nf ' if fm' ff' 517 .,. 24. , we y 1 WY. Ts- .M ., 'It is early dawn of February 10, 1863, and the first light is beginning to tint the colors of the walls of the houses on Bujington Island, on the Ohio River. The 0 In crew of the USS MOOSE, Commanded by Lieutenant Commander Leroy FITCH, 0 USN, are tense and waiting. After following General fohn H. MORGAN, Army of - 0 ily the Confederacy, sometimes referred to as MF lying guerilla MORGAN , for more ,,,.: I gy than five hundred miles up the Ohio, the men and officers of the MOOSE are Q91 s-, 1- I 5 finally about to intercept the Confederate force in its attempt to recross the river. 1, General MORGAN is captured, a thorn in the side of the United States forces is ' removed, and Leroy FITCH has earned himself a place in American history. K' Seventy nine years later, Mrs. H. Walter Thomas, grand-niece of Leroy FITCH was present at the launching of the USS FITCH I DD 4621, part of the United sf! States' answer to the Nazi submarine menace in the Atlantic and the .Iapanese stain, spreading through the Pacific. The new ship, one of the New Bristol class, V displacing sixteen hundred and thirty tons, and mounting four five-inch thirty- v v V 1-Kg., . . . . :V zvvv: elght caliber guns and hve torpedo tubes, was authorized to be built on 12 June, 1940 and was launched at the Boston Navy Yard on 14 June, 1941. The disruption of Allied shipping by German U-Boats in the Atlantic caused - a desperate need for destroyers that left little time for the FITCH to complete the JZ? arduous job of fusing the green crew to the shiny new piece of machinery which ' 5 -.'. - Q51 was tolbecome their fighting instrument as well as their home. Her shakedown 'H cruise of Portland Maine, commencing on 5 May, 1942, over, the FITCH made - N ,JZ several short trips to the Canal Zone, New Orleans, and Bermuda on escort duty, , I S' :Q Then, in July 1942, under the command of Commander CROMMELIN, the still untried ship was given the task of escorting the USS RANGER and her shipment of planes to North Africa. From the fifth to the twelfth of November 1942, while assigned to Task Force 34, and acting as one of the screeen ships for the carrier ' I RANGER, the FITCH took part in the landing operations at Casablanca. I Q I fy One morning, word came in from the planes of the RANGER, Submarine in the vicinity . The warning provided the men of the FITCH with the chance to : Z' show how well they had been trained in that brief shakedown period, All hands ll' man your Battle Stationsv, and the FITCH was set for her primary function, en- ' xii, gaging the enemy. Then, one of the bridge lookouts, Seaman 1fc BISCHOFF, won I fggf the coveted prize of twenty hve dollars and ten days leave for being the first man if A to sight an enemy submarine or plane. His cry of Submarine on the starboard 4 0 0 beam added the last element of drama that was to be the new vessel,s first taste :i 0 0 of battle. Sonar gear was trained around and the FITCH was off, attacking with a l ' f 9 WRX lx 'Burch r 1--i 5532 6 -, ' sf 1 ' ' .. ,Milli Lf. 1 i- -.-L

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1 -qi v y '4 NINI Sri' sr ew. s.-uv v ic.. si VN.. 'r ., Q. I . xiii- iff ' i . X X A cg xi A . f,x , . G 25' .54 v fi? 1 .55 ' f K 'gm -mf X 3'- ' 4: 1- . V115 22 1:-ul ..-Ia ..,..x gf... . x -- . 5. 1 91,-, l , . Egg. 'IH' 12 , . .,,L K .,. ' . -x ga. . -gs .. , C u. 'J ...G ,. -.2-' 4 -1 L. , JL, 2 . 1:41 4' J ' !. -1 iii. -4- Vx . W' t.- Q . .. ,. '11- fl, ,. -at si'- -eq.. if 0 F ' -I 5 12 ., Q 1.2- 5' l Q . YR? . . 45.39 ml . .,.,., 1 2-gp 5217 wiv 13111. 5 vi Na? Q, ' V 74 . , egg A155 A 4 ' ---f . 2 jg' Y, .- ' 1, , .1 J' L 'QF' fy Jw.. 1 :lg Ii? .. , . ,n. In the next two hours, the FITCH, like a skilled bantam weight, weaved in and out, making over two hundred speed 'hanges to avoid enemy- fire while showering on the enemy over eighty percent of her ammunition. Then, disaster struck and the gallant little ship got a chance to show her grit. The CORRY, astern of the FITCH struck a mine, and, her' engine spaces flooded, she began to settle. Wheeling about, the FITCH dashed to the aid of the stricken comrade ship before the enemy guns could get the range of the crippled sitting duckn. Two hundred and twenty three survivors were taken aboard. As a result of those few minutes of selfless heroism, several special comlmendations were later received. But much more important to the crew and officers of the FITCH was the thought of the lives of the men who had been saved. As each invasion was undertaken by the Allies, the need for High Speed Minesweepers became more and more obvious. On 15 November 1944, the FITCH, who, along with many ships of her class, had been converted into a Destroyer Minef- sweeper, had her designation changed from DD 462 to DMS 25, By 3 January, 1945, all changes and trials were completed and the old veteran but new mine- sweeper was assigned to Mine Division 58, and with Commander Ennis W. TAYLOR in command, left the United States, bound for Pearl Harbor. Slated ,for duty with the Pacific Fleet in its struggle with the Iapanese Air Force of Okinawa, the FITCH was sidetracked by fate. While practice sweeping off Ulithe, she ran afoul of a coral pinnacle and was forced to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. On the tenth of August 1945, with repairs completed, the new minesweeper, with Lieutenant Commander R. H. THOMAS on the bridge, set out for the forward area, only to learn of the cessation of hostilities against Iapan. But the work of the sweepers of the Mine Force had only begun. On the twenty eighth of August, sweep- ing was commenced on the mine field at Okinoyoma Bank, at the entrance to Tokyo Bay. It was here that the FITCH had the honor of being the first ship of the Bristol class to sweep an enemy mine, later being present at the ceremonies as General Douglas MacArthur received the unconditional surrender of the Iapanese Empire aboard the USS MISSOURI. In December of 1945, the FITCH further distinguished herself by setting a record for mines swept in one day,s operation, bagging 275 of the total of 1,040 cut by the five' ships of her division. With thoughts of home calling just over the horizon, the FITCH steamed out of Sasebo, Iapan, bound for the United States and her first nstatesiden Christmas. After spend- ing the holidays in San Diego, a trip through the Big Ditch to Norfolk for demobilization and rehabilitation of the crew. By March, 1946, nearly a full peacetime crew had been assembled and the next weeks were spent in performing target towing tests for the bureau of Ships. May, Iune, and .Iuly went by quickly in -operations between the Atlantic ports of Norfolk, New York, and Charleston. After finally settling in Charleston, South Carolina in November, she made a short trip to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and back to Charleston for the Christmas holidays. During the fleet maneuvers, early in 1947, the veteran minesweeper once again proved her worth by sharing top honors in total mines cut with only one other vessel of her class. -in--.. ,.- I' . -9 I 2?-l fi I' 155' X. . 1 . , wil . Q if 3 1 af' A fri 1.-A 1 2? ef 755. gift Q 24,5 'Hui ng aw: ?'L.'1??' iF' X.. C12 I 317: ,. High 5522 1 W. .. I ., ' we T32 iafkilj 'TEH n - :gf 1 1 1 ' ' ' fp i. 5? 5 lf!! ' .115-I tit. 1-1 . wi' 'ig-slr .xI',lq. Q 53'f ' sts, 3,4 1 '7 is . ,gf .- '23, .- wh: - -r If ff? 1, .Vai E 2 -1 I -'fu' -1 , M, ,' . .. ,gg . ,P J ..Yf:. IW' . L. E J' l EE , J X O 0 O O L73 xrurv- g,-'lv' if bf 3 See, Srsr-I S27 O 0 D Q 0 0 334 W Nia! 0 0 0 if Jes 'H N ' ' ii' i..ii Y ' l 14