LST (491) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 49 text:

MEDITERRANEAN ADVENTURE the historic Isle of Capri, Pozzuoli, Nissida and Caste- lellamare. The following day we passed through the Straits of Bonifacio running between the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. This area had recently been swept for mines and the LST 491 was the first ship to enter. It was reported that the Nazis were again laying mines, but the entire convoy proceeded through safely. We arrived off the Southern Coast of France just before dawn. Everybody was tense with excitement, realizing that in two hours the fireworks would begin. We could see through our glasses the silhouettes of other arriving convoys and the battleships, Cruisers, and Destroyers taking their assigned positions for the bom- bardment. Our assignment was to send the first Assault Boat wave to Green Beach, which was located just West of Cap De Drammont. The soldiers were a bit nervous and tight lipped as they hurried down the rope ladders to the boats waiting below. They were well equipped and quite certain that Green Beach would be theirs in a short time. The naval and air bombardment started at sunrise. It was a thrilling spectacle to watch. Never before had we been so close to the beach during the bombardment phase of an operation. We all watched with interest the shelling of a large radio and radar station by the Cruiser Marblehead. On the third salvo the tower crumbled. At 0800, H hour, the boats started in, past tiny Ile D'Or they roared, all hitting the right sec- tor of Green Beach and discharging their assault troops. ' 31

Page 48 text:

THE OL DOUBLE TROUBLE port as the Germans had scuttled many ships in the channel. Our stay in Bizerte was short. We unloaded our cargo and sailed for Naples on August 1. It was 3 beautiful August 3rd, the day we arrived in Naples, the sun was very hot and rain had not fallen for quite some time. This historic old city looked beautiful from the sea, but on coming closer the scars of battle were distinctly visible. Poverty, filth, and disease were in abundance. G Our first week was a busy one, especially for the LCVP boat crews and davit crews. We were at General Quarters CBatt1e Stationsj and Condition One Tare QStations for lowering of boatsj, several times each day. We all sensed that something was coming oif, but we didn't expect it to come so soon after our arrival. By August 12 we were loaded and ready to go. We had about 36 LST's in our Convoy and Commander W. S. Blair, USNR, who was our Group Commander Qand aboard our shipj, was the Commodore in charge. It was a great surprise to learn that none other than the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. James Forrestal, and Vice- Admiral Hewitt were paying us a call before departure. They took a quick spin about the decks stopping here and there to chat with a few of the sailors and soldiers. They seemed to depart with a feeling satisfied that we were ready and that our mission would be successful. By 1500 that same afternoon, we were formed-up and on our way. As we sailed west towards the setting sun we all looked back to see beautiful Mt. Vesuvius, 30

Page 50 text:

g . THE OL, DOUBLE TROUBLE L We all waited anxiously for the first word about opera- tions on the beach and, about 0900, we received the following message from the Beach: FROM THE BEACHMASTER GREEN BEACH X ALL BOATS B E A C H E D SUCCESSFULLY X RESISTANCE LIGHT X PRCGRESSING ACCORDING. TO SCHEDULE. This was good news to hear and in an- other hour four of our boats returned, two staying at the beach to assist the beachmaster. We spent the day awaiting orders to beach, we couldn't anchor as the water was very deep in this particular area. About fl 800 we received orders from the beachmaster to beach and unload our cargo. We had just completed the un- loading when one German plane, a MM 209, came roaring out of nowhere, dropped one bomb which un- fortunately hit the LST 282 amidships as she was ap- proaching the beach to off-load her cargo. The bomb struck the main deck just forward of the deck house, and immediately the ship started to burn. The LST 282 was loaded as were all of the LST's with troops and vehicles, but she also had a large quantity of l55MM ammunition. We were ordered to retract and assist if possible. It was difficult for us to retract from the beach as we were stuck. Two bull-dozers were pushing on the bow to help but to no avail. We had already dispatched our landing boats to pick up survivors, who were float- ing in the water. In a matter of a few moments it was unsafe to go near the ship as it was completely engulfed in flames. By the time we were able to retract from the beach it was dark and thus quite diflicult to navigate. We remained in the area overnight maintaining our 32