July 4, 2024
(Pictured above is the LST-325 beached to a causeway unloading vehicles at Salerno, September 1943)
In the last posting we left EM3 John G. Roberts and his ship the LST-325 in Bizerte harbor struggling along with a number of other LSTs in their preparations to join in Operation AVALANCHE, the amphibious invasion on the mainland of Italy’s western shores.
This operation had a concentration assault area spanning approximately 30 miles of beachhead from Salerno running to the south. The AVALANCHE plan called for the September 9, landing of British forces on the northern extent of the beach to capture Salerno and the Montecorvino airfield giving then a strategic position. At the same time American troops would land at the southern end of the beachhead near Paestum, approximately 26 miles south of Salerno. From there they would work toward capturing Naples and continue their march onto Rome itself.
Just prior to the invasion, General Eisenhower had announced the surrender of Italy, giving some degree of hope to the invading forces that things might begin to settle down in the area. Unfortunately, those hopes were indeed fleeting when “The landings that morning were among the most fiercely contested throughout the entire war and, just as they had during Operation HUSKY, naval gunfire was called upon to protect the allied forces from German armored counter-attacks.” While all of this was beginning to unfold, LST-325 was just finishing up loading vehicles and supplies for the British 40th Royal Tank Regiment. Then at 1900 hours on September 12, she weighed anchor with a heading to Salerno, and an assault position they would reach by the afternoon of the 14th. To their dismay on arrival, they discovered that even after six days of constant battle, ferocious fighting was still underway. That most certainly begs the question of why.
In the way of some kind of background, this invasion began with the activation of the Western Naval Task Force (TF-80) under the command of Vice Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, USN. It also included the U.S. Fifth Army and consisted of no less than 16 different convoys in a massive coordinated force. They joined together from the ports of Algiers, Bizerte, Oran, Palermo, Termini and Tripoli all on the dates of September 5th and 6th heading directly for the Gulf of Salerno. The convoys were made up of almost 600 units and included assault transports, cargo ships, British LSTs, British infantry landing ships, three light cruisers, destroyers, mine sweepers and one British fighter director ship.
In the midst of their movement toward Salerno, they responded to a number of air attacks after being detected by the German Luftwffe. The attacks took place from September 6th and continued until the 8th when they were under fire from German torpedo bombers. The convoys were able to take their toll on the aircraft, and continued in their course to begin their invasion on time. But the Gulf of Salerno was filled with mines all of which had to be cleared over a period of 24 hours, demanding the minesweepers traveling with the convoy begin their work. They were able to clear most of the mines out as best they could under the pressing circumstances. However, in spite of that, LST-386 blew up on its later approach after coming in contact with one of the mines that had been missed.
During the last few hours prior to the assault, Admiral Hewitt had come up with a plan to fire a preliminary naval bombardment on more than 270 German defensive targets. They included anti-tank mines on the beaches, a number of artillery units inland and the 16th Panzer Division. The plan would effectively soften the German defenses and smooth the way forward for the soon to be approaching landing ships. Unfortunately, Hewitt’s plan was rejected by Generals Clark (5th Army) and Walker (36th Division). They for some reason believed that a prelanding bombardment might ruin their element of surprise, an almost laughable perception considering the convoys had all been detected days earlier on course for Salerno.
Regardless, and without the help of a timely bombardment, the ships began their assault of the beachhead as scheduled on September 9, 1943 while being met with an onslaught of defensive German firepower still reliably in place. The best that Hewitt could do was to support the troops on the beaches with naval batteries as they moved into their fire control zones. The invasion of Salerno had begun.
Upon arrival on the 14th, the LST-325 began to move in with a wide turn to the northeast to position for landing. “As the ships drew closer to the beach, the echoes of heavy artillery rumbled out from further inland. Just then, the lookouts spotted enemy aircraft diving from out of the sun directly towards the ships below. Fifteen fighter-bombers screamed over-head at mast-height, dropping bombs and strafing the ships with their machine guns. One low-flying fighter came in directly over the LST-325 and released the two bombs slung under its wings. The first exploded a short distance off the port side of LST-325s bow. The second bomb, released a split-second after the first narrowly missed a nearby Liberty-type cargo vessel.” The LST-325 from a timing perspective was unfortunate enough to be involved in the first major German counter attack which began on the 13th. Sadly, because the attacking fighter planes were flying in so low between the ships on their approach, gunners on station, in their attempts to hit the high speed aircraft found themselves actually firing directly across at their own ships nearby. As a result, several crewman stationed on the bow of LST-325 were wounded by shrapnel when a 20mm shell from another ship exploded among them. All of them had to be transported later for hospital care. In the meantime, Admiral Hewitt, having suffered the loss of three of his best tactical warships from the fighting on the 13th had to request air cover from the Royal Navy with their Unicorn-based fighters. Fortunately, they were finally able to stop the relentless Luftwaffe attacks.
Sometime later after the attacking aircraft had left the area, LST-325 was able to successfully make it to the beach without further incident and began unloading the tanks along with the British 40th Royal Tank Regiment. Just before midnight LST-325 was able to retract from the beach and anchor at a distance in the transport area. One of John’s shipmates, Quartermaster 1st class Bill Bliss phrased it best when he said: “The Salerno invasion was the worst as far as we were concerned. That is where we were strafed and had some casualties. We were scared. We had been carrying bag powder ammunition and aviation gasoline and why it wasn’t set off when we were strafed I will never know. I got ashore once on the beach just to say I had been there.”
The next morning LST-325 got underway in a convoy with 14 other LSTs, seven LCIs and four escort ships to head to Palermo, Sicily where they were to be reloaded for their return to the beach on September 17. They loaded up this time with equipment, vehicles and troops from the U.S. Army’s 3rd Division. Their return to the mainland this time took them closer to Paestum but they were held up prior to approach because the beach at their point of entry was under attack from enemy bombers. So, they sat and watched the fireworks as the night sky was lit up with anti-aircraft fire and exploding bombs. It wasn’t until 0300 when the all clear was issued that LST-325 could move in and unload as they were able to dock at a causeway. Later that night they began their return to Palermo along with the rest of the convoy.
The convoy including LST-325 and six other LSTs upon reaching Palermo on the 19th were given orders to proceed to the loading docks at Termini, just a little more than 20 miles southwest of Palermo. There they were to pick up the vehicles and related equipment associated with the 400th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion. After being once again fully loaded, the ship returned to the area near Paestum and beached there on the 21st. Conditions along the beachhead were now beginning to calm down and LST-325 was able to unload without incident and retract to a safe distance.
Then on September 23, 1943, LSTs 308 and 325 were given orders to head to the northern extent of the beach nearer to Salerno. There they were to join with two escort ships and sail to the west on a clandestine mission. From the Gulf of Salerno, they were to make a south heading toward the toe of Italy and the Straits of Messina. At that point Capt. Mosier was able to inform the crew that their next destination would be Tripoli, Libya. The ship and crew arrived in Tripoli on September 26th where they docked and took onboard the vehicles, equipment and men of the Ceylonese Corp of the British Army. The Island of Ceylon, which is now known as Sri Lanka, was at that time a British colony and the 125 men in the Corp were being mustered into duty back in the Salerno area. The crew of LST-325 returned to the Gulf of Salerno on September 30th with their passengers and equipment, but upon arrival began having problems with the main starboard engine. The ship was able to beach the next morning and safely unload the Ceylonese Corp. However, the struggle of the unloading process with just one engine to help in maintaining station took its toll and as a result, LST-325 found it impossible to retract from the beach landing.
With the help of tug boat, LST-325 could finally retract from shore and anchor. Although the Skipper had received orders for a return visit to Tripoli, “Lieutenant Mosier informed his superiors that his ship could not comply with one engine out of commission and that repairs could not be completed except in port.” As a result, the ship was given revised orders to proceed to Bizerte to receive the needed repairs to the starboard engine. LST-325 was able to remain with the convoy as it headed back to Tripoli, but then peeled off and plotted a course for Bizerte along with LST-308, LST-393 and LST-314 after clearing the Straits of Messina with the other vessels. The necessary repairs took over two weeks to complete, giving members of the crew a well-earned opportunity to take a break from the hair raising experience they would probably never become accustomed to, and rightfully so. It has been documented that during Operation AVELANCHE over a period of just 20 days, “the equivalent of 71,500 105mm field artillery projectiles had been fired at 556 or more targets.” Also, “the Allied invasion of mainland Italy claimed 3,472 German casualties, 5,259 British casualties and 1,649 Americans. The U.S. Navy suffered 296 killed in action, 551 missing in action, and 422 wounded in the action.”
On October 21, 1943, Lt. Mosier received orders to get underway for a return trip to Oran, Algeria where LST-325 would receive some maintenance and refits that would prepare the ship for its next assignment in England. Although the Skipper and crew were not yet aware of their purpose, the ship was heading to the north to begin preparations for yet another beachhead assault in the coming months which would be pivotal in ending World War II, the invasion of Normandy, France.
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