Ludlow (DD 438) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 34 text:

3 ll' i :gi 3 - 1.2. i ,f ., . ,:: , 1 ., 1 5 ,wi ' , . 1 rj l ij. ,aff I 1' ffi .:,.:.., .4 . H-was , l ii it ii wi .Lf 1 three quarters of a mile inshore to support our r in tance, the scra Lud went as c ose as ' . ' , I . Q ifjoopss and knock oiiiiiinemy mobile batteries and pill boxlfs-I-llllflgme 3 duel between 3 ma chine gun and a 5-inch-talk about shooting sittin due s. DL OVV Ord ed to 9 Then southeast of Anzio on Jan. 26, 1944, the Lucky 1.11.61 9 f 'Fwd cr N . pump shells into the town square in Littoria to smash.another divisioln 0 I C U1:PYin in Airmarshalg in response, seven tons of 5--inchers' rained down wit a vrengea ce 9 e space of ten minutes. Shortly after the cease firing command a short wavelmalp tapped out, SHNIZE goin'.' Littoria is no moreeeaf' T611 d3Y5 later, however' Lady had to Work Overtime This time the LUDLOW was hit as she moved inshore to make it hot for - ' r ' '-l lh d 't Anzio on Feb. 8 the Nazi troopsg a m1le and a half off the Fifth Army s Jeaci ea a ' 1944, a six-incher from a Nazi shore battery ripped deep into the 1,630 ton ship. Fortun- ately the shell didn't explode. Spilling powder from the broken nose, the dud came to rest in the crew's mess hall, rolling about on the deck with the motion of the ship. Two others hit the water close to the port side and exploded, sweeping the deck aft of number Two stack with salt spray.. No one was hurt. Lady Luck still rode the bow. On deck with an ordnance repair party at the time was Chief Gunner Mate James D. Johnson. He heard the projectile hit and ,rip through the decks and headed for the trouble spot. With him was joe M. Wittich, CM1c. Chief Iohnson,l9O pound vet of nine year's service, grabbed the shell, weighing just 90 pounds less than himselfg he could feel its warmth through his gloves, he said. Leaving a thin trail of powder behind him he scrambled topside in nothing flat, men held their breath as he dashed past. Up on deck, he jumped to the rail and his shoulders heaved. The shiny cone arched through the air and into the sea-and, Then I felt better, , declared Johnson. When complimented by the Commodore of the Destroyer Squadron for his action, the Chief commented, Aw, I was going topside anyway. While this was going on,gLawrence P. Halloran, RM3c, stood atop the pilot house, where he had been doing lookout duty, and gingerly felt the bristles of what had been an eyebrow. Larry feels that this war is just a little TCO personal-the shell zipped past his left eye, singed his hair and brow then punched a neat hole in the deck at his feet. That shell really had Lady Luck working with both hands. Vifhile one dainty hand took care of Larry the other darted in the direction of the ship's commanding officer, Comdr. Liles W. Creigh- ton and Executive Officer Lt. Comdr. Cthen lie utenantfr Philip Cutler who were on the bridge below Larry. Comdr. Cutler was holding a cardboard message board g there was a swish of air past his left ear and the board disappeared from his fingers, Comdr. Cutler glanced down at the opening in his jacket-reposing there was a chunk of the deck plating. Comdr. Cutler wasn't injured. Comdr. Creighton, however, received a gash in his left thigh, first aid was given the Skipper and Comdr. Cutler took over the ship. Below the bridge, standing with one foot on a readv box filled with ZO mm antiair- Craft Shells, Was Lt. Cjgfr Charles D. Davisg suddenly thedbox disintegrated and the officer lurched forward-the shell had smashed the ready box. Ammo started popping about among the nine men gathered in the confined space, but they brought it under ,control quickly and only one man was hurt-Arthur A. Sak, GM3c, who suffered 3 brokgn bone in his foot. Quite a history for a solitary shell! ' With Comdr. Creighton and Gunner's Mate Sak admitted to a shore hospital for treat- rlprent, gfe IIIEDLOW' wigi Comdr. Cutler in temporary command, sailed for 3 Stateside avy ar or repairs ne 1n1ght say that Comdr. Cutler l t d b f 1 Itlavyg the former Harvard University hockey player, joiniiisn theOneLiIiDL2gliJiI mag ui 37 b?00LenS1gn in Febfuald' 1941, Srhprtly after graduating from the Middv's school at ia fgigrnvrgitizghniislgziftlme Fgtef afflfmg 13 this country Comdr. Cutler received a card from At the outbreaknginfowaieih SDymg,b Frim bmw to boss in three Wars' PICNV 2i'00d!u i ecem Cf ' 1, th LUD I 1 . ' fthen Comdrj Clause H. Bennett -, ' e LOW Cumiei command of Capt , JI was in the North Atlantic mth D - ' , - f a convov bound for Nova Scotia and Iceland. She made one more trjp to Iceland early in 1Q42 andkhm Served A 26

Page 33 text:

IN OUR SCRAP BUOK Reprinted from the Se t b P em er 1945 Issue of HALL HANDS It was early 1944. The USS LU shore' batteries off the Anzio Beachhead , ' g A S. . h p i . . . , tered noglnsfl egegll' 53611 slashed mio the Crew F mess: EXplosive Spilling from its shat- e s with it. C FO ed around Wlth the ships motion. Death and destruct1on rolled DLOW Atlantic Fleet DD was duelin German Poinilqvthg dopsigp tlie Tlonapartment came James D. Johnson, CGM, USN, of College CM iC,.USN, of J1g1Llna?CaFI1GDI.?111 hatches and clear the way, was Joseph M. Wittich, th 10111115911 b111'St Into the mess and quickly corralled the shell. He could feel its warmth 1'01.1g is gloves. Swiftly, but gently, he lifted the two-foot 100- oun r Then, .a thin trail of explosive trickling behind him, johnson scrambledptopsildepp?sict1ii'i breathing men, dHShed to .the rail and dumped his dangerous burden overboard. As the shell plopped into the water, the LUDLOW'S crew loosed a collective sigh that would have provided enough wind to whisk a sailboat from Hampton Roads to Cherbourg. . Later, C01'1l1!JliIr1e1'1ted. by the Destroyer squadron Commander, Johnson added only this to the story: I was going topside anyway. Foam the Mid January, 1945, Issue of Our Na'vy ' THE 'LUCKY LUD' The DD438 Took an Interest in the W ar the Nazis Will Always Regret THE LUDLOW came out of it all with little more than singed eyebrows and the bark knocked off a few knee caps, but the death, hell and demolished landscape she left in her wake was a caution. The boys say she's been around here and there then let the historians tell the rest of the story-how she dived in at Casablanca on Nov. 8, 1942 for the North African invasion-how she smacked in a few hot ones at Sicily in July 1943- and August 1943 saw her make several bullseyes at Palermo with a follow up that carried Cher to Salerno the next month--then Anzio. D-day was a little less than three weeks to go . . . 17 days later it happened and the Lucky Lud absorbed a serious hit. The total .toll the LUDLOW has taken of the enemy will never be accurately computed because much of the sturdy vesse1's firing has been at long range against shore targets. Houfever victims on the Lud's list include more than a score of shore batteries, numerous tanks and trucks and many enemy troops concentrations. In the Sicilian invasion she .blew a h dro-electric works into an ungodly mess of tangled dynamoes, cables and scrap iron, moife recently she partook in a successful hunt for an enemy sub and ended by rescuing 13 of its crew. The elite Nazi Herman Goering Division has reason to curse the Lucky Lud. From Sicily, on through subsequent attacks, her long range. rifles have been slamming vicious salvps into the ranks of the F3t.N3Z1'S Favorite Z0mb1f: lg if mannersthit 51111551 the little ship had a personal grudge against gvery Hauptmann. t a erno on ep , , .

Page 35 text:

W Xxx ,gm x x A M X Nl. Sh EK , 5 ., . K A 1:53, 5 if . 522 sg AF BK Q50 C 2-1: X x SMR A ,-N L X 3 , v