San Marcos (LSD 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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'6Land The Landing Force The landing force of the SAN MARCOS during the cruise consisted of a variety of units. Marine tanks, DUKW borne artillery, cranes of shore party. and a SeaBee boat salvage unit, all embarked in three LCU's: 1330, 768, 763. Each one accomplished a vital part in the landings on Malta, Sardinia, and Crete by the SIXTH Marine Battalion Reinforced. In order to make these landings possible much preparation is necessary. Operation orders must be written, reconnaissance of beaches must be made by UDT's, men must be briefed, and transport ships present must have debarking gear and boats in readiness. Then comes the actual landing. On the SAN MARCOS with the passing of the word Set Condition 1 Able, Land the Landing Force the final preparations shift into high gear. The troops having been fed earlier are embarked in their respective U's R Division commences to ballast' down the ship, gripes are removed from the LCU's and as soon as they are afloat, the Deck Force lowers the stern gate, tends handling lines that asists the LCU skippers in easing out of the well. After leaving the ship, they and the DUKW's, if weather permits, disembark from the SM , rendezvous forward of the ship until directed to the line of departure. ' All U's and DUKW 's having been off loaded, they rendezvous off the San Marcos until time to head for the line of de- parture, from which all waves of the landing force are dispatched. Upon arrival at the control vessel, again the waves rendezvous until such time as the tactical control group orders them ashore. The Tank Platoon, all in LCU 763, and LCU 1330 containing the Shore Party, the Beach Group QCB'sl and the detachment from HSS Company are part of wave 33, to hit the beach at H + 10. The artillery, which swims ashore in its own DUKW's is the first non-scheduled wave, which is to say that it is ready at any time and proceeds ashore when so requested by the infantry commander through the TACLOG Group. However, prior to the time it is called, the Batter Commander will proceed ashore in his ownDUKW a free boat, or one that can proceed to the beach anytime subsequent to H - Hour with his reconaissance party, the purpose of which is to ascertain routes of progress from the beach and to choose a position area for the battery. When the two LCU's hit the beach, the doctor, Lt. Qj. g.l Baumhauer, will proceed to the vicinity of the Battalion CP and set up the Battalion Aid Station, or make himself available to it. The Beach Group, under the command of Ensign E. Gaffney and Chief Lane, will, with their A Frame DUKW, their dozer and Surf Crane, make themselves available for any necessary jobs on the beach. The two Bay City Cranes of the Shore Party will be put to use here onthe beach in one of the many dumps to assist in unloading. The tanks in general may be employed in one of two ways, terrain being the dictating factor. Either in direct support of the front line .troops - that is, right up with them, moving as they do, or in what might be termed general support, where they remain largely stationary making use of their five 105mm Howitzers as the occasions might arise. In' all our operations, conditions of terrain and otherwise dictated the latter course. When the 'artillery hits the beach, the first step is to get the Howitzers out of the DUKW's with the use of the A Frame. Ideally this is accomplished on the beach, or reasonable close thereto. With the DUKW's then being used as prime movers, the guns move into the battery position. Due to the fact that the artillery forward observers and the liaison parties land in the same waves with the infantry, and that the recon party has already established communications with them, the battery is ready for a precision registration as soon as the first piece is in position and has been laid by the exec. Since the tanks use the same I-lowitzer as the artillery, it was ddemed advantageous to tie them in with Fox Battery, in effect giving the infantry an eleven gun battery capable of firing indirect fire with reduced charges or direct fire with full charges. lt was not too simple a task to coordinate the firs of these two because of differences in gun sights, communi- cations and so forth, but several missions were fired during the Sardinia operation which were deemed highly successful by those involved. After the logistical problem of landing the troops, arms and supplies has been successfully accomplished, the operation becomes typical in every respect to the usual land operation. The infantry moves forward as rapidly as conditions will permit with the other supporting arms -keeping themselves constantly in position to give effective support.

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