With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations in the Mediterranean, 1942-1945

609 Pages·2004·5.49 MB·English

by  Barbara Tomblin

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WITH UTMOST SPIRIT
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WITH UTMOST SPIRIT
Allied Naval Operations
in the Mediterranean
1942–1945
B B T
ARBARA ROOKS OMBLIN
T U P K
HE NIVERSITY RESS OF ENTUCKY
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Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 2004 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre
College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College,
Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University,
Morehead State University, Murray State University,
Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University,
University of Kentucky, University of Louisville,
and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
Maps by University of Kentucky Cartography Lab
08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tomblin, Barbara.
With utmost spirit : Allied naval operations in the Mediterranean, 1942–1945 / Barbara Brooks
Tomblin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8131-2338-0 (alk. paper)
1. World War, 1939–1945—Naval operations. 2. World War, 1939–1945—Campaigns—
Mediterranean Region. I. Title.
D771.T66 2004
940.54'21—dc22
2004010631
This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting
the requirements of the American National Standard
for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
Chapter 1 A New Chapter in the Struggle
for the Mediterranean 1
Chapter 2 Operation Torch: The Landings
in French Morocco 23
Chapter 3 Operation Torch:
The Mediterranean Landings 55
Chapter 4 The Race to Tunis 81
Chapter 5 The Tunisian Campaign 101
Chapter 6 Gearing up for Operation Husky 125
Chapter 7 Operation Husky 147
Chapter 8 The Sicilian Campaign 195
Chapter 9 The Race to Messina 217
Chapter 10 Operation Avalanche: D-day at Salerno 241
Chapter 11 The Battle for Salerno 269
Chapter 12 Supporting the Italian Campaign 295
Chapter 13 Operation Shingle: The Anzio Landings 315
Chapter 14 The Anzio Campaign: “A Second Tobruk”? 339
Chapter 15 Breakout: Operations Diadem and Buffalo 359
Chapter 16 Preliminaries to Operation Dragoon 379
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vi CONTENTS
Chapter 17 Operation Dragoon: The Landings
in Southern France 401
Chapter 18 Operation Dragoon: Final Phase 429
Chapter 19 Mopping Up in the Med 447
Conclusion 469
Notes 491
Bibliography 545
Index 557
Photo inserts follow pages 000 and 000.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This study would not have been possible without the assistance and
encouragement of many persons, especially the veterans of World War II
who shared with me their memories, experiences, diaries, news articles,
photographs, and ship’s histories. My special thanks also go to the former
director of naval history, Rear Adm. Ernest M. Eller, whose lecture on
the study of naval history at Santa Barbara City College in 1966 and per-
sonal encouragement inspired me to undertake this history of the war in
the Mediterranean.
I am also deeply indebted to Dean Allard, Cal Cavalcante, Barbara
Gilmore, and the staff of the U.S. Navy Operational Archives at the
Washington Navy Yard whose research assistance in the 1960s enabled
me to complete the first version of this work. More recently, the staffs at
the Naval Historical Center, the U.S. Navy Department Library, and the
National Archives have been invaluable in providing access to the oper-
ations reports and other documents, as has the staff of the research
branch and library of the U.S. Military Institute in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Over the past thirty years of researching and writing this book, I have
been fortunate to have the resources and advice of librarians and staffs at
the Alexander Library of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New
Jersey, as well as the Morristown Public Library, the Mendham Free
Library, and the Morris County Library in New Jersey. In California I
have enjoyed assistance from librarian Renata Hundley at the University
of California, Santa Barbara, Library and from the Camarillo Public
Library, the E.P. Foster Library in Ventura, and the Thousand Oaks
Library System.
Nor would this book have been completed without Dr. John W.
Chambers II, Kurt Piehler, and Sandra Holyoak at Rutgers University,
who encouraged my study of military history and my interest in the oral
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viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
history of World War II. Credit, too, is due to the enthusiasm, curios-
ity, and thoughtful questions of my military history students at Rut-
gers University and to Robert von Maier, the editor of World War II
Naval Journal, for kindly publishing several of my articles. My grati-
tude goes also to the staff of the University Press of Kentucky, espe-
cially Steve Wrinn, Gena Henry, and Leila Salisbury and to my copy-
editor, CherylHoffman, for cheerful encouragement, patience, and
professionalism.
During the many years of research and writing this history of World
War II in the Mediterranean, I have been blessed with the friendship
and support of family and friends. In the Washington, D.C., area,
Robert and Pat Trafton, Kay and John Shlaes, Joan and John Bruns,
and Kathy and Harold Carrier were generous hosts and babysitters
when my children were young. Through the years Ayce Van Wyck
Dalany and Philip Carroll have been good listeners and ever encour-
aging friends. In New Jersey, Susan and Tom Shea, Kathy Stolz, Eileen
Cameron, Nancy Sturdivant, Janet Wheeler, Mary Lou Weller, and Pat
Kettering have indulged my interest in all things military and given as
always of their time, good humor, and encouragement.
I am also indebted to my parents, Florence H. and Sanford M.
Brooks, and my aunt Gretchen Hunsberger for their support, and to
my grandfather Leroy Brooks Jr. (U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1902),
whose stories and example of naval service were always an inspiration.
I owe appreciation also to my sister, Liz, and her husband, Ray Day,
for their good humor and moral support during our move to Califor-
nia. Finally, my gratitude goes to my daughter Brooke and her hus-
band, James Marca, and to my daughter Page and her husband, Dan
Wilson, all of whom have humored my love of history and have
encouraged my efforts to finish this work. And last but not least, I
want to thank my husband, Fred F. Tomblin, who was patient with my
many hours of writing and research and who provided invaluable
technical assistance with the intricacies of the personal computer.
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INTRODUCTION
As in ancient times, during World War II the Mediterranean Sea was the
setting for an epic struggle. From June 1940 to November 1942 Great
Britain’s Royal Navy fought Italian naval and air forces, then German
submarines and the German air force, to wrest command of what Ital-
ian dictator Benito Mussolini called “Mare Nostrum.” For over two
years before America’s entry into the war, Royal Navy and Dominion
naval vessels struggled to supply their beleaguered garrison on the
island of Malta and to secure the through convoy route from Gibraltar
to Suez. In numerous surface engagements and hard-fought convoy bat-
tles, British naval power managed, sometimes barely, to prevent Mus-
solini from accomplishing his objective of turning the Mediterranean
into an Italian lake. Led by Adm. Andrew B. Cunningham, British naval
forces supported a heroic, but ill-fated, defense of Greece and then
evacuated British and ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army
Corps) troops from mainland Greece to Crete. After the successful Ger-
man airborne invasion of Crete, the Royal Navy conducted another, and
more costly, effort to evacuate hundreds of troops from that island. Dur-
ing this two-and-a-half-year struggle at sea in the Mediterranean, the
British lost 137 surface ships or 281,353 tons of naval power. Their Ital-
ian opponents also bled heavily before overthrowing Mussolini and
negotiating a surrender to the Allies in September 1943. During that
period the Italian navy saw 122 of its warships go to the bottom with the
loss of 24,660 men.1
Along the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the Italian army,
fighting at first alone, then joined by German troops to form Erwin Rom-
mel’s Afrika Korps, tried repeatedly to drive the British Army back across
the Libyan desert into Egypt and to seize the strategic Suez Canal. Again
and again, British troops under a succession of commanders—Claude