Adventures of a Landing Craft Coxswain
Sterling S. Funck
United States Navy, 1941 - 1945
Boatswain Mate 1st Class
Golden Shellback
Contents
Preface..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iv
Acknowledgements.............................................................................................................................................................................................................v
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................vi
Key Concepts...........................................................................................................................................................................................................vii
Common Abbreviations.......................................................................................................................................................................................viii
Chronology...............................................................................................................................................................................................................vi
Operations in North Africa and Europe............................................................................................................................................................ix
Operations in the Central Pacific ........................................................................................................................................................................x
Pre-War Years......................................................................................................................................................................................................................1
The War Begins...................................................................................................................................................................................................................2
Boot Camp............................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
The Amphibious Navy.......................................................................................................................................................................................................5
Learning the Ropes Aboard The USS Harry Lee.............................................................................................................................................9
Amphibious Training In The Chesapeake........................................................................................................................................................12
Transfer to the USS Calvert................................................................................................................................................................................14
Operation Torch: North Africa............................................................................................................................................................................17
Chesapeake Bay.....................................................................................................................................................................................................22
Operation Husky - Sicily.....................................................................................................................................................................................28
Last Days In The Atlantic.....................................................................................................................................................................................37
Heading to the Pacific...........................................................................................................................................................................................41
Operation Galvanic – Gilbert Islands..............................................................................................................................................................44
Hawaii and San Diego.........................................................................................................................................................................................54
Operation Flintlock – Marshall Islands...........................................................................................................................................................55
Reprieve To Hawaii...............................................................................................................................................................................................58
Operation Forager - Mariana Islands.............................................................................................................................................................60
Japanese Prisoners Of War...............................................................................................................................................................................65
Last Days On The USS Calvert..........................................................................................................................................................................67
Temporary Duties Stateside..........................................................................................................................................................................................69
The War Ends.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................71
After The War....................................................................................................................................................................................................................72
Appendix A: Summary of Sterling’s Naval Service..................................................................................................................................................74
Rates & Ratings.....................................................................................................................................................................................................74
Awards & Decorations..........................................................................................................................................................................................75
Qualifications..........................................................................................................................................................................................................77
Appendix B: USS Harry Lee – AP-17/APA-10.........................................................................................................................................................78
Excerpts From DANFS Detailed History of the USS Harry Lee:................................................................................................................78
Technical Specifications for the USS Harry Lee:..........................................................................................................................................78
Appendix C: USS Calvert – AP-65/APA-32.............................................................................................................................................................79
Additional Historical Information on the USS Calvert:................................................................................................................................79
Technical Specifications for the USS Calvert:...............................................................................................................................................80
Armament Information:......................................................................................................................................................................................80
Additional Information Regarding Crescent City Class Transports:.........................................................................................................81
Appendix D: USS Facility AM-233...............................................................................................................................................................................82
Excerpts From DANFS Detailed History of the USS Facility:.....................................................................................................................82
Technical Specifications for the USS Facility:................................................................................................................................................83
Appendix E: USS HIDALGO AK-189...........................................................................................................................................................................84
Excerpts From DANFS Detailed History of the USS Hidalgo:....................................................................................................................84
Technical Specifications for the USS Hidalgo:..............................................................................................................................................85
Appendix F: Background On “Crossing The Line” Ceremony..............................................................................................................................86
Appendix G: Bibliography..............................................................................................................................................................................................88
Operations in North Africa and Europe
Operations in the Central Pacific
Adventures of a Landing Craft Coxswain
Sterling Funck, United States Navy, Boatswain Mate 1st Class, Golden Shellback
Pre-War Years
Sterling Funck was born on June 18th, 1924 in Palmyra, Pennsylvania. He was the only son of George and Tillie Funck. Eleanor, Fern, and Marlene were his younger sisters. Sterling’s father worked as a blacksmith. His mother ran a general store attached to the family’s home.
While Sterling was still young his father befell a serious back injury. During his father’s recovery in a Philadelphia hospital Sterling’s mother sold the general store and the blacksmith shop. The family moved to Ono where Sterling’s grandfather, Elmer Shuey, owned a general store. Money was tight. Sterling was put to work in his Grandfather’s store. His typical day started at 6 A.M. He helped out at the store until it was time for him to leave for the start of school. After school he returned to the store and typically worked until 9 P.M. On Saturdays he worked from 6 A.M. until late in the afternoon.
Upon his father’s return home the family decided to move to Florida with the intent of buying a hotel. However, President Roosevelt closed the banks just a few days prior to their planned departure. The family canceled their move and chose to remain in Pennsylvania. Sterling’s father found work delivering bread as an independent driver for Ruhl’s bakery. His father made twelve cents profit on his first day of business.
Sterling entered seventh grade in August of 1937. Not far into the school year he passed the exam for entrance into the Jonestown High School. He was looking forward to moving into high school and he had plans to try out for baseball team the following spring. His father had different plans: “My parents never believed in high school. My dad only went through third grade. As soon as he found I had passed my exam for high school, I attended a one-room school house near Fort Indiantown Gap at the time, I had to quit.” The family was feeling the years of economic hardship. The Great Depression was in full effect. Sterling’s father removed him from school and sent him to work full time for his Grandfather to help earn money for the support of the family.
In 1938 Sterling’s father purchased a dairy farm in Grantville, PA.3 Sterling continued to support his family by assisting in the day-to-day work on the farm. Hardship struck in the summer of 1941 when an outbreak of Bangs disease infected the family’s entire herd of milking cows. The only option was to sell the cows as beef cattle for slaughter and let the stalls stand empty for a calendar year. With all prospects of farm income eliminated, Sterling’s father found work outside the farm. His father worked for a brief time at Ft. Indiantown Gap. He then returned to driving a bread truck for Ruhl’s bakery.
Sterling was also expected to find a job to help support the family. He and his friend Clarence Winters had many opportunities to observe the Pennsylvania National Guard hold exercises and drills on neighboring farms given the close proximity of Fort Indiantown Gap. With limited employment prospects to be found locally, Sterling and Clarence decided that their best option would be to join the Army. They both had dreams of joining the Calvary.
When it finally came time to enlist, Clarence reconsidered and chose to not go through with idea. Even though Sterling was only 17 at the time, and he would have to lie about his age, he remained committed on enlisting in the Army. However, during his first meeting with the Army recruiter his true age was found out and he was promptly sent home. Sterling gave little further thought of military service and he found work at the A.S. Kreider Shoe Factory in Palmyra.
1. March 6th, 1933
2. Sterling’s Mother, Tillie Funck, kept meticulous records for every facet of the family’s business and personal financial affairs.
3. Sterling does not remember the exact date, however the move to the farm occurred sometime between 1938 and 1939.
4. Clarence’s father, George Winters, was also a blacksmith. George Funck’s mother died when he was only six weeks old, George Winters’ parents took responsibility for raising George Funck. George Winters trained Sterling’s father as a blacksmith. Growing up, the Funck family and the Winters’ family were very close. Sterling and Clarence considered themselves cousins even though they were 2nd or 3rd cousins removed.
Preface
My grandfather, Sterling Funck, enlisted in the United States Navy on Monday, December 8th, 1941. During World War II he participated in amphibious operations spanning the African, European, and Pacific campaigns.
In 1998 I approached Sterling to learn about his experiences during World War II. At that time I had the idea that I might be able to produce a few pages of information that family members would find interesting regarding his role in the War. For various reasons, this project grew in scope beyond my original plans.
This work is comprised of three key themes. First and foremost, it provides a record of Sterling’s personal experiences during his wartime service. Second, it sets the context of Sterling’s experiences within the larger operations and battles within which he participated. Third, it traces the evolution of the Navy’s approach and execution of amphibious operations during World War II and describes the impact of these changes on Sterling’s role as a landing craft coxswain aboard an Attack Transport.
I hope that you find this work to be of interest.
Christian A. Funck
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
July 2006
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Sterling for the many hours that he spent answering my questions, sharing his memories, and detailing his experiences from his wartime service. Like many of his generation, Sterling did not talk much about his wartime experiences in the years following the war. His willingness to answer my questions, along with his patience as I worked through the details of this project, are greatly appreciated.
Second, I would like to thank Mr. John L. Cole for publishing the Calversion: Official Newsletter of the Men of the U.S.S. Calvert APA-32. The Calversion is a semi-annual newsletter dedicated to sharing the history of the U.S.S. Calvert and the experiences of the men who served on the ship during its years of service. Third, a wealth of information concerning amphibious operations during World War II is available in published form and on the World Wide Web. Finally, my appreciation and thanks are also owed to all of the veterans and the families of these veterans who are keeping their stories alive on the World Wide Web.
The content presented in this work is comprised of information derived from both published and unpublished works. Sections that list no explicit source are based on conversations and dialog with Sterling Funck that occurred between 1998 and 2005. Footnotes are provided to indicate the source for content such as direct citations and content derived from published and unpublished materials. Maps presented within the document were created and compiled using the source(s) listed in each map’s legend. Most photographs are sourced from Sterling’s private photograph collection. Where photographs, charts, and diagrams are based on published information, the source information is also provided via footnotes. A complete Works Cited section is included in Appendix G.
Every effort was taken to align Sterling’s experiences with historical records. However discrepancies do exist. When known, these discrepancies are noted via footnotes. Sterling explains:
As time goes on and it gets further back it is tough to remember the details and timing of events. See, what seems like a long time to a person that wasn’t involved in it, it went by fast for us, you were so busy and everything just went by so fast.
Even after an invasion, after aircraft had done some bombing or aircraft flew over and you went to general quarters, half hour after it was over you had different versions of what went on. And I’m sure that there were a lot of logs and a lot of things that went down as official, that weren’t quite as official as some things that were just pushed to the side and said didn’t amount to nothing. And very few guys kept diaries. First you weren’t allowed to keep diaries, it was against the regulations. Second, no one really thought to keep a diary, at least I didn’t.
For example, if you asked the Captain down through all the guys on the Calvert, each would give you a different answer right now if you asked them “do you remember hitting a whale or a submarine?” We hit something, it damaged the bow, shuttered the whole ship. I didn’t know what it was. Some said it was a whale, some said it was a submarine. I assumed that it was a whale ‘cause you didn’t hear crunching. You’d think if you hit a submarine you’d hear something. But being in the 2nd division we didn’t see what actually happened, and there were lots of stories that went around.
Introduction
Sterling Funck enlisted in the United States Navy on Monday, December 8th, 1941. During World War II he participated in amphibious operations spanning the African, European, and Pacific campaigns. The next few pages provide the important contextual information regarding the content and structure of this work.
Chronology
Boot Camp – Coasters Harbor Island, Newport Naval Training Station, RI – December 1941
USS Harry Lee AP-17/APA-10 – January 1942 to October 1942
USS Calvert AP-65/APA-32 – October 1942 to August 1944
Operation Torch – Safi, French Morocco – November 1942
Operation Husky – Scoglitti, Sicily – July 1943
Operation Galvanic – Makin Atoll – November 1943
Operation Flintlock – Roi-Namur, Marshall Islands – February 1944
Operation Forager – Saipan, Mariana Islands – June 1944
Operation Forager – Tinian, Mariana Islands – July 1944
Temporary Assignments Stateside – August 1944 to October 1945
Terminal Island Receiving Station, San Pedro California
USS Facility AM-233
Mine Assembly Base 128, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
US Naval Hospital #10, Pensacola, Florida
USS Hidalgo AKA-189
Separation & Discharge – Bainbridge, MD – November 1945
Concepts
The following terms and concepts are explained to clarify the organization and execution of the amphibious operations described throughout this work:
Amphibious Operation: The overall organization of an amphibious force whose purpose is to perform an amphibious assault. An amphibious operation is launched from sea by naval and landing forces embarked in ships and craft.
Amphibious Force: The naval and landing force together with the supporting forces such as escorts, fire support vessels and supply vessels who are trained, organized, and equipped to carry out an amphibious operation.
Transport: A naval class of ship that carries various types of landing craft and transports marine, army and navy assault personnel and equipment to the point of attack in amphibious combat operations and launches them against enemy-held shores in those craft. Transports were initially designated as AP (Auxiliary fleet, Personnel complement). Later in the war transports were reclassified as APA (Auxiliary fleet, Personnel complement, Attack force) and were referred to as Attack Transports.
Landing Force: Comprised of the troops who are organized for an assault. Also included in the landing force are the boat crews who deliver the troops to the beaches via landing craft as well as the landing parties who support the assault landings by organizing the beach areas during the assault. The landing force bears the brunt of an enemy’s defenses.
Landing Craft: Boats specifically designed for carrying troops and equipment to the beach and capable of beaching, unloading, and retracting.
Beach Party: The first of two key coordinating groups that operate in an amphibious landing. The Beach Party is comprised of Naval personnel. They are responsible for establishing and marking the boat lanes, and then directing the incoming landing craft through the lanes. The members of the Beach Party generally precede the assault waves and are nearly always the first to hit the beaches.
Shore Party: The second of two key coordinating groups that operate in an amphibious landing. The Shore Party is responsible for coordinating the men and materials on the beaches and movement off of the beaches to make way for additional men, supplies, and equipment. The Shore Party is comprised of elements of the ground force making the landing, e.g., Army or Marines personnel.
D-Day: The day on which a combat operation is to be initiated. When used in combination with figures and plus or minus signs, these terms indicate the length of time preceding or following a specific action. Thus, D+3 means 3 days after D-day, and so on.
H-Hour: The hour on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. When used in combination with figures and plus or minus signs, these terms indicate the length of time preceding or following a specific action. Thus, H-3 means 3 hours before H-hour, H+75 minutes means H-hour plus 1 hour and 15 minutes, and so on.
24-Four Hour Time: The system of designating time in a 24-hour cycle, instead of the civilian 12-hour cycle, to avoid the possible confusion of AM vs. PM. In this system, midnight is the starting point, named 0000. One minute after midnight is 0001, one minute after one P.M. is 1301, etc. When describing the end of the day, midnight is termed 2400.
Division (Navy): A group of several ships of similar type forming a tactical unit under a single command in the U.S. Navy. E.g., Transportation Division.
Division (Ship): One of the working departments aboard ship, such as deck, gunnery, engineering, navigation, supply, operations, etc. A smaller ship may have only a few divisions (e.g., a minesweeper) while a larger ship (e.g., a aircraft carrier) may have many more divisions.
Common Abbreviations
Abbreviations are used frequently throughout this work. The following abbreviations are those most commonly found throughout this document:
AK, AKA....................................................Cargo (Ship), Attack Cargo (Ship)
AM....................................................Minesweeper (Ship)
AP, APA....................................................Transport (Ship), Transport Attack (Ship)
AS....................................................Apprentice Seaman
ATB....................................................Amphibious Training Base
BLT....................................................Battalion Landing Team
BM1C....................................................Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class
BM2C....................................................Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class
BM3C....................................................Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class
COX....................................................Coxswain
LCI....................................................Landing Craft, Infantry
LCP....................................................Landing Craft, Personnel
LCM....................................................Landing Craft, Mechanized
LCS....................................................Landing Craft, Support
LCT....................................................Landing Craft, Tank
LCVP....................................................Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel
LVT....................................................Landing Vehicle, Tracked (a.k.a., Alligator, Amphtrac, Amtrack, Amphibious Tractor)
NRS....................................................Naval Reserve Station
NTS....................................................Naval Training Station
OOD....................................................Officer of the Deck
RCT....................................................Regimental Combat Team
R/S....................................................Receiving Station
SC1....................................................Seaman 1st Class
SC2....................................................Seaman 2nd Class
SCTC....................................................Small Craft Training Center
TF....................................................Task Force
TG....................................................Task Group
TRANSDIV....................................................Transport Division
USRN....................................................Unites States Navy Reserve
USS....................................................United States Ship
XO....................................................Executive Officer
The War Begins
Sterling was with his family visiting the Copenhaver family in downtown Harrisburg on Sunday, December 7th, 1941. During dinner news of Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor came over the radio. On the drive home Sterling informed his parents that he was going to enlist in the Marines the next day. Interestingly, the thought of joining the Marines hadn’t crossed Sterling’s mind until the events of that evening. Although he was still only 17, the Marines and the Navy accepted recruits his age as long as parental permission was granted. Had he been of legal age, he likely would have given the Army another try. Like many of his generation, Sterling just felt it was the right thing to do: “I really can't say why I joined. I guess just by enlisting the day after Pearl Harbor pretty much illustrates my sentiments as anything. I felt that they needed everyone they could get.”
On Monday morning Sterling rose early and hitchhiked to Harrisburg.6 The armed services recruiting office was located downtown in the old Federal building. When Sterling arrived at the recruiting office and was met by a Navy officer. Sterling inquired about joining the Marines, but the Navy officer promptly told him that the Marine recruiting officer wouldn’t be in that day and that he might as well sign up for the Navy. Sterling said that he wasn’t at all interested in joining the Navy, that he would wait until the Marine recruiting officer arrived. The Navy officer continued to give Sterling a hard time about not wanting to join the Navy. Eventually Sterling agreed to enlist with the Navy if the Marine officer failed to show up that day.
Sterling waited all day for the Marine officer to arrive. He even skipped lunch to make sure that he would not accidentally miss him. At around 3:45pm the Navy officer asked Sterling if he would keep to his word: “At that time I had never even seen a sailor or a ship. But anyhow about a quarter of four he came up to me and asked if I'd be good to my word. I said yep.” It was only after he had signed his enlistment paperwork that he learned that the Navy and Marine recruiters were the same person. It just so happened that the officer’s job that day was to fill his quota for recruits for the Navy. Sterling was sworn in and passed his physical that same day.
The Navy needed to obtain Sterling’s parents’ signatures to finalize the enlistment process given that he was still only 17. The Navy would only travel to obtain these signatures on Sundays. However, Sunday was the day that the family typically spent visiting friends and relatives. The Navy visited the farm twice without success. On the Sunday before Christmas the officers finally ran into his parents in Ono and collected their signatures that were necessary for the completion of Sterling’s enlistment paperwork.
Sterling had quit the shoe factory two weeks before Christmas. During those last few weeks he continued to help out on the farm. For Christmas Sterling received his first long-pants suit. Up until that day, he had always worn knickers for special occasions.
On December 27th Sterling’s parents and sister Marlene accompanied him to the Harrisburg Train Station. As a recruit, Sterling was only permitted to take only minimal personal belongings and only enough money to pay for his first month’s insurance. Prior to his departure he had to empty his wallet of all but six dollars.
Sterling departed on an empty reserve train and arrived in Philadelphia mid-morning. He reported to a Merchant Marines Base and from there he was bused to the Philadelphia Naval Recruiting Station. Sterling spent the next two days waiting for orders to report to boot camp. During his brief stay in Philadelphia he was sworn in for the second time and was given a second physical. Sterling will never forget the second physical. All the recruits were told to stand in a big circle and to strip. Then the nurses and doctors made the rounds. At the end of his second day in Philadelphia Sterling boarded a train bound for Newport, RI.
5. The family owned the Copenhaver Nursery, which at that time was located on Carlisle Pike.
6. It is approximately 20 miles driving distance from Grantville to Harrisburg.
Coasters Harbor Island (upper right-hand corner of photograph), Newport Naval Training Station, circa early 1940’s.
Sterling’s Boot Camp Graduation Photograph
8. Joao Santos, Pre WWII-Training and First Assignments <http://www.angelfire.com/va2/worldwar2family/johnsantos1.html>
9. From Sterling Funck’s personal photograph collection.
Boot Camp
Sterling reported to the Newport Naval Training Station (NTS) on December 30th. He was assigned to Company 4, the fourth company to enter the newly established training facility on Coasters Harbor Island. The remainder of the base was undergoing heavy construction and build-up in preparation for the many recruits that would pass through boot camp in the coming months and years.
Boot camp lasted three weeks, the minimum length of time for quarantine. Company 4 spent each day drilling (i.e., marching). The recruits’ few moments of rest each day were spent in the barracks, the mess hall, or the infirmary. Chow was served in metal Quonset huts. Evenings were spent in wooden barracks. What little ‘free time’ that Sterling had was spent preparing for the next day’s routine, polishing his boots, tidying up his few belongings, and learning to live out of a sea bag. Although the barracks were close quarters, Sterling made very few acquaintances. That’s not to say that he kept to himself. In one case he nearly got into a fight when he exchanged some words regarding the quality of the chow with a recruit from New York City. On another occasion he made the mistake of making a smart remark to a Chief:
With my big mouth I could even get in trouble in boot camp. One day while we were in formation the Chief Petty Officer in charge of our company made a remark to one of the guys ahead of me who couldn't keep in-step, "If I had a bucket of crud I would throw it in your face." So I said "Well you probably couldn't hit anyone anyhow." Of course I was back further in the ranks and didn't think he would hear me, or he wouldn't known who had said it. But he marched back, took my watch cap off. Now remember, this is in January, it is cold, and it is snowing and sleeting. Well, he stuck it in my mouth and he made me march and stand for two hours with a wool watch cap in my mouth. Now you want something stuck in your mouth, I can tell you it isn't a wool watch cap. Just try it sometime, if only for a few minutes, and see what happens.
The day we graduated I asked him "How did you know that I was the one who made the wisecrack at you that day." He said "I didn't, but I figured that you could take it as much as anyone else, so I gave it to you."
Everyone that I ever knew who went through boot camp always had one or two guys that they would pick on, whether they deserved it or not, because they thought, and some could and some couldn't cut it. I guess I was that guy that day. Honestly, out of the entire experience of boot camp, the hardest part for me was learning to live out of a sea bag and sleeping in a hammock.
The formal training that Sterling received while at boot camp was limited to how to properly roll his uniforms and his few possessions in his hammock and sea bag. Surprisingly, Sterling did not receive training on the use of firearms. In fact, his only encounter with a firearm during boot camp was when he had his picture taken at graduation.
Upon graduation Sterling had earned the rate7 of Apprentice Seaman. Although his monthly pay was twenty-one dollars, Sterling would not receive his first pay until early February. He departed with an empty wallet after paying his insurance bill using the six dollars he was allowed to carry with him to boot camp. His possessions were limited to what would fit in his sea bag, which contained his hammock, a set of basic dress and undress uniforms, and his working clothes, called dungarees.
The men of the Company 4 were transferred to an armory in Boston. There they were separated into groups for direct transfer to ship, additional training, or other assignments. Sterling was assigned to the USS Harry Lee. Fifteen other men from the Newport NTS 4th Company were also assigned to the Harry Lee. One of the recruits with whom Sterling had gone through boot camp had spent a previous stint in the Navy Reserves. He had heard that the Harry Lee was a destroyer. The men assigned to the Harry Lee were excited and they were looking forward to serving on a Destroyer.
7. Refer to the Rates & Ratings section of Appendix A for a full explanation of the Navy’s pay grade system and occupational grouping system for enlisted personnel.
The Amphibious Navy
Sterling remembers his first sight of the Harry Lee. It was clearly not a Destroyer. Instead, it was a severely rusted passenger ship in need of much work. However, looks were deceiving. Sterling quickly learned that he was aboard one of the most active and exciting classes of ships in the Navy. The Attack Transport class of ships, and the crews that manned these ships, would be a key element in the Navy’s amphibious program.
The Harry Lee represented, in some respects, the state of the U.S. Navy’s amphibious program at the beginning of the war. In early 1942 the Navy was working diligently to organize an amphibious program that would meet the demands that would be placed on it for offensive action in the African, European, and Pacific theatres. The Navy was short of properly equipped amphibious ships, trained crews, and skilled boat coxswains. Fortunately, groundwork for a robust and capable amphibious program had taken place in the years prior to the start of the war.
The origins of the US Navy’s wartime amphibious program actually began to take shape in the Nineteen Thirties. The Marines, whose specialty at that time was to conduct amphibious landings, experimented with amphibious techniques in conjunction with the Navy. In 1934 the Marines and the Navy issued the Tentative Landing Operations Manual. This manual outlined the organization and doctrine for amphibious warfare and it served as the basis for amphibious strategy and tactics for the entire course of World War II. It provided a framework that proved to be scalable as well as flexible to accommodate improvements based on wartime experience.
Formal organization of the Navy’s amphibious program took place in March of 1942 with the formation of the Amphibious Force Atlantic Fleet (AFAF). The AFAF was originally under command of the Marines. In April 1942 the Navy assumed command. Headquarters was initially located at the Naval Operating Base in Norfolk Virginia. Then in early September 1942 AFAF headquarters was moved to the Nansemond Hotel in Ocean View Virginia, located a few miles north of Norfolk.
The AFAF faced formidable challenges. First, ships and supplies were in short supply. Second, there were very few trained officers and sailors who understood the tactical details of how to prepare for, and execute, amphibious operations. Third, large-scale amphibious training programs had not yet been developed.
A critical element of the program was the availability of a properly equipped fleet of transports. The Navy needed a large number of transport and cargo vessels. However, in early 1942 there very few commissioned naval ships available to fill the role as amphibious troop transports and cargo vessels. The Navy took action and acquired a number of passenger ships and freighters as a stopgap to alleviate shortage while new transport-purposed ships were being built. These civilian ships were converted to transports, AP hull designation, or cargo vessels, AK hull designation.
The Harry Lee, a transport, was one such ship. It had been built in 1931 and had served as the passenger ship Exochorda. In the fall of 1941 the Navy acquired the Harry Lee and converted it to fulfill a role as a Transport.18 In late December the ship was designated AP-17 and was renamed Harry Lee. Conversion from commercial service to wartime role was a major effort. The ships had to be properly outfitted to accommodate their intended function as transports. In addition to a full crew each transport needed the capacity to embark a fully equipped battalion of troops (i.e., 1200 to 1400 soldiers) along with supplies and equipment. Another key task was to alter and outfit the ship to support combat loading. Although combat loading required some reduction in cargo storage efficiency, there was considerable improvement of assault capabilities. Morison explains:
10. Samuel E. Morison, History of U.S. Naval Operations in WWII. Vol 2: Operations in North African Waters (Edison: Castle Books, 2001) 19.
11. Morison, 20.
12. Ibid.
13. Morison, 21
14. Morison, 22
15. Hull: Outer shell or main body of a vessel or craft.
16. Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center, Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. NAVY SHIPS -- Listed by Hull Number APA/LPA -- Attack Transports <http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/shusn-no/apa-no.htm>
17. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Online: http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/auxil/ap17.htm
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. Amphibious Operations History <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/amphib-hist.htm>
In ordinary transport loading as much cargo and as many troops as the ship will carry are placed on board in the expectation of disembarking on a friendly dock or shore where everything can be sorted out. Combat loading, to facilitate an immediate assault on a hostile shore, is a very different and highly complicated art. The principal of it is this: essential equipment, vehicles, and supplies must be loaded in the same ship with the assault troops that are to use them, and stowed in such a manner that all may be unloaded in the order that it is likely to be wanted to meet tactical situations immediately upon landing.
Other changes were also necessary. Transports had the job of disembarking troops, supplies, and equipment using the ships’ own landing craft. Boat davits were installed for handling the landing craft. Other alterations included reducing the amount of flammable materials within the ship, addition of basic armament, and so on. The transports also had to be equipped to evacuate and care for troops, casualties, and prisoners of war.
The Navy required a way to effectively transport troops and equipment from the transports to the beaches. This capability was formally known as Ship to Shore movement, which in concept utilized small boats to carrying men and equipment to the landing areas. To realize effective ship to shore capabilities the Navy required landing craft that were capable of transporting men and materials to the shoreline while also withstanding the abuse of obstacles, rough surf, rough beaches, and the engagement of enemy fire. Prior to 1941 there were limited options for fulfilling these requirements. Then in 1941 the Higgins “Eureka” landing craft was introduced and it was accepted by the Navy as the standard craft for troop and equipment transport.
Landing Craft, Personnel (LCP)
21. Morison, 26-27
22. Davit: A vertical, rotating support on a ship which supports a boat and which serves as a crane to raise and lower the boat.
23. <http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/shusn-no/apa-no.htm>
24. <http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/ships-lcpl.html>
Officially designated Landing Craft, Personnel (LCP), the Eureka boat was a shallow-draft25 craft capable of transporting 36 fully equipped troops, or up to 8,100 pounds of cargo. When fully loaded it had a draft of only 3’6” that allowed it to operate in very shallow water. Most LCPs were powered by a diesel engine, although there were a few that were run with gasoline engines. Diesel was preferred for craft engaged in action given that it was less susceptible to detonation compared to gasoline. When fully loaded the LCP could cruise at 10 knots at full throttle.
Considering that the LCP was constructed primarily of plywood it was a rugged craft. With a solid block of pine at the bow it had considerable bow strength. The craft could move at flank speed over obstacles with little or no damage. The least favorable design element was the method for debarkation. Troops, often times heavily equipped, had to jump over the side of the craft. This method slowed debarkation, which exposed the troops, the craft, and the boat crew a greater chance of receiving enemy fire. The troops also ran a greater risk dropping into water over their heads. The coxswain, who conned the craft from the center near the bow, in front of the troop area, was exposed as well.
The Landing Craft Personnel Ramp (LCPR) was introduced in late 1942. Retrofitted with a bow ramp this craft afforded easier and quicker debarkation for troops and equipment. An early model of the Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) was also introduced around this time. The LCM was built of steel, diesel powered, 50 feet long and capable of carrying one 30-ton tank. Larger sea-going vessels, such as the Landing Craft Tank (LCT) and Landing Ship Infantry (LSI), were also introduced. These larger vessels were capable of landing large numbers of troops and massive quantities of equipment directly onto beaches.
With the supply of properly designed landing craft under production and arriving for use by Navy the shortage of properly trained boat crews was the next challenge. The Navy did not have an adequately sized, or properly trained, supply of landing craft crews. As the war progressed, formal amphibious training programs were set up at Little Creek, Virginia, and Solomons Island, Maryland. However, in early 1942 these schools did not exist. With the war effort underway, and the need to assert force as quickly as possible in the Atlantic theatre, there was relatively little time for the Naval transport crews to train for their first operation. Whenever possible, the Navy employed personnel with some experience, such as pulling reservists who had previous ship and boat handling skills back into active duty. Sterling, along with the recruits from Company 4 that joined the Harry Lee, would learn nearly all of their seamanship skills directly from the more experienced crewmembers already aboard the ship.
Another challenge facing the amphibious group was that of inter-service coordination and agreement on strategy and tactics. The Navy and Marines had made considerable progress in planning and executing joint operations in the few years preceding the war, albeit primarily only in training exercises. However, the Navy and the Army were not prepared to work together in amphibious operations. Up until 1942 collaborative effort was limited to Naval escort of Army troop convoys. Morison explains:
… a properly conducted amphibious operation requires an organic unity rather than a temporary partnership, and neither the organization nor the traditions of the two armed services were then particularly receptive to a commingling of that nature.
The Navy and Army did not agree on the tactical implementation of the combat loading scheme for an operation. The Navy’s view was that assault troops, especially if landing at night, should be very lightly equipped and slenderly supplied, leaving the big stuff to follow later. The Army’s desire was to get as much as possible ashore in the assault boat waves, fearing that the follow-up convoy would be decimated by enemy submarines prior to landing the majority of equipment and supplies.
These differences would be worked out over time from lessons learned under hostile exercises in the early stages of the war.
25. Draft: The distance between a vessel’s waterline and the lowest part, or keel. This, plus a safety factor, represents the minimum water depth in which a vessel may operate. The draft for a small, flat-bottomed boat may be only a few inches. The draft for a large sea-going vessel may be up to 40 feet.
26. HyperWar: Landing Craft Personnel (Large) <http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/ships-lcpl.html>
27. Ibid.
28. Knot: The knot is a unit of speed, one nautical mile per hour. Multiply speed in knots by 1.15 to get speed in mph.
29. HyperWar: Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945, Landing Craft Personnel (Large) -- LCP(L) <http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/ships-lcpl.html>
30. Bow: The forward end of a vessel.
31. Flank Speed: The maximum possible speed of a craft or vessel.
32. Interview, Sterling Funck, November 2001
33. Morison, 29
34. Ibid.
35. Morison, 23-24
36. Morison, 26-27
Learning the Ropes Aboard The USS Harry Lee
When the Company 4 seamen reported to the Harry Lee they were immediately lined up on deck and were split into two groups: Deck workers or Snipes. Deck workers were given jobs in the deck divisions, including assignments such as signalmen, radiomen, painters, general deck workers, etc. Snipes were assigned to the engineering divisions, including areas within the ship such as the engine room, fire room, etc.
USS Harry Lee
Sterling was immediately assigned as a general deck worker in the 2nd Deck Division. Sterling spent his first few days learning basic deck work duties and standard seamanship skills. His expectation was that he would spend the majority of his time undertaking the never-ending job of painting the ship. Life aboard the Harry Lee was not very comfortable for most of the enlisted crew. The berthing areas were devoid of bunks, so Sterling spent what little downtime he could find in his hammock. Meals were eaten standing up. There were no tables or chairs for the enlisted crew in the mess.
On most transports there were three deck divisions, designated 1st division, 2nd division, and 3rd division. Members of the deck division were responsible for the external operations and maintenance of the ship. Select members of the deck division were also selected and assigned as boat crews for the ship’s landing craft. Each deck division had a Chief Boatswain Mate who had responsibility over the division. Reporting into the Chief Boatswain Mate was the Leading Boatswain Mate.
Tom Sawyer was the Leading Boatswain Mate at the time Sterling joined the Harry Lee. The Leading Boatswain Mate was responsible for making up daily work orders, assigning watches and runners, as well as assigning secondary duties to members of the division. Tom Sawyer had taken a liking to Sterling almost immediately and a few days later he assigned Sterling as Bowhook on the Captain’s Gig.
37. From Sterling Funck’s personal photograph collection. Date, location, and source of photograph unknown.
38. Watch: A division of time on board ship. There are seven watches in a day reckoning from Midnight round through the 24 hours, five of them being of four hours each and the two others, called dog watches, of two hours each.
Amphibious Training In The Chesapeake
The crew spent the early months of 1942 participating in training and maneuvers along the eastern coast of the US. Sterling recalls most of the training took place in the Chesapeake Bay, particularly the Solomons Island training area. According to one source, amphibious training exercises in early 1942 were originally to take place off the coast of North Carolina. However, maneuvers were moved to the relative safety of the Chesapeake Bay given significant U-Boat activity along the Atlantic Coast during the early months of 1942.51
Sterling spent most of his time working along side senior-rate sailors from the 2nd Division such as Tom Poe, Tom Sawyer, John Zdanowicz, Chief Del Gaizo, and sailors Dougan and Potacker. Many of these men were Navy Reservists from the New England area who were called into active duty for the war. Sterling was exposed to a variety of skills by these more experienced boat crewmembers, most notably Tom Sawyer and John Zdanowicz. Both Tom and John had grown up making a living on the water and they had also been in the reserves prior to the start of the war.
Eventually Tom Poe was promoted and John Zdanowicz took over as coxswain of the Gig. Zdanowicz was a Maine lobsterman by trade. On maneuvers in the Chesapeake, they would pull up along side of oystermen to chat with them about their trade. Oftentimes John and Sterling would return to the Harry Lee with a basket full of fresh Oysters.
The time spent in the Chesapeake afforded the crews of the transports training on all aspects of an amphibious operation, from the preparatory stage through to actual landings. The training exercises were conducted during both the day and the night. However, emphasis was placed on nighttime training exercises. Upcoming invasions would attempt an element of surprise by hitting the beaches in the early morning hours shortly before dawn. This approach required that the boat crews be able to effectively and quietly get their boats prepared, loaded, and organized in near total darkness. The boat crews had no lights and minimal radio communication to rely on for guidance during loading and landing. The entire crew of the ship practiced using hand signals. If they were lucky they sometimes had filtered lights to assist in their tasks.
During a landing operation the first step was to lower a landing craft to the water. The boat crew rode the craft from the deck to the water to ensure that the craft was under control once it became waterborne. As the boat was lowered from the rail, the engineer readied the bilge pumps and started the engine so that as soon as the boat hit the water the bilge pumps were running to cool the engine.
Immediately upon hitting the water the bowhook unhooked the front davit hook, and the engineer unhooked the rear davit hook. The deck crew would then raise the boat cables. It was the job of the coxswain to keep the boat as close to the ship as possible, with the help of the Bow Hook, while the troops climbed down the rope nets and into the boat and any equipment assigned to the craft was lowered into the boat.
The preferred method for embarking soldiers into a landing craft was to load at the rail and then lower the boat to the water. This method minimized the risk of the embarking troops being accidentally crushed between the hull of the ship and the landing craft as swells tossed the craft about the side of the ship. It also reduced the time required to load the landing craft. While this approach was theoretically possible, practice showed that the davits and cables would not hold under the stresses of rough weather and fully loaded boats. If a boat were to drop from rail to the water it could capsize52, dumping all occupants into the ocean. Until stronger davits and cables could be outfitted on the transports, over-the-rail loading remained the standard practice. For the troops embarking the landing craft in the dark, in heavy swells, and fully equipped with combat gear, neither approach offered comfort.
Once loaded, the craft would rendezvous several miles from the landing beaches and form up into assault waves. When the control craft gave the appropriate signal, typically using flags during the day and colored lights at nights, the assault waves would head for the beach and land their troops. The craft would then return to their ship to pick up
51. John Gordon IV, “Joint Power Projection: Operation Torch”, Joint Force Quarterly, Spring 1994, 63-64 <www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/jfq_pubs/optorch4.pdf>
52. Capsize: To flip upside down, and usually, to sink.
The Captain’s Gig was the craft that the Captain used as his personal transportation. The Gig was an LCP outfitted with a removable hardtop cabin that extended back beyond the engine compartment. This cabin provided good protection for the Captain and the crew of the Gig when running about in poor weather. The cabin also had lace curtains, brass fittings, and windshield wipers. Inside there were removable leather cushions and a divider that could be used to keep the embarked personnel in privacy from the coxswain. The Gig was further differentiated from the other landing craft with the marking of an arrow through the hull number. Although the Gig was outfitted to accommodate the Captain, the craft was also used in action. In the first waves of an invasion the Gig was typically used to transport members of the Beach Party to the beach. It was also used for the landing of troops and equipment during the later stages of a landing operation.
The crew of landing craft, such as an LCP, consisted of three enlisted men, the coxswain, the engineer, and the bowhook. The coxswain was in command of the craft and had ultimate responsibility for the operation and well being of the craft and the crew. The Engineer had responsibility for running and maintaining the mechanical components of the craft, such as the engine and pumps. The Bowhook was typically the lowest ranking and least skilled member of the boat crew.
At first Sterling did not know what he was to do as the Bowhook. Tom Poe, then coxswain of the Gig, kept trying to tell Sterling what to do. Sterling didn’t follow as quickly as was expected of him so he was sent to training. After a few days of training he was reassigned back as Bowhook of the Gig. Although still wet behind the ears, Sterling learned the ropes under the watchful eyes of Tom Sawyer and Tom Poe.
As Bowhook Sterling had several responsibilities. Using an 8-to10 foot pole called a bow hook, given it had a hook at the end, he was responsible of helping to position the Gig as the coxswain pulled the boat in next to the ship or the dock. When either getting under way, or while hooking back up to the davit hooks, the Bowhook was responsible for the forward hook-up whereas the engineer was responsible for the aft hook-up. He was also responsible for forward lookout when the Gig was under way. On a ramped craft, such as an LCP(R), the bowhook had an additional duty to man the bow ramp winch.
After only a few weeks Sterling was promoted to Seaman 2nd Class. At this time he received his first permanent assignment as the Captain’s Orderly. As Captain’s Orderly Sterling stood watch outside the Captain’s stateroom waiting to announce when messages and visitors arrived. Over a twelve-hour period he typically spent half of that time standing as an Orderly, usually in intervals of two-hours, and the remaining hours helping in various deck activities. Sterling also retained his secondary duty as Bowhook on the Gig.
An additional responsibility that Sterling gained as S2C was assignment to the Damage Control Party. Members of the Damage Control Party were responsible for identifying, reporting, and repairing, as quickly as possible, the effects of any fire, explosion, or significant water leak. Within each division teams were assigned to specific sections in of the ship and were responsible for these areas in the event of a critical situation. When General Quarters sounded the Damage Control Party was responsible for reporting to their assigned battle stations and taking action to contain the situation in the event that the ship took damage from attack or accident.
Sterling, as Bowhook on the Gig and as the Captain’s Orderly, spent a good deal of his time in the company of the commanding officer of the Harry Lee, Captain J.W. Whitfield. Captain Whitfield had the reputation as a tough captain. Sterling recalls, “He could be a son-of-a-gun. But yet if he liked you, he liked you.”
39. Captain: Navy usage refers to the person in command of any vessel as the “Captain”, regardless of the formal rank he holds.
40. The Gig was also referred to as the Captain’s Barge.
41. The craft was stored on the port side of the 2nd division. The cabin was lashed to the inward port bulkhead and covered with a tarp when not in use.
42. Aft: At, near, or towards the stern (i.e., the rear) of a vessel or craft.
43. Such as from one numbered frame member to another numbered frame member.
44. General Quarters: Emergency alarm, sounded either by boatswain's whistle or bugle call, or both, and the announcement that all hands are to proceed with all haste to their battle stations.
45. Battle Station: A work assignment and location essential to the safety and efficient operation of the ship in emergency, such as combat, fire, flood, or other disaster. These assignments may not have had much to do with a sailor’s day-to-day job; for instance, yeomen (ship’s clerks) may have been assigned to a magazine as ammunition passers.
another load of personnel and equipment. Sometimes in later phases of the landing radio messages were used to communicate with the landing craft.
Sterling continued to develop skills necessary to qualify as a coxswain. These skills included learning to handle and care for the Gig. Sterling occasionally had the opportunity to pilot the Gig and develop skills when the Captain was not aboard. In late summer, during one of Sterling’s boat watches, one of the boats attached to the boat boom53 began to drift away from the ship. Sterling, along with an engineer, went out after it and brought it back to the ship and re-tied it to the boom. From that point forward Tom Poe would delegate piloting of the Gig to Sterling when the Captain was not aboard.
Time passed quickly. Before Sterling knew it spring had past and summer was coming to a close. By this time Sterling had earned the rate of Seaman 1st Class (SC1). In August the Harry Lee was moored in the Brooklyn Navy Yard undergoing upgrades and repairs. Sterling took advantage of the time to take his first leave54. He traveled to Philadelphia, via train, to visit with his mother who was hospitalized for eye surgery. He also spent a few days at home visiting with his family and friends. He returned to the Brooklyn Shipyard on August 15th and rejoined the Harry Lee.
The frequency and intensity of training exercises increased during the summer of 1942. In early October many among the ship’s company were promoted forward one rate. Tom Poe was promoted and assigned to assist Tom Sawyer in the leadership and administration of the 2nd Division. Sterling, having just earned SC1 a few months earlier, was given all of the responsibilities as Coxswain of the Gig even though he hadn’t yet formally qualified as a Coxswain.
Left: Sterling visiting with Eugene and Harold Wentling, August 1942, wearing his Dress Blues.55
Right: Sterling with Edna Wentling, August 1942, wearing his Dress Whites.56
53. Boat Boom: The boom swung out from a ship’s side when at anchor to which craft in the water secure.
54. Leave: Permission to be absent from the duty station for a period longer than a few days, (or, the period of time covered by this permission).
55. From Sterling Funck’s personal photograph collection. Dress Blues were the typical fall/winter formal uniform.
56. From Sterling Funck’s personal photograph collection. Dress Whites were the typical summer formal uniform.
The crew frequently referred to Captain Whitfield as ‘Bulldog’. One reason for the nickname was the way he wore his hat. It was too large for his head and it rested on his ears, which made his ears stick out. His choice in hat sizes wasn’t the only reason for his nickname. He was a strict disciplinarian. Sterling describes one example of Captain Whitfield’s many actions that earned him the nickname bulldog:
I happen to be on the watch on the bridge46 that day. Word had been passed to dump garbage and trash over the fantail47. Well the Captain thought he saw someone go down the port side48 of the ship, throwing something overboard. You see, you were only allowed to toss trash off of the ship a predetermined times, right before dusk, and only from the fantail at the stern49 of the ship. And then the trash had to be weighted down so that it would sink immediately.
Anyway it looked like he threw something over the side, but I have to take his word for it that it wasn't. You usually did it right after dusk, just before it was totally dark. The Captain happened to be on the port wing of the bridge, and he said to the officer of the deck, bring that man up here. So the officer of the deck ordered me, I was standing as Messenger of the Watch, to go get him.
I went down and got him and he came up on the bridge. The captain asked him why he threw that junk over the side instead of taking it to the fantail. The sailor said "I didn't throw anything over the side." The Captain said "I saw you" and the man said "No Captain, I didn't throw anything over the side." He looked at him real good, and then said "Your shirt and dungarees50 are dirty. Three days bread and water." He wasn't going to be corrected even if he was wrong.
Captain Whitfield had a good reason to be so concerned about this situation in particular. There was an appointed method and time for disposing of trash. This method minimized the risk of enemy subs spotting floating debris and tracking a convoy by following a trail of trash. Captain Whitfield’s attitude might have also been shaped by his experience aboard a ship docked at Pearl Harbor, on the fateful day of December 7th, 1941.
One of Sterling’s first direct encounters with the Captain occurred shortly after he had rejoined the Gig’s crew. The Captain ordered him to purchase a pair of sneakers to wear when in the Gig. Although his first payday had not yet arrived he was able to borrow money at the ship’s store to pay for his sneakers. Sterling was glad to have the sneakers. They made for much better working shoes aboard the Gig. When his first payday did arrive, his pay quickly disappeared after paying back the money he owed for his sneakers and paying the next installment of his insurance premium.
Sterling had very little downtime given his many duties and assignments. He worked diligently to learn and hone his deck and boat skills. He also spent many hours tending to the maintenance of landing craft. Typically the only breaks from work came during his breaks between nighttime watches, which he used to catch a few hours of sleep in his hammock.
46. Bridge: The command center, located high and forward on a vessel, in which the Officer of the Deck is stationed, and from which maneuvering orders are given.
47. Fantail: Stern area of the main deck.
48. Port: The left-hand side of a ship, when facing forward.
49. Stern: The rear end of a vessel or craft.
50. Dungarees: Enlisted sailor’s working uniform trousers of heavy blue cloth.
Transfer to the USS Calvert
The Harry Lee was scheduled to depart Norfolk on October 23rd in company with more than 100 ships, including 30 other troop transports, to take part in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. A few days prior to departure for the Harry Lee experienced a boiler malfunction while participating in training exercises near Cove Point in the Chesapeake.57 This was a serious situation given that the ship was fully loaded with troops and equipment of the 2nd Armored Division. These personnel and equipment were critical elements of the Western Task Force’s planned assault on North Africa.
The Harry Lee was towed back to Norfolk and docked opposite to a newly constructed and commissioned58 transport the USS Calvert, designated AP-65. Task force command decided to transfer the troops, cargo, and equipment to the Calvert and send the new ship into action.59 Nearly half of the Harry Lee’s crew was transferred to the Calvert to augment the crew with more experienced and trained personnel. Sterling went along over to the Calvert with the rest of the Harry Lee’s boat crews. Guys that Sterling had served with to date, such as Sawyer, Zdanowicz, Del Gaizo, Dougan, and Pottacker, were transferred to the Calvert at that time. Tom Poe, one of Sterling’s mentors, remained with the Harry Lee. Captain Whitfield, and a number of his officers, also transferred to the new ship. Abe Weinberg, one of the original crewmembers of the Calvert, remembers the arrival of Captain Whitfield just prior to the start of transfer of equipment from the Harry Lee: “When Capt. Whitfield first came aboard his first words were ‘All liberty60 is cancelled’.”61
USS Calvert.62
57. History of U.S.S. Calvert, 1
58. Commissioning: The commissioning ceremony marks the acceptance of a ship as a unit of the operating forces of the United States Navy. Thereafter the ship is officially referred to as a United States Ship (USS).
59. History of U.S.S. Calvert, 1
60. Liberty: Permission to leave the ship or station; off-duty time, of no more than 24 hours or a weekend.
61. Calversion, Volume 44, 2, Information provided by Abe Brian Weinberg
62. From Sterling Funck’s personal photograph collection. Original source, location and date of photograph unknown.
Over the course of the next twenty-four hours Sterling participated in the massive effort of transferring troops, combat equipment, and cargo to the Calvert.63 Eighteen of the Harry Lee’s landing craft, including the Gig, were also transferred to the Calvert.64 The crews of the two ships were responsible for transferring the Harry Lee’s supplies and the troops’ equipment to the Calvert. The troops themselves were responsible for transferring their ammunition. One of Sterling’s specific duties was to help rig the Harry Lee’s ‘yard and stay’, which was used to transfer equipment from the Harry Lee’s holds to the dock where it was picked back up and then placed in the Calvert’s holds. Progress was slowed however, as the rigging65 had not yet been run completely on the Calvert.
Sterling remained part of the 2nd Division and a member of the Gig’s crew. One change for him was his transfer out of the Damage Control Party and into the aft 3-inch gun crew. The 3-inch 50-caliber gun was primarily a defensive weapon. It could be used against aircraft and for work against light surface craft and surfaced submarines. The gun crew was made up of approximately seven or eight sailors. The members of the gun crew consisted of a pointer, a trainer, a sight setter, a first loader, two or three secondary loaders, a hot shell man, and the gun captain. A well-trained gun crew could fire 45 rounds per minute.66 Sterling was assigned as the pointer. As the pointer he was responsible for the horizontal orientation of the gun as well as firing the gun. His trainer was responsible for the vertical orientation of the gun barrel.
The Calvert had some significant distance to make to catch up with the convoy, having spent nearly a day and a half completing the transfer of men and materials. The ship departed Norfolk on October 25th running at flank speed in an effort to catch up with the convoy. An escort of two destroyers, the USS Eberle (DD-430) and USS Boyle (DD-600), accompanied the Calvert in her race across the Atlantic.
Although the Calvert was underway, a tremendous amount of work was necessary to make the ship combat ready and to make it as safe as possible. The deck crews worked diligently. The first major effort was to paint the ship to protect it from the elements at sea. Sterling kept busy helping to paint the ship through most of the voyage. He also spent a great deal of his time readying the landing craft in the 2nd division. The landing craft brought over from the Harry Lee had their designations re-painted to match the Calvert. Sterling spent some of his time re-painting numbers on the landing craft cradled in the 2nd division.
The Calvert had capacity for approximately thirty LCPs/LCPRs, and two or three LCMs. Nearly half of the LCPs/LCPRs were stored in the 2nd Division. . The remaining craft, including the LCMs, were split between the 1st and 3rd Divisions. The 2nd Division had two boat davits on either side of the ship. Each davit could hold three landing craft. Boats were also cradled on the deck. According to Sterling a well trained, experienced, and coordinated deck crew could disembark three landing craft to the water in a space of fifteen minutes, or less, given favorable weather and sea conditions. Sterling recalls that Tom Sawyer was one of the best winch runners he ever worked with during his time in the service.
Other work also kept the crew busy. Countless hours were spent removing flammable materials that posed a fire hazard. Much of the material removed from within the ship remained on-deck until the appointed time to dump trash overboard. Another safety concern addressed was the placement of gun stops on the appropriate armament. If so inclined, the gun crews could have positioned their guns to fire point blank into the ship. Precautions were necessary to minimize the risk of unintended or accidental mishaps in the heat of battle.
With a very short shakedown period prior to joining the invasion force the Calvert was bound to have problems during her first ocean-going voyage. Prior to catching up with the convoy the Calvert experienced a breakdown. Apparently, the situation was due to human error when a water tank was mistakenly switched over as an oil tank.67 For several hours the Calvert lay dead in the water while repairs were made. The Eberle and Boyle circled round watchful for U-boats.68
63. History of U.S.S. Calvert, 1; Duration is disputed across sources. John Lorelli, in To Foreign Shores, states that loading took 48 hours. Sterling believes that it took somewhere between 24 and 36 hours to complete the transfer.
64. Ibid.
65. Rigging: General term for all ropes and cables of a vessel.
66. USS Texas BB35, 3" Naval Gun <http://www.usstexasbb35.com/3_naval_gun.htm>
67. Calversion, Volume 43, 2, Information provided by Lawrence C. Wagner
68. Ibid.
The Calvert had several amenities that made life somewhat easier on the crew. Sterling finally had a bunk and he happily folded up his hammock and used it as extra padding under his mattress. The boat crews and deck crews enjoyed electrically driven davits, versus the manual davits that the crew had manned on the Harry Lee. These davits made handling boats a much quicker and easier job.
Troop accommodations weren’t much different than they had been aboard the Harry Lee. With nearly 1200 troops onboard, quarters were close. Berthing quarters were tight and very uncomfortable. The mess hall was similar in function as it was on the Harry Lee, which was simply a place to pick up food, so the crew and troops continued to eat their chow standing up. As was the case on most transports, much of the time below deck was spent playing cards in between constant drills, standing in line for meals, and calisthenics. Evening hours were tedious as cigarettes weren’t allowed: “While zigzagging across the Atlantic … the ship was darkened every night and the “Smoking lamp was out.”69 When a ship was underway blackout began at sunset and continued until sunrise. During this time smoking was not permitted on any of the decks and all sources of lights had to be extinguished or filtered. Even the glow from the tip of a lighted cigarette is visible for from 5000 to 6000 yards at sea on a dark night70.
Sterling’s worst fears on his first trans-Atlantic voyage were the threat of attack from U-boats and the outbreak of fire on the ship. The Calvert encountered both situations in one day. As the convoy continued east toward the coast of North Africa the Calvert’s watch spotted a submarine periscope. The Destroyers immediately began depth charging the suspected enemy sub. Sterling joined in the action and fired at the submarine as part of the Calvert’s aft 3” gun crew. A heap of trash on the Calvert’s fantail caught on fire from the gun’s blast. The fire was quickly extinguished and the sub was not spotted again. However, the crew was on edge for quite some time following these events.
The Calvert and her escorts caught up with the Western Task Force convoy in the mid-Atlantic on October 30th. Recorded in the War Diary of the USS Augusta: “The USS Calvert, Eberle, and Boyle joined the formation during the morning and took their assigned stations. Position at 0800 Lat 38-30N, Long 46-18.5W; Position at 1200 Lat 38-01N, Long 45-30W; Position at 2000 Lat 37-13N, Long 43-42 W.”71
The Augusta was the flagship for the task force. Rear Admiral H.K. Hewitt, commander of the Western Naval Task Force, and Major General George Patton, commander of the U.S. Army forces for the troops embarked on the ships of the Western Task Force, were both aboard the Augusta.72
The convoy had to bear the brunt of severe weather and heavy seas for the latter half of the four thousand mile voyage. The roll was so bad that the captain of the Charles Carroll, a transport assigned to the Center Attack Group, made the comment “I can’t believe a ship can roll so far without turning over.”73 The weather situation, with surf pounding the Moroccan coast with eighteen-foot breakers, threatened the entire operation. Even with the passing of the gale a few days prior to scheduled landings, the forecast for landing conditions from the War Department were “Very Poor”.74 Delaying the landings meant the risk of running short on fuel the ever-growing risk that the enemy would discover the fleet at sea.75 Admiral Hewitt was committed to the assault. The convoy “forged ahead at fourteen knots, zigzagging by day and steaming direct courses76 at night.”77
69. Calversion, Volume 44, 2, Information provided by Abe Brian Weinberg
70. Life Aboard A Transport. Troop Training Unit, Amphibious Command, Pacific Fleet, Camp Elliot, San Diego. January 5, 1944
71. War Diary, USS Augusta, 11/7/1942 <http://www.internet-esq.com/ussaugusta/diary/1142.htm>
72. Gordon, John IV, “Joint Power Projection: Operation Torch”, Joint Force Quarterly, Spring 1994, 64 <www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/jfq_pubs/optorch4.pdf>
73. Rick Atkinson, An Army At Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 (Henry Holt and Company, 2002) 103
74. Atkinson, 104
75. Ibid.
76. Course: The direction in which, generally expressed in (true) degrees, a vessel is proceeding.
77. Morison, 45
Operation Torch: North Africa
The Calvert was assigned to the Southern Attack Group of the Western Naval Task Force for the invasion of North Africa. The mission of Operation Torch was as follows:78
1. The establishment of firm and mutually supported footholds between Oran and Tunisia on the Mediterranean, and in French Morocco on the Atlantic, in order to secure bases for continued and intensified air, ground, and sea operations.
2. Exploitation of the footholds in order to acquire complete control of French Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia and extend offensive operations against the rear of the Axis forces eastward.
3. Destroy the Axis forces now opposing the British forces in the Western Desert and establish bases for the intensification of air and sea operations against the Axis in the European continent.
Operation Torch was “in many ways a watershed event for both the Army and the Navy”79 given the limited experience by both parties with such a large amphibious operation.80 Sterling was about to participate in the largest amphibious operation up to that time.
Luck was with the task force. In the earl hours of November 7th newly received forecasts predicted improvement in the weather and surf conditions for a short window of time during the scheduled landings.81 After nearly 4500 miles and 16 days at sea the Southern Attack Group broke off of the main convoy at dawn on November 7th. As recorded in the Augusta’s War Diary: “Steaming toward the midnight assault positions. At 0700 the Northern Group was released and at 1400 the Southern Group departed. Position at 0800 – Latitude 34 – 36.5 N Longitude 09 – 49 W; Position at 1200 – Latitude 34 – 45 N Longitude 08 – 51.5 W.”82
After splitting from the main group, the Southern Attack Group headed south towards Safi, French Morocco. The Southern Attack Group, comprised of twenty-six ships, was to land in-and-around Safi, French Morocco with over 6,400 troops of the 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, and elements of the 2nd Armored Division.83
D-Day North Africa
At 2345 on Saturday, November 7th the Southern Attack Force reached Safi where they anchored eight miles east of the landing beaches.84 They found “smooth seas, moderate swell, and a light offshore breeze.”85 However, tensions were high. The commanding officers were not sure of how well prepared, or aware, the Axis forces were of the impending assault.
Preparations for the pre-dawn landing began immediately. The boat crews readied their boats. The soldiers prepared their equipment, and as best they could themselves, for the upcoming landing. The gun crews manned their guns, ready at a moments notice to defend against enemy attack.
Sterling’s first assignment was to man the aft 3-inch gun. At the same time the Calvert’s boat crews embarked in their boats and were lowered to the water. Then soldiers of the 2nd Armored Division disembarked the Calvert via nets and climbed down into landing craft waiting below. From there they were transferred to the Titania where they were joined with their armored vehicles. During the transfer of soldiers to the Titania another member of the 2nd Division deck crew took Sterling’s place in the Gig.
There were plenty of challenges. The heavy swells hindered the handling and loading of the landing craft. The rough conditions slowed troop and equipment loading. Morison explains the situation:86
78. Morison, 138
79. Gordon, 62
80. Gordon, 67
81. Atkinson, 105
82. <http://www.internet-esq.com/ussaugusta/diary/1142.htm>
83. Gordon, 63
84. Morison, 139
85. Ibid.
86. Morison, 143
U.S. Navy ships off the Phosphate Pier at Safi, Morocco, on 10 November 1942. Beach “Red” is in the left background. Beach “Blue” is in the left center, with the harbor in the center and the town of Safi at right. Ships present are (from left to right center): USS Dorothea L. Dix (AP-67), USS Calvert (AP-65), USS Harris (AP-8), USS Lyon (AP-71) and USS Housatonic (AO-35).92
92. Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center, Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. NAVY SHIPS -- USS Dorothea L. Dix (AP-67), 1942-1946 <http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-d/ap67.htm>
93. From Sterling Funck’s personal photograph collection. Photograph taken from the deck of the USS Calvert.
Chesapeake Bay
The Calvert arrived in Norfolk on November 24th.94 Shortly after arriving back in the States many of the Calvert’s crewman were promoted one rate forward. Sterling was also promoted, earning the rate of Boatswain Mate 3rd Class (BM3C). A short time later he passed the written exam to qualify as a Coxswain. Sterling’s primary duties shifted to pilot and maintain the Gig. His responsibilities included tasks necessary to keep the craft ready for action. This work included tidying up after maneuvers, waterproofing, tending to life rafts and survival gear/kits, among other activities necessary to keep the boat ready for the transport of troops and equipment during training operations and invasions.
Sterling had acquired an array of seamanship skills. These skills included the semaphore95 flag signaling system, Morse code, standard rigging, rigging for mine sweeping96, among many others. Navigational skills were also important, and by now Sterling was able to navigate by compass, sexton, and at night by reading the stars. Surprisingly Sterling did not receive formal training, he learned all of these skills while he was on the job.
Sterling’s secondary duty changed from Captain’s Orderly to Messenger of the Watch. During his assigned watches he stood on the starboard97 wing of the bridge while underway, and on the Quarterdeck while in port, delivering messages and carrying out orders as directed from the Boatswain Mate of the Watch. Sterling also began to transition into a leadership role in the 2nd division. His duties included supervising deck work and teaching less experienced sailors skills such as cable splicing and how to run rigging in a correct and safe manner.
As a member of the Captain’s Gig, Sterling also enjoyed certain privileges that were not available to members of other boat crews. For example, while the Captain was away from the ship the crew of the Gig only had to report to the ship during muster calls each morning at 0800. This basically gave the Gig’s crew periods of up to twenty-four hours leave each day the Captain was away from the ship.
Serving on the Gig did have other advantages. The Captain had a daughter who was close to Sterling’s age. The Captain’s wife and daughter would often stay at the Hotel Chamberlain when the Calvert was participating in exercises in the Solomons area. Not liking the idea of a service man dating his daughter, Captain Whitfield made it clear to everyone, including Sterling, that he would not allow a Navy man to date his daughter:
Captain Whitfield had a favorite saying whenever someone was assigned to his crew. He had a wife and a daughter. You met most captains' wives when you would take the captains ashore in the Gig. Well, he always said that if he ever caught anyone trying to date his daughter that would be the end of his career. Well that just made this Dutchman bound and determined to date his daughter. And I did. I got to be very good friends with both his wife and his daughter. He did find out about it and he gave me a little hard time about it when I would run him to shore or take him to different meetings. But he never came down with the repercussions that he said he would.
However, serving on the Gig did have its disadvantages. First, there was the endless task of tending after the Gig to keep it in tip-top condition to the Captain’s liking. Cleaning, polishing, tending the Gig for hours day after day could be tedious and very boring. Second, ship’s company gave the crew of the Gig a hard time:
Well, serving in the Captain's Gig you oft times had privileges that other shipmates didn't have. But also you had repercussions due to the fact that you were considered primadonna, or somehow a little better than everyone else for chauffeuring the Captain around whenever he needed it. Now his barge was always converted to be involved in the landings on invasions. But as far as being shipboard, there was oft-times a lot of petty nitpicking because of the position you were either lucky, or unlucky enough, to be put in. There was a lot of slang and carrying on against the Gig's crew. Most times you were just called ‘boats’ but I got my fair share of ‘brow noser’. Of course guys who knew me well oft-times just called me ‘Funcky’.
94. History of U.S.S. Calvert, 1
95. Semaphore: A visual system for sending information by means of two flags that are held one in each hand, using an alphabetic code based on the position of the signaler's arms.
96. When the Calvert was traveling alone it would rig for sweeping. The 1st Division deck crews had the job of setting up rigging and mine demolition if a mine was encountered.
97. Starboard: The right-hand side of a boat or a ship, when facing forward.