Ludlow (DD 438) - Naval Cruise Book

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LUDI.-UW HS S116 did her deadly work. Most of the time she was too busy to pay much attention to shore batteries. . QU? morning during One Of fhC 1'21idS, One magazine crew had gotten hold of a case of fruit juice and was sending some f I g cans or the men in the handling room via the ammuni- tion hoist. It would h X' ' - .appen that just at the time of one action, all that came out of the hoist was canned fruit Juice. The handlin . , g room crew hollered down, Send ammunition. We aint ready forubreakfastu. Men ran topside to deliver shells to the gun. Tenbdays later it was a different story. This time, on 8 February 1944, the LUDLOW moved inshore to press up the Tiber River for a fi ' ' ' . Sh . ring mission e had done the same Ehmg a few days earlier. We were just about to our target area when we got a message .rom a British destroyer lying off further out warning us that the Germans were getting more accurate. Just then 4 shells landed-3 just astern, and one a direct hit. The second hit. A 155 h ll ' ' mm s e fcomparable to a 6 'J, from a German shore battery believed to have been encased at Torre Paterno, Italy, ripped deep into the innards of the LUDLOW The shells that hit the water close aboard to starboard exploded, swept the main deck aft of No. Z stack with salt spray and metal fragments. The shell that hit crashed through the torpedo director deck atop the bridge-plow- ed through the pilot house, ripping the Captain's leg open enroute-on through the fore- ward pilot house bulkhead to demolish the 20 mm ready boxes for the forward 2O's, on through the wardroom, to the crew's forward mess hall three decks below where it came to rest spinning dizzily on deck of the scullery. Luck was still aboard. That shell had not exploded. At this point, Chief Gunner's Mate James Drexel JOHNSON of 15-19 119th Street, College Point, L.I., New York, and Carpente'r's Mate Second Class Joseph Matthew VVITTICH of Staten Island, New York, who had been on the main deck with their repair party, ran for the trouble spot. JOHNSON picked up the 100 pound unexploded shell and, with WITTICH clearing the route, ran topside and threw the shell over the side. Then I felt better, said JOHNSON. His only comment later, when receiving a well earned compliment from the Commodore, ' s, I was oin to side an 'wa . , wa Enroute ighroiigh 5 decks gf tlife scrappy little LUD , though, that shell had done some damage. It first singed the hair and one eyebrow of Radioman Third Class Law- rence P. Halloran of Waltham, Massachusetts, then standing lookout atop the bridge. On the bridge, it seriously wounded our skipper, Commander L. W. Creighton, U. S. Navy, in the left leg so that the Executive Officer, Lieutenant Philip Cutler of Point Road, Marion, Massachusetts, took command to get the ship immediately away from the danger area. Lieutenant fjgj Charles D Davis, Jr., of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, had been stand- ing with his foot on the 20mm ready box that was demolished by the shell yet,-he was unharmed. 20 mm ammunition was set off by the shock of the shell and popped like firecrackers for a few seconds at this forward 20mm gun station. Gunner's Mate Third Class A.A. Sak, USN R, was the only casualty at this station and luckily he was not hurt senotgriifoute the shell made a mess of the Captain's cabin destroying his bunk, clothes and uheadv. Engign Paul Yager, USNR, and Ensign Robert P. Javins, USN., were drinking coffee in the wardroom as the shell ripped through there destroying the confidential safe and ' ' ' ' aterials. Its plghldgcilrs fciJr1:n1i1ai11i1dCiilJTOI1Sie1E1tenant Cutler, the LUDLOW departed in one hell of a hurry to nm-Se its Wounds and await orders in the anchorage area. That afternoon she steamed on up to Naples with her damage, Clronically, she would have been urelievvi-d in twoldaiysg under her own power, where the Captafn Was tfansfeffed to the 11105933 ' bl tllvafj tYP1C3O0 Captain Creighton, that he left the ship on'a. stretcher smoking adtjg ali. 1 ng would never have guessed he was seriouslyunjured aS he waved gli! Yi tg lil al' U and admiring crew., After temporary 1'CPa11'S in Naples, the LUDL L, Sal C tug if comnland of Lieutenant Cutler to New York for overhaul. . As skipper, ieutenan dir errrileceive a wire from his old superior, From boot tolposs in three years, Pfetty 800 - 15 CaP' e i6?794er 4 want-M. ,mae -A -sw- iii E. if I l 4 l. I, l 1 l ll l ll il

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. O N 1 Stack Caught on fire and for a while our men thought Wt'd N I f . ur 0. . . . . i . V b ap it Orqipligagjrd night enemy planes sunk the new British cruiser, SPAR1 AN Um een 1. b t 153 men rocket bomb? along with thffe libfffy Ships loaded with. l'lgh'0 m' gn' u -- ' - ' 1 , , ' ff ed in mine sweeping. manY landing craft and YMS s were sunk M1116 CUE-'lg - . A f A - lv ammunition but . h LUDLOW left for Naples to refntl and rt Supp 6 . was lrialck filritilhglfgiiiitgl guinping her Sf' Shells into enemy beach position and cOmbait1:1i3 lide bombs were destroyed enroute by J planes by January 29. Three enemy g u . guns. The men found nothing so frightening as those glide bombs. The IJUDLGW then made a quick trip to Naples on 31 January for more ammunition. She harassed the enemy on the beach constantly in these hectic days while under constant attack from enemy planes night and day. Next, the LUDLOW pCSC0flffd 3 HYGUP of mme Sllreps 3 point 10 miles from the Tiber and only 17 from Rome-CIOSCSY Pflml Yet fm' Al 'ed 5 'PS- Another quick trip to Naples for food, ammunition and fuel. All hands had hoped 'for a rest here, instead they worked liked beavers all night on reloading and headed back ito Anzio the next morning. ' Next came two more days of constant shelling and air raids and the LUD shoved off 'for Palermo for minor repairs. Repairs needed gave only two days in Palermo but it was a real thrill to be able to sleep in and not expect an air raid or General .Quarters 0 On 26 January, the LUDLOW was ordered to go east of Anzio and pump shells -into the town of Littoria which housed another of Goering's Elite Panzer Div. concentrations. Promptly, seven tons of her 5 shells were pumped into the town square.of Littoria in ten minutes. Shortly after the cease fire command, the American shore radio transmitter tap- ped out a message to us: Nice going, Littoria is no more-e-a . ' As soon as the crew would get a standeasy , the Red Alert would sound again and all hands would get ready for another air attack. Some planes would drop mines, others bombs, and still others acoustic torpedoes, while high altitude bombers hopelessly out of range of our guns would send their deadly loads our way. One humorous note was the race between Chief Commissary Steward andTorpedomen along the main deck as bombs fell forward or aft. Sometimes they would be dashing in opposite directions. The old timers will remember when the LUDLOW was sent into what was called SS Alley on bombardment missions. Steaming down the beach to the south trying to get close enough to shell the enemy, she'd have to weave through the mines. It was all the LUD could do on some of those runs to drive off the attacking planes and avoid the mines. Sometimes she would leave without damaging the enemy-glad to get out whole and the enemy glad to let us go without loss to themselves. The safe navigation while taking and dishing out such fire in these dangerous waters was a real credit to the Captain and en- deared him to the entire crew. It seemed there were no tricks in deceiving the enemy that h d'd ' ' e 1 not know and use. On moonless nights, the Captain ordered no shots Bred at planes unless the gunners could see and have a chanceof hitting them. Thus the LUDLOW was not raided as other ships were, due to useless firing. ,Below decks, men in the handling rooms would bet on how close the bombs they could hear would come. Night actions were full of backing down and then going ahead to keep out of the illuminatio f ' v - ' f d h . n o enemy flares. One night, in trying to get one of our cruisers out O n anger, t e skipper took the LUDLOW through a necessary run amidst enemy flares. The Cruiser right behind was fairly safe as by the time the LUDLOW got through the 11 hted ar th A 1 ' 8 . ca e enemy planes had spent all their bombs and the flares would be out by the time the cruiser steamed by in safety. The rocket planes were by far the most dreaded-they'd come in spitting red, orange and reen flar f ' ' g es rom astern,. and, as they were guided by radio from control planes out of range of our guns,. they'd' dive right into their targets. . The moonlit nights were most dangerous. You could read the dire thoughts in the moonhghted faces of men topside. In additive to P13105 and 011065, E-boats and submarines, shore batteries harassed the 10

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i ' three years before lt was a wildly' h3PPY CRW thu tain had come aboard as a boot CIlSlgTl 'N . ' Y , lt l returned to New York--proud of their battered shlP and islfld I0 be awe SUBMARINE , ' d. U d W. R. Barnes reported aboard and took comnian p- Oing mirittiziifcggxazsfd availability, the LUDl..OW proceeded to Casco Bay, M 'ne for iirainin exercises then back to New York again for further check-ups. She thi I-atm-ned to Caico Bay where on 20 April 1944, in company with 9 other destroyers, she took departure and set sail for Gibraltar.. Tl1e.n1'st.xC:f,lVlay saw thell Ctslfffftlng the U.s.s. YUKON. They went to Alglers, Bweffs 131111110 Mil ll? U C Off C ff' turn to Oran for another intensive training period for the next invasion. However, the Normandy D-day came and went with the LUDLOVV still in training exercises, German Submarines were engaged in their final desperate and deadly work in the Mediterranean. I On 17 May the LUDLOW, NIBLACK, MADISON and BENSON started searching for a reported enemy sub, At 1935 on 18 May, the group was split by LUlTlDCSDlV 25. WOOLSEY, MADISON and BENSON were assigned search ahead of the reported sub position, LUDLOW and N II?-LACK astern. At 2319 the same day, the LU D.I,OW .and NIBLACK changed course to investigate a radar contact reported by a searching British plane. Early next a.m. f0320j on 19 May, the LUDLOVV sound operator, G. SOW- ERS, picked up contact with a sub. 10 depth charge attacks by the NIBLACK and LUD- LOW together in the next 4 hours forced the sub to surface at 0710. 'The LUDLOW's first salvo blasted the conning tower-distant 1000 yards, killing all Germans attempting to get out to their deck guns. The second salvo blew all enemy dead into the water and three of these shells blasted the sub hull blowing debris high into the air. Within 4 minutes, that German sub--still with way on, took her last dive leaving only four struggling survivors visible in the water. Thirteen members of the submarine's crew were picked up by the LUDLOW and four by the NIBLACK, including the sub- marine's Commanding Officer. SOUTHERN FRANCE JUNE passed quickly and uneventfully with only convoy operations and a few days liberty in Naples. The end of June found the LUDLOVV back in Oran engaging in Final prac- tices for what everyone could see was in the air now that Normandy had taken place. Dur- ing the lirst week in August, the LUDLOW engaged in final assault training with units of the United States, British, French and Italian Fleets. Then, on to Palermo to await the hnal orders for invasion. Q D-day was August 15th. As had been the pattern for the previous four invasions, except Salerno, the first landingshere were not strongly opposed. Except for the LUD- LOW's fifty minute pre-H-hour bombardment at about 0700 in which she laid three hundred 5 shells on the beach, and the bombardment of Frejus town that night, there was not much for the little can to do. For three days she patrolled that area ready to lob shells into any spot or building designated by the shore fire control party. A call from the beach over the voice circuits at any time would instantly bring salvos of our 5 shells into any troublesome target. In fact, such precision shore bombardment had been the LUDLOW's specialty, for its proven accuracy of fire had been LUD men's greatest pride. Finally we were assigned to escort the cruiser, AUGUSTA, to the Marseilles area. The usual shelling and counter battery Fire was delivered by the LUDLOW as she picked a path for herself and escort through the mine helds, leaving the city of Marseilles well D softened up for our invasion forces. ,beaugm IQEQIIOW and AUGUSTA moved on up to .St Maxime, the beginning of that . a area known the world over as the Riviera. Here the LUDLOW was as- signed to Task Force 86-a tire support gi-ppp on the right flank of the assault forces