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o amphibious sailors in World War II, they came in three classes: “square ?°nns>” “round conns,” and the “Queen “^ary class.” To the men who stood watch on 1 e bridge or in CIC in any amphibious ship 0 any type, they were referred to as “Mon- pCrs,” the voice call of an LCl(L), Landing ,rab Infantry (Large). Like all monsters of he seas, they have disappeared.
The square conns bore the first 350 hull ^Umbers; they were built in the United tates from plans developed in a 30-day f*eriod for the British. There were 487 round ^°nns and 161 Queen Mary class, whose hull ^timbers 351 to 1098—included different- 12ed groups from both classes. The round c°nns reflected the change in the shape of the [1]
Usually these ships were commanded by Naval Reservists who had had a few months of active duty after graduating from one of the V-Five Training Program schools at Columbia or Notre Dame. When the ships were designated LCl(L), their complement was three officers and 21 men. Their mission was to land troops during an amphibious assault, as was the case in Europe and the South Pacific. In the Central Pacific campaign, it soon became apparent that this could not be done over coral reefs. A new mission had to be found for these little ships which had begun to swarm over the horizon from U. S. shipyards.
Monster Seven-Seven was a square conn. She was 158 feet long, had a 23-foot beam, and displaced 381 tons. She was powered by eight GMC-671 diesel engines, operating in two banks of four through a bull-gear to turn shafts equipped with variable pitch propellers, developing a total of 1,600 b.h.p. The ship was rated as being capable of 14 knots, but the rounded bow, extra weight of guns, rockets, and men, plus too infrequent trips into drydock, reduced this considerably.
Monster Seven-Seven had landed troops as an LCI(L) at Kiska. She had been converted at Pearl Harbor to an LCl(G) by having the following added: two 40-mm. guns, two 20-mm. guns (bringing the total to five) and five brackets on the main deck amidships on either side of the deckhouse to hold ten Mark 7 launchers for 4.5-inch barrage rockets. Her complement was three officers and 44 enlisted men. She aided the first several assault waves in the landing at Kwajalein with close inshore fire support of her guns and rockets. The same duties were performed at the landings on Saipan and Tinian.
The results of this support of the first landing forces were so satisfactory that it was decided in mid-1944 to order LCl(G) Group Seven, of which No. 77 was the flagship, to Carter City, Florida Island, in the Solomons, for alterations. Here, the landing ramps located on sponsons on either side of the bow were removed and the supports for four banks of four launchers were welded to the deck in their place. This arrangement gave each LCl(G) a capability of firing 504 rockets from her launchers—32 now located forward and the previous ten located amidships—after
a single loading operation. launchers and half stored as ready arnm
Thus equipped, the LCl(G)-77 and others tion on the bulkheads of the deckhouse. ^ sailed for the Palau Islands in August of 1944. Since the launchers on the bow sP"11^ , , About half-way to the target, the 77 lost the were quite close together, we had alre pitch control mechanism on the port shaft anticipated two problems. First, that, ^
rendering it inoperative, but she proceeded no deflectors were installed, there without losing her position in the convoy by definite possibility that the paint on t e ^ adjusting the speed and pitch on the star- would be burned as the rockets were ig™ , board shaft. To counter this and be ready for fire, se ^
On D-day, 15 September 1944, Monster fire hoses had been connected, charged,^ ^ Seven-Seven and others proceeded in a line the valves cracked open so that a shee abreast across the boat lanes, to support the water could cool the deck and perhaps assault on the Orange beaches of Peleliu. vent fire. Second, we had planned to nr ^ The Seven-Seven had a position at about the after banks of launchers first so that tn ^ middle of Orange Beach 2 with the rest of and blast from those further forward w LCl(G) Group 7 off" to her starboard. Im- not disturb the rockets in the after launc ^ mediately to her port was the flagship of As the beach came within range, the LCl(G) Group 8 with the rest of that group and 20s began to fire at “targets 0 ,°j: the off to port. On board Group 8’s flagship was a tunity.” When our small portable rada ’hat photographer. only one in our LCl(G) Group, indicate
As assistant gunnery officer that morning, I the range was approaching one 1nia;n helped with the loading of the rocket yards, all hands were ordered from the ^e0 launchers. About 0400, the launchers were deck. This was standard procedure eS brought on deck and affixed to their bases, firing the 4.5-inch barrage rockets, as p ^ The electrical cables from each were led to of matter showered the deck areas w ^ their appropriate outlets and the EMs and rockets lifted into the air, and there waSjujed GMs checked to make certain there was cur- siderable danger to the men. This inc ^ rent flowing into each launcher as appropriate the gun crews, which meant that the s F firing buttons on the bridge were depressed, not firing her guns as we approac e At the same time, the ammunition passers firing line for the rockets and clurll^cejv. under the supervision of the GMs were time they were firing. Therefore, uPor\ent to assembling the rockets. With our new ing this order from the bridge, we ' rt. launchers, we had to assemble, not only the the No. 2 hold—a former troop ^ c°uJterS. 504 for our first shoot, but also an additional ment, now used as the main crews q 504, which were put together and placed in The door to the main deck cou ^ sJliaU brackets affixed to the bulkheads of the deck- dogged shut because we had to leave ^ ;n house on the main deck. These brackets had crack for the telephone talker’s wire ^ been installed on the ship for just this purpose, from a jack on deck—there was no s while she was in the Solomons. let in the crews’ quarters. ev,er>"
Thus, as we approached the beach, we had We were all tired and excited, an 1,008 assembled rockets on deck—half in the one lounged around as best he cou 1
Sear, talking and waiting. Shortly, the talker Passed the word that we were within rocket range of the beach and a range rocket from °ne of the after launchers on the port sponson '''as about to be fired. Supposedly this could be done by pressing the button for just that °ne launcher. After a second or two, the ship gave sort of a bump and a terrific noise Ca®e to us waiting below decks. I jumped up was about to ask the talker to ask the unnery Officer, Lieutenant (j.g.) Roger W. 'men, U. S. Naval Reserve, what had hap- P'-ned, when he relayed the information from *■ e bridge that all 16 of the launchers on the Port side had sent off their rockets and that something was wrong with the firing system. *■ was too late to do anything, however, as we ^ere within range of the beach. The Group ornmander, Lieutenant Commander James • McFadden, U. S. Navy, and the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant (j.g.) Robert E. iles, U. S. Naval Reserve, decided that r'ng had to be continued despite the difficulty with the firing system.
, each set of rockets hit the knife-edges of e launchers and were ignited, the ship gave another thump. This happened just as Tiickly as succeeding rockets fell into place.
°se of us below decks began to smell smoke ^nd could see flames coming in around the °0r leading to the main deck.
^ ^ is my belief that the photographer on ®ard the ship to our port observed the first r°ckets leave the ship as the supposed range sfi WaS ^re<^‘ Then, since there was a ^0rt pause, he had time to focus his camera.
e must have taken the picture just as the .|.|0nd group of rockets had gotten into the j r and the third were firing in the launchers.
lbc accompanying photograph of Monster cVen~Seven, the 16 rockets of the second round a be counted in the air and there is fire in re back of each of the launchers as the next gUnd is firing. What appears to be smoke is ^ Ually steam from the water coming out of e fire hoses, ft is a picture of a thoroughly .Rental and dangerous moment.
0 , ben the firing ceased and we were tur*^^ back on deck, the ship was slowly vr;ang to starboard—a very slow maneuver 1 a only the starboard shaft operative. The
The Old Navy 147
deck was a shambles. The blast from the rockets firing in unison had generated so much heat that the sheet of water from the fire hoses had turned into steam instantly and had been no protection at all. The deck was on fire, and rolling around in the midst of all this were rockets whose paint was on fire, too. We didn’t stop to ask questions as to whether slightly singed rockets could be used again. We kicked them over the side as fast as we could or, wearing the asbestos gloves supplied to change 20-inm. barrels, we picked up some and gave them the deep-six. At the same time, the fire hoses were manned and the fires were extinguished in short order. Also, the guns had been manned in the meanwhile and were ready to return fire, for we had observed a couple of near-misses from Japanese mortar fire.
When all was secure and we had retired to seaward, we received orders to load rockets again for an attack on an unnamed point to the east of the Orange beaches. The Marines were receiving considerable enfilading fire from that area.
We loaded the second barrage of 504 rockets, which all this time had been resting in their brackets, fortunately just out of the range of the fire. We proceeded to approach the point in company with the rest of LCl(G) Group Seven. When in range, we departed from the main deck and prepared for the same activities as earlier in the day, but nothing happened. The electrical leads had been shorted out by the heat of the fire and not a rocket would ignite. Other ships were then ordered alongside to take our rockets aboard so that they could fire them. Our reserve supply was brought on deck for transfer, along with those of the second barrage removed from the launchers. This made a total of 2,500 rockets manhandled that day.
About six months later, when I assumed command of the LCl(G)-77, we considered the possibility of painting a coat-of-arms on the front of the conn. It was with this incident at Peleliu in mind, along with the lost pitch control mechanism and many, many others of like nature, that I whole-heartedly approved the following “immortal” words as the motto for old Monster Seven-Seven: “Semper Fubar.”
★
[1] iCan brought about by remodeling and Amer- I claSs1Z'ng tlle original plans. The Queen Mary I cc>n WaS ^le name reserved for the round W^^cb bad bow doors and a ramp, a qUat'ltl refrigerator, laundry facilities, ade- otL 6. beating and ventilation, and many er items that earlier models lacked.