LST (491) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE OL DOUBLE TROUBLE S. ,We salled from Marseilles on October 15 for zerte, Tunisia, carrying the 8th Beach Battalion anda number of other Naval personnel who were preparing to leave for the United States. We arrived on October 17, discharged part of the personnel, and then pro- ceeded to Oran, Africa for a new assignment. On Octo- ber 25, We departed for Marseilles, France loaded with heavy tanks and Army equipment. We also had aboard 700 former Italian prisoners who were going to France to work for the United States Army Quartermaster Corps. The trip from Oran to Marseilles usually takes about two and one-half days, but on this trip it took us about live daysas the Ol' Med was on a rampage. We arrived on October 30th, unloaded, and the follow- ing day we were on our way again. The ship was loaded during the night with U. S. Army vehicles and equip- ment for delivery to Leghorn, Italy, After oil-loading at Leghorn we proceeded to Bizerte, Tunisia, arriving on November 3. A .

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MEDITERRANEAN ADVENTURE We sailed shortly for Naples on completion of our repairs, arriving there on September 29. Here we 'loaded half of the tank deck with steel strips for an air- field, and awaited further orders. 0ur next assignment was to proceed to the island of Elba. This trip proved to be most unusual and one to write home about. We were the only LST assigned on this duty and had one PC as our escort. Elba, where Napoleon lived in exile, was used by the Allied Forces to shell Pembennio, Italy, with the Big Toms. The people of Elba were a pathetic sight. Most of them were slowly starving to death. Their homes and villages had been leveled by the fighting when the island was taken from the Germans. Our car- go manifest was an interesting one - 115 mules, 6 horses, 12 goats, 24 sheep, 4 Big Tom guns, numerous ancient motor vehicles that had seen better days, a French Naval Artillery unit and about 300 French Colonial Troops. We had to load at two different places. The mules were loaded first and then because of a storm we had to lay at anchor for three days. The smell of the mules was of course terrific, but fortunately none of them became sea-sick. It was several weeks before we were free of the barn yard atmosphere. We arrived at Marseilles, France, on October 9 and managed to get rid of every- thing but the smell. This was our first trip to the fam- ous seaport which the retreating Nazis had left in ruins, that is, the port area including the docks, cranes, etc. The town itself was in pretty good shape. Many of the men aboard visited the beautiful Cathedral, which was located on top of the hill overlooking the anchorage. 35 5

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Going Home On arrival in Bizerte we were ordered to prepare the ship for return to the United States. This was wel- come news, and all hands became wild-eyed eager beavers. This was the moment we were all waiting for, and everybody turned to in order to bring the ship up to standard so that we might be released to join the other homeward-bound ships. While at Bizerte our skipper, Lt. Commander R. E. Fahnestock was ordered to join the Staff of Comman- der LST Flotilla 10 as Operations Officer. Lieutenant Wylie M. Hemphill, our Executive Oflicer was ordered to take command, and our Engineering Ofiicer, Lieu- tenant Carl E. Stoker, was appointed Executive Ofhcer. Lt. Commander W. McBrier reported aboard as Commander LST Group 29, and shortly thereafter, we departed Bizerte to proceed to Oran. We had in tow an LCT. At Oran we loaded equipment for de- livery to the United States and after our Thanksgiving Turkey dinner we departed for Norfolk, Virginia, in convoy on November 23, 1944. As we passed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Migh- ty Rock of Gibraltar disappeared on the horizon astern, 37