Harry Lee (APA 10) - Naval Cruise Book

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In the middle of the month of October the ships that were maneuvering in the Chesapeake ceased their .training operations and headed for Norfolk and other points to load in preparation for the North African Invasion. On coming to anchor after completion of the exercises off Cove Point, Maryland the gears of the HP turbine were stripped on the LEE. She was forced to be towed part way back to Norfolk, and while in the Navy Yard or- ders arrived instructing the Commanding Olflcer, Captain W. Whitneld, USN, seventy-five per- cent of his officers and twenty-five percent of his enlisted men to transfer to the USS CALVERT. This exchange placed Captain D. VU. Loomis, USN, in command. fCaptain4Loomis, later as Com- modore, commanded a transport squadron of which the LEE was a part participating in several combat operations., It was, thus, a queer stroke of fate that prevented the HARRY LEE, the ship that had trained so many men and who had become so ex- pert in ship to shore maneuvers, from participat- ing in the invasion of North Africa., Of course it was true that the HARRYf' did participate in spirit if not in reality for her ,former skipper, Captain Whit6eld,iand many of her ofiicers and men did take part in the operation as well as many of the troops she had so effectively trained. ' The HARRY LEE was back in operation Decem- ber eighth. Her orders directed her to return to the Chesapeake Bay area to continue in the training of amphibious personnel, Army, Navy and Ma- rines. It is interesting to note that during this period of amphibious training in the Chesapeake, the HARRY LEE was used for conducting many experiments with amphibious materiel including the now famous Army DCUKW, radio control beams for guiding landing craft, and other equip- ment that was to become standard assualt proce- dure. ' On the second of April, Captain fthen comman- der, G. Pomeroy, USN, relieved Captain' Loomis as commanding oliicer of the LEE. ,On the fourth of April, 1943, the ship received orders to discontinue the training maneuvers and proceed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. There she had her armament augmented with the latest allow- ances for her type of vessel. At the completion of availability in the Brooklyn yard she returned to Norfolk and just one month later orders were re- ceived to commence loading supplies and troops of the 45th Division, UsA. The world was waiting for the Allied Forces to hit the continent of Europe and this time the HARRY LEE was not to be disappointed in carrying out her mission. On the eighth of june in convoy with other amphibious transports and with an escort of crui- sers and destroyers, the HARRY LEE steamed for the Mediterranean Sea. She passed through the Straits of Gibraltar the twenty-first of June and on the following day she let go her anchor in Mers el Kabir, the anchorage area of Oran, Algeria, in North Africa. i The invasion, of Sicily was made on the tenth of July, 1943. H hour was 0315. The HARRY LEE in company with her task group landed troops and cargo through, the heavy surf at Scoglitti on the southeast coast of Sicily to effectively establish a beachhead. Seven enlisted men and one oilicer re- ceived the Purple Heart medal for injuries sus- tained in this operation. The ship had performed her duties faithfully and efficiently proving the value of her months of tedious training. I 1

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'19 J-2--fff 2 'S - ' .- 1 4,2 sf-f. ff. 5,2f-M2 Li is-11 ' A . fiftfjgf 1575 yy 1723! 'V f . ? ,UVff7'.2ai. f! V .1125 7 if 75- f Q .-W -, -- X. , 3 4 P1 ? ' f wa: Q sm . V as , 49 5' . . 1. ,ff .f . vc- Q. W V 1-. -. ,. . ...W . . . . ,. ,,f. ...f -ff cs 1- .0 . . gfffaifif' ff' ' 43W fy 4,9145 Z' gf , J fl f ,f M., 5- 2 - ff--3D':,ci.y KQ'Zff?w57, M. W- .Y ' lWE'f.f 5f., ' ' ' gglifiki Iiefsfvfr ' ' 3.2 2 'P g7L xlf.f'- 1 ' L- , N 4771 gil' if f f0fff:,4'f32-1 fe A 2 f The USS HARRY LEE is another of the many ships of the pre-war merchant fleet to be purchased by the Navy at the beginning of World War II hostilities, and to subsequently serve as an assault transport for troops and cargo, sharing in many of the beachhead invasions, both in the European and Pacific theaters of amphibious operation. Formerly the SS EXOCHORDA, beautiful and luxurious Mediterranean liner of the American Ex- port Lines, the ship was purchased by the United States Navy October 30, 1940, and was converted for her wartime duties by the Todd Shipyards Cor- poration, Tietjen and Lange Plant of Hoboken, New jersey. On the twenty-seventh day of Decem- ber, 1940, she was commissioned by the Navy- and given the name USS HARRY LEE in honor of the late Major General Harry Lee of the United States Marine Corps. General Lee had served with dis- tinguished credit on tours of duty in the Philippine Islands, China, Panama, Central America and Cuba. He had also served with great distinction in World War Iand was many times decorated for his per- formance of duty. The ship that was named for him was destined to serve in many of the same localities bringing added honor to the name Harry Lee and reflecting credit to the Amphibious Forces of the United States Navy. During the first three months after commission- ing, the ship, under the command of Captain R. P. Hinrichs, USN g acted as an armed combat trans- port carrying Marine Combat teams from Norfolk, Virginia, to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and hence to Culebra, Puerto Rico for participation in the fleet landing exercises that foreshadowed the develop- ment of the Amphibious Forces as a fighting arm of the Navy. At the completion of this training x period with the embarked Marine Units, the ship returned to Norfolk, and after undergoing an overhaul and repair, proceeded to Hilton Head, South Carolina for more landing exercises with other units of the Marine Corps. ' In July, the HARRY LEE returned to Norfolk where she loaded Marine troops and supplies. Her destination this time was Reykjavik, Iceland. En- route she stopped at New York and again on her return after debarking the troops and supplies she paused in America's largest city before continuing to Norfolk. Back in Norfolk she again loaded for a trip to Iceland, but this time a breakdown oc- curred enroute and she was forced to put in at Halifax, Nova Scotia. A few days later she sailed for Boston to undergo repairs. This was in the latter part of December of 1941. X Wfith the repairs completed, the HARRY LEE got underway from Boston to Norfolk pausing briefly in New York and arriving in the Hampton Roads area the twenty-fourth of February. A week later the HARRY was off again, this time for Bermuda, butlit was a short mission andishe was back in Norfolk to load troops and to prepare for practice landing operations in the Chesapeake Bay area by the middle of March. For the next several months the HARRY LEE in company with other transports, warships and amphibious vessels ma- neuvered in the Chesapeake Bay. Norfolk was the loading station for these maneuvers and from that point the various ships of the training units would embark fresh troops to be trained over a two week period in the Chesapeake Bay. All of this intensive training was, of course, pointing to something big , The objective was to be the invasion of North Africa. .......-5

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Captain fthen commanderj Pomeroy was award- ed the Legion of Merit, for the part he played as commanding officer of the LEE during the invasion of Sicily having valiantly fought his ship through enemy bombings and embarked troops and equip- ment, bringing his ship through the engagement unscathed . 'Following the siciiiaii Operation the. LEE ie- turned briefly to the United States, carrying with her German prisoners of war. She then set out for the Pacific 'theater passing through the Panama Canal the thirty-first of August and arriving in San Francisco the tenth of September. There she loaded cargo and departed for I-Ionolulu, Territory of Hawaii, arriving the twenty-sixth of the month. From Honolulu she sailed for Wellington, New Zealand, crossing the Equator for the first time on the third and crossing the International Date Line on the ninth of October. At Wellington, the LEE loaded elements of the famous Second Marine Division and proceeded to Efate in the New Hebrides Islands to rendezvous with other units in the task force of which she was to be a part. Then, in company with her new transport unit, she sailed for her first invasion in the Pacific theater-one which was to prove to be one of the toughest to be encountered in this thea- ter. The Marines were landed on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands the twentieth of November, 1943- a date that will not soon be forgotten by the men who took part in this operation. As a result of the splendid team-work of the various units of the Navy that helped organize the beach with the Marines, the President of the United States awarded the Presidential Unit cita- tion to those persons who had performed duty on the hostile beachhead. A beach party and salvage unit from the HARRY LEE had taken part in this effort. From Tarawa the LEE in company with other transports and escort vessels that had taken part in the operation proceeded to Pearl Harbor. For the next two weeks dummy runs and mock inva- sions were in the plan of the day while the power of the amphibious fleet maneuvering in the Ha- waiian waters awaited movement orders for the next invasion. It was not a long wait. On the afternoon of january thirty-first, after steaming out 'of Hono- lulu in company with an invasion fleet for a period of nine days, the LEE commenced debarking and landing headquarters troops and equipment of the 7th Infantry Division, USA, on islands of tlie Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls. The landings were made without incident and the troops met little' initial opposition. ' ' .On February fifth the LEE received orders to proceed in company with other transports of her division to Funafuti in the Ellice Islands. From the Ellice Islands she went to Noumea, New Cale- donia, arriving February twenty-fourth, 1944. I ,Short stops at Guadalcanal, Tulagi in the Florida Islands, and back to Guadalcanal were on the schedule for the HARRY through the fifteenth of March. At Kukum'Beach, Guadalcanal the ship loaded troops and cargo of the headquarters com- pany, 4Oth Infantry Division, USA, and elements of the 1st Signal Corps, USMC, and got underway for practice landing maneuvers at Tenaru Beach, Guadalcanal, the following day. On the seven- teenth of March orders were received to debark the troops and equipment recently taken aboard and apparently the operation that had been planned had been cancelled. The ship then proceeded to Gavutu Harbor, Florida Islands, to await move- ment orders. She sailed the twenty-third of March for Guadalcanal and there, at Kukum Beach, ,pro- ceeded to load troops and cargo of the 93rd In- fantry Division-and attached units.