Jack Sloan 1987
On 8 July 1943, the Swanson with LCDR E.L. Robertson, Jr. as Commanding Officer sailed from Bizerte, Tunisia as part of Attack Force 86, Destroyer Squadron 13, Destroyer Division 26. The total invasion fleet of ships was one mile wide and 60 miles long.
The Swanson mission was to furnish fire support for our troops landing at Licata, Sicily. The invasion fleet sailed on a deception course calculated to baffle enemy observers. At approximately noon while the Swanson was herding a group of LCI’s along the swept channel area, the USS Blueridge was coming up fast from the west. Admiral Hewitt staff sent a visual message to the Swanson – “Get those spit kits out of the way.” Which at the time I thought was entirely uncalled for. But Captain Robertson did his best to comply.
Early on the morning of 9 July 1943, the invasion Fleet began its wheel movement turning north towards Sicily. The sea started turning choppy, then rough. The smaller troop ships such as LCI’s were being battered unmercifully as they strove to maintain course and speed in the formation. Due to radio silence, the Swanson had to race between various elements of ships to relay visual messages. The Swanson was charging ahead at full speed in the rough sea all day relaying messages. I spent the day on a 12” searchlight.
D-Day was set for 10 July 1943 with H-hour at 2:45 AM. The rough sea had delayed but not stopped the invasion fleet. At 0000 hours the American attack forces were maneuvering into position off Licata, Gela and Scoglitti, Sicily. The destroyers such as the Swanson were conducting sonar and radar searches for any enemy submarines or planes. The sea was calm and it was a moonless black night.
The Swanson and the USS Roe were working a sector off Licata beach. LCDR Robertson as senior officer was in charge. At approximately 0230, what appeared to be two unidentified motor torpedo boats raced past the Swanson and Roe on an opposite course. However in the total darkness it was difficult to tell. Commander Robertson ordered the Roe by Blinker tube – “Form one eight Speed five “ (Fall in astern of the Swanson and go to flank speed.) After receiving acknowledgment by blinker tube from the Roe, Commander Robertson wheeled the Swanson into a turn and set off at flank speed in pursuit of the unidentified craft. While tracking the craft on radar and maneuvering to intercept them at 0255, Sonarman Sellew suddenly picked up propeller noises approaching from the Swanson port bow. He called out a warning but within seconds the Roe smashed head-on into the port side of the Swanson.
The forward fire room and engine room was flooded. In final few seconds before the collision, the voice of LCDR. Nolan, Commanding the Roe could be heard even on the Swanson bridge as he gave a last desperate order to avoid a collision. Simultaneously Commander Robertson was busy giving orders in an effort to turn the Swanson clear of the Roe however without success. The impact rolled the Swanson over at about a 30 degree angel on her starboard beam. The Roe backed her engines full and pulled away from the Swanson. The Roe’s bow was heavily damaged.
At approximately 0310 with the main deck awash, Commander Robertson reluctantly gave the order – “Prepare to abandon ship”. At the same time sending the Executive Officer, LCDR. A.M. Purdy to inspect and assess the extent of damage to the Swanson. After a quick inspection LCDR. Purdy informed the Captain that we could save the ship. Commander Robertson then ordered “Jettison ship” instead of abandon ship, and left the bridge to inspect the damage for himself.
When the collision occurred the Roe’s bow penetrated the port bulkhead of Number 1 Fireroom, resulting in flooding of that space. An immediate concern was the cold sea water hitting the high pressure steam boilers. The Safety Relief Valves for the boilers were located topside but were jammed due to the collision. Therefore, the Engineers had to re-enter the flooded Fireroom to release the High Pressure steam from the boilers. During this interval the Swanson’s siren had been emitting an ear piercing wail. Some one finally killed the steam to the siren. If I recall correctly there was one man trapped in the Machine shop above the Fireroom, who had to be set free.
The engineers and Damage Control crew were working desperately to control the flooding. During the next 2 or 3 hours all hands worked tirelessly dumping all top side weight except for some anti-aircraft ammunition over the side into the sea. There were a few items disposed of which should not have been thrown overboard, such as the crew’s silverware! Which in the days ahead posed a problem when eating!
The Torpedoes were fired towards the beach and some may have faulty gyro’s, because as I watched the tracks for the limited distance they were visible, it appeared to me they were turning in an arc. This could have been an illusion but they did not hit any target and the warheads were not armed. The depth charges were set on safe and dropped into the sea. The anchors and chain were cut loose and dropped into the sea. The 26 foot Motor Whaleboat on the starboard side of the ship after a lot of effort was lowered into the sea and carefully worked aft to the stern and tied up. Unfortunately the Motor Whale boat came loose and drifted away from the ship, much to the dismay of the crew who worked so hard to save it.
While the Swanson lay helpless in the water, the unidentified surface craft returned and circled the Swanson
and Roe once, then raced away.
No words of praise seem adequate to commend those wet, oil soaked engineers and damage control men who repeatedly risked their lives to enter flooded spaces to save the ship. By dawn they were successful in restoring some electrical power to the forward gun mounts and in stabilizing the ship to prevent capsizing.
Shortly after dawn, which was approximately 0500 hours and unknown to us at the time, a German Stuka dive bomber sank the Destroyer Maddox in the Gela area which was 10-15 miles from us. This same dawn light brought two German fighter bombers to the Swanson and Roe.
I recall watching one ME110, which was out of effective gun range proceeding to a point dead ahead of the Swanson, while gaining altitude, at which point he turned and started his run on the Swanson. I remember hearing the reassuring sound of a forward 5”/38 gun mount in motion as it responded to Fire Control Director. When the plane began its dive on the Swanson, I was looking forward at the plane and heard the forward 5 inch gun mounts firing. Later I found out all our mounts fired. It seemed to me at the time there were very few rounds fired before knocking the plane out of the sky. I have always been thankful that the Swanson had such an excellent Gunnery Force. Otherwise we may have been swimming or worst. The Roe was successful in destroying the other enemy plane. There was a photographer aboard who filmed down the shooting of the plane. (At the time he told me that he failed to load his camera. Later I found out that he had submitted the film to BuAer. Neither the National Archives or Naval Historical Center was able to locate film.
At approximately 0700 hours the Swanson was underway and moving ahead slowly at approximately 5 knots. Most of the officers and crew had been without sleep for many hours when we arrived off Valetta Harbor, Malta in the late afternoon of 10 July. As the ship entered dry dock safe and secure, some of the men laid down where they were and went to sleep. The hardier souls made it to their bunks.
Darkness brought large number of German bombers over Malta, so the weary crew was back at their battle stations. As the bombs rained down upon the harbor, the Swanson gun crews were somewhat frustrated by being limited to low level fire because the British fighters were attacking the enemy bombers at high levels. During this period General Eisenhower was using Malta as temporary advanced Headquarters.
I seem to recall that a German bomber crashed in a field near the dry dock and a couple of Swanson sailors went out the next day to see it. They decided to try and remove one of the machine guns as a souvenir and after working hard to free it, they found stamped into the metal: Browning USA! So they left it. That was the story being told around the Swanson at the time.
The Maltese had a great dislike for the Italian leader, IL Duce, and a great shortage of consumer goods due to the prolonged siege that they had endured. I recall drinking glasses made from soft drink bottles. We had obtained some small quantities of provisions from the Maltese and I particularly recall some dry beans! I think they sold us gravel for beans!
After several days in the Dry Dock the Maltese had effected temporary repairs on the Swanson so we could begin our long journey to the United States through hostile waters. The German U-Boats were still very active in the Mediterrean and Atlantic ocean. The first leg of the journey was from Malta to Algiers, North Africa.
As the Swanson approached Algiers Harbor and was challenged by the Harbor Entrance Control Vessel, the proper identification was given by search light, along with a request to berth alongside the Harbor Control Vessel as we had no anchors. The Control vessel answered back with a message to: Anchor in Berth number______”. Captain Robertson sent back a message: “Can not anchor – damn it we have no anchors”, while keeping the Swanson headed for the Control Vessel starboard. The control Vessel promptly started preparations to receive us and signaled to: “Come alongside”.
After an over-night
stay the Swanson moved back to sea and limped across the Atlantic ocean to
Norfolk, Virginia. In a couple of days we sailed for Brooklyn Naval Ship Yard,
where among those gathered to greet us was Commander M.P. Kingsley the SWANSON
first Commanding Officer. He was rather optimistic about how fast he would get
us repaired and back to sea. It turned out to be a fairly long stay for
repairs.