Diario di Roma II: Rome Diary 2
Summer! 91°F/37°C in Selci, Sabina
Buongiorno,
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| LST 920 at Normandy |
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| U 667 |
One of the services that passes as
in-flight entertainment on long, international flights these days is the animated map displaying your journey on the forward TV screens in Alitalia’s steerage-oops! I mean ECONOMY class. The captive audience gets to watch the
tiny airplane move from the departure city to its destination while the globe revolves
below. I’ve made this trip before, but, this time, something about our route
rang a bell, right around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Of course! Pittsburgh was
where my dad grew up. Then, Jamestown, NY. That’s where mom and I lived
while dad was overseas. My kid brother, Packy was born in Jamestown. And, as we approached New York City and I saw
the next leg of our flight, I realized that my Alitalia flight to Rome in 2015
would be following nearly the same route as the route taken by my father’s
ship, the LST 920, during the summer of 1944. Suddenly in my mind, I was no
longer in my cramped Economy-class seat hurtling eastward at nearly the speed of sound, I was on the bridge
of the LST 920 as it moped along in its thousand ship convoy at a sedate 10
knots headed toward England through a gauntlet of German U boat Wolf Packs! I felt myself tremble at the
realization. The date, Friday August 14, 2015 is the 71st
anniversary of the most important day in my father’s life: not his wedding day;
not even the dates that his children were born. August 14th was the
day that he came face to face with an enemy submarine in the North Atlantic.
1654
hours: First hit on LST 921 directly astern of us; presumably by torpedo
1654
hours: General Quarters sounded
1656
hours: LCI #99 (British) hit by torpedo presumably
1657
hours: All stations manned and ready; approximate position of scene of action –
50°54’
North Latitude, 4° 45’ West Longitude
1657
hours: Relieved on conn by Captain Schultz and went to G.Q. station
Ensign John J. Waters, Officer Of
the Deck
LST 920 Motor Machinist’s Mate Joe LaRock saw it happen: I was coming up from the main engine room.
As I came up out of the hatch on the upper deck, I looked astern at the very
moment the LST 921 took a torpedo!
The two ships-LST 920 and LST 921
were sisters. Built in the same Massachusetts shipyard and commissioned within
ten days of each other. They were siblings in the true sense of the word. Old
salts will understand what it means to lose a sister. What’s more, most of the
two crews hailed from the same part of the U.S., western Pennsylvania and West
Virginia mainly. Twin brothers – the Hendrixsons, had joined the Navy together.
Now, there was one brother on each of the LSTs.
That submarine must have fired one of those new acoustically aimed
torpedoes, because it hit
the stern right about the location of the engine room!
Ensign Don Joost was the Engineering Officer aboard LST 921. It
must have homed in on the sound of our screw propellers, because that’s where
it hit! Joost was later rescued by a British escort ship. The torpedo had
broken the spine of the LST 921. The men who were able to, scrambled quickly to
the top deck of the sinking aft section. Ensign Joost and Motor Machinists Mate
John Abrams worked feverishly to move the men up to the forward section, which
stayed afloat.
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| Ensign Don Joost |
The bridge crew of the 920
immediately sounded General Quarters,
sending all hands to their battle stations. But, the LSTs were lightly
armed-only a handful of 40 millimeter guns, primarily for use against attacking
Messerschmitts and Zeroes. My father watched a torpedo trail coming directly
amidships of his LST. All I could do was
watch as it came straight at us. We would have taken it dead amidships if the
British escort ship hadn’t come up just at that moment! The ill-fated
British escort ship LCI(L)99, with its full load of fuel and ammunition went up
like a sky rocket. When the smoke cleared there was only debris floating on the
water. U 667 had just killed two ships – the USS LST 921 and HMS LCI(L)99. The
Brit was also a sister to the two American LSTs. She had been built in the same
shipyard at Hingham, Massachusetts as the two LSTs she was defending.
DO NOT BREAK CONVOY! REPEAT: DO NOT BREAK CONVOY! It was the
inviolable law of the convoy. No ship in a convoy under escort was to fall out
of formation for any reason. Not even for a man
overboard. If any ship in the convoy were to become disabled, it was to be
left behind to the tender mercies of the Kriegsmarine.
And, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz had already given the strictest orders to
his U boat commanders, Do not rescue
survivors! LST 920 could not come to the aid of her stricken sister. In
the first few minutes after the 921 and the British LCI were hit, topside
crewmen on the LST 920 could only toss life rings to the survivors near them,
and pray for their shipmates. LST 920 had strict orders, DO NOT BREAK CONVOY! Radioman Fred Benck was on
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| Radioman Benck |
The first thing I was to do was to send these words, “HELP GAUSE.” This
was to let the Royal Air force know that we were being attacked. Captain
Schultz quickly ordered Benck to send another message to the Commander of the
convoy, "WHO IS PICKING UP
SURVIVORS?” While they awaited a response, Schultz ordered his deck hands
to toss life rings over the side into the water to help nearby survivors as
best as they could. The message that was returned from command was a terse "DO NOT BREAK CONVOY." The
captain was so informed. Benck
continued, In about two minutes Captain
Schultz came back into the Radio Room and said, “Benck send that message
again.” This time he waited for the answer which was the same words "DO
NOT BREAK CONVOY." Schultz responded, “TO HELL WITH HIM!” We pulled out of convoy to turn back and pick
up survivors! A message came from the
Commander of the convoy to get back in the convoy. This message was never
answered!
Captain Schultz quickly ordered
two of the LCVPs that his ship was carrying into the water.
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| Captain Harry Schultz |
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| Lt. Charles Botula |
In the aftermath of the attack, U
667 stalked its prey throughout the night, keeping its distance for fear that
the sole LST in its periscope sights was carrying a new three inch gun on its
fantail. Finally, the U boat commander, Käpitanleutnant Karl-Heinze Lange broke
away from its attack on Convoy EBC 72 and sailed away to its home base at
LaPallice, France, and what he and his crew thought would be a hero’s welcome.
The U boat crew had no way of knowing that while their U boat was prowling, the
Canadians had sown their return path through Minefield Cinnamon with dozens of new mines. The U 667 struck one of them and sank with the entire crew of 45 Kriegsmariners. Our Alitalia flight
had made landfall, south of the former U boat base at La Pallice, France, and my daydream was over. Rome lay a few hours ahead, and,
for me the beginning of a new adventure.
Ciao,
MikeBo
©Mike Botula 2015
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