LST (491) - Naval Cruise Book

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5 fi 'l 'E ' ,dai ....,... -2, EAS .v ' . y THE OL' DOUBLE TROUBLE . for protection against strafing from enemy aircraft. Late in the afternoon we sailed in convoy for Ply- mouth, which later was assigned as our home port. We arrived on March 17 and about an hour after anchor- ing received our first dispatch of mail aboard. Every- body except those on watch below decks came topside to take a look at Plymouth Harbor. As we passed through the harbor nets, a cockney voice from the net tug called out- Welcome to Britain LST 491, pro- ceed to Jenny Cliff Bay and anchor at discretion. We hurriedly looked at the chart to find Jenny Cliif Bay as the harbor was loaded with all types of ships. The following Sunday, March 19, we launched the LCT 596 and Mr. Moody and his crew sailed up to Queen Anne's Battery. We then proceeded to dock in the vicinity of Turnchapel Hard and unload the tank deck. The British dock workers unloaded the tank deck, this was quite a job as the cargo stored there had been packed for a sea trip. Liberty was granted every night so we had our Hrst opportunity to see for Our- selves the damage to Plymouth by the Nazi bombers. The people in Plymouth had suffered severly but seemed to have plenty of courage and spirit. Even those men aboard who didn't like the British any too well .admired the residents of this blasted city. They had come though a hard period, their chins were up, andthey could still smile. Some enjoyed a hot cup of tea and a biscuit while ashore while others preferred their beverage a bit stronger. ' 16 s 2 i f fl, if . J, f -

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. EASTWARD Ho! - DESTINATION U. K. eleven o'clock that evening the following signal was heard from the escort to the Commodore, Have sighted submarine, request permission to ram. The reply from the Commodore was Permission granted. About one-half hour later the escort again called the Commo- dore and delivered the following message: Submarine destroyed, am picking up survivors. And to that the Commodore replied Well done. The following morn- ing the escort that had sunk the submarine came close aboard our starboard side so that she might properly adjust her anti-submarine gear and devices. The escort was a Corvette of the Royal Navy and she looked mighty proud, her bow, covered with diesel oil, and pitching up and down in the rough sea. Because of the submarine menace off the coast of France and the approaches to the English Carmel and Irish Sea, it was necessary for us to sail north around the Northern part of Ireland and thence down the Irish Sea. And so the first land we sighted of the Old World was that of Northern Ireland, probably the mountains of the Mourne. We received orders to pro- ceed to Milford Haven, Wales, where we anchored in the Bay outside the harbor on March 16, 1944 to await further orders. The country side was beautiful, neatly .kept and peaceful. The sheep and cattle were grazing on the fields and on the hills, but it was not diflicult to observe that this was not an England at peace, but an England at war. Many planes were flying overhead and we could easily identify the Spitfires. There were bar- rage balloons scattered about the town and port area 15

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' 1 I 7 1 l , A-LM-av -- i 9 i .t 'P 1'-l . -J . ' ff:-H iii ' 7 Q53 EASTWARD HO! -Q DESTINATION U. K. J A . f 'L V vb 2 Before leaving the unloading pier, we received our first inspection, personnel and material, by Commander L. F. Teuscher, USN, Commander LST Group 28, Flotilla 10, and his staff. The night before inspection the Captain informed the crew that all men were to have haircuts. Well, it seemed that his orders were strictly obeyed, as the Commander remarked, after com- pleting his inspection, I didn't find any man that re- quired a haircut, but you must have quite a variety of barbers aboard this ship. Our first practice operation or dry run started about a week later. Our ship, the LST 492 and LST 284 sailed for Brixham to load American soldiers and vehicles. Brixham is one of the small towns on the Southern coast of England, which we later learned, was to be one of the important staging centers for landing craft in preparation for the assault on the Normandy coast. Here at Brixham we learned what a hard was, and conducted our business with the Hardmaster in loading the ship. The loading of an LST under beach- ing conditions was a difficult job because of the tides which often ranged as high as 28 feet. The mock inva- sion occurred at Slapton Sands, which is known as the most invaded piece of land in the world. We arrived at H hour, dispatched our infantry waves, and later beached to off load our vehicles. Gur Easter weekend was spent waiting for the Army to finish its operations, and eating our first and C rations. On Easter Sunday afternoon we again loaded the troops from the beach and, after they disembarked at Brixham, we re- 17