The Allied invasion of Italy in World War 2 was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on 3 September 1943.
The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily. The main invasion force landed around Salerno on the western coast in Operation Avalanche, while two supporting operations took place in Calabria (Operation Baytown) and Taranto (Operation Slapstick).
The Allied invasion of Italy in World War 2 was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on 3 September 1943.
The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily. The main invasion force landed around Salerno on the western coast in Operation Avalanche, while two supporting operations took place in Calabria (Operation Baytown) and Taranto (Operation Slapstick).
The main landings (Operation Avalanche) were scheduled to take on 9 September, during which the main force would land around Salerno on the western coast.
Its primary objectives were to seize the port of Naples to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping Axis troops further south. The naval task force of warships, merchant ships, and landing craft totaling 627 vessels. One of those ships was RFA Derwentdale (1) which as well as being a naval tanker was also fitted to carry and launch fourteen landing craft (LCM’s).
RFA Derwentdale with her LCM
gantries prior to Operation Avalanche
Derwentdale arrived at its pre designated release position in the transport area very shortly after midnight on 9 September and commenced discharging her LCM’s. This was accomplished by 00:38hrs. Between then and at 20:00hrs the LCM’s were fuelled and serviced. The LCM’s were deployed to convey US troops in the 8th wave from USS Joseph T. Dickman (Captain R. J. Mauerman, USCG) to their landing position at Salerno.
USS Joseph T Dickman – US Attack Transport in 1943
Between 11th to the 15th September 1943 the ship refueled American destroyers, British destroyers, HMS Boxer and HMS Bruiser alongside. In addition to her fourteen landing craft her crew also refueled and serviced a further twenty one LCM’s from the heavy lift ship mv Empire Charmian. Seven officers and one hundred and five ratings from Empire Charmian were lodged and victualled on board.
The Heavy Lift ship Empire Charmian
During the period 9th to 15th September RFA Derwentdale was subjected to nineteen direct dive bombing attacks and was also the victim of many near misses. At 12:15hrs on 15 September seven dive bombers attacked her from out of the sun. Two bombs fell close to the stem, three close amidships on the starboard side and two hit the shell plating on the engine room on the port side. These later bombs struck the ship’s side at an acute angle and blew a large hole in the side of the engine room.
The engine room flooded and the vessel commenced to sink by the stern. Fortunately the ships crew in the engine room at the time managed to escape with minor injuries. The cable was slipped and with the assistance of HM Tug Hengist Derwentdale was towed into shallow water, the stern was beached, and the transfer of oil cargo from aft to forward was commenced as soon as a steam hose from the tug could be coupled up to the ship’s cargo pumps.
HM Tug Hengist
At 17:00 it was considered that Derwentdale was in a safe condition to proceed to sea. A tow rope from Hengist was made fast and at 17:30 she sailed, under tow to Malta. Nearly a year later RFA Derwentdale was towed back to the UK by HM Tug Hesperia arriving on the River Tyne in August 1944.
The ship’s Master – Captain John M Humphrey RFA commended the conduct of the whole crew. He also reported that the aircraft which dropped the bombs which hit the ship on the 15th had been shot down by the forward pom poms.
Captain Humphrey in particular made special mention in his report on the incident of: –
Chief Engineer Officer William John Brown DSC
Chief Officer Franklin George Edwards
2nd Engineer Officer James Alistair McKenzie
Senior 2nd Officer Joseph Coull
3rd Engineer Officer Richard Thomas Brown
Boatswain Hector Torrie
AB Colin McClue
Sergeant Albert H Hinton RM
Leading Seaman Gunner Frank Shelton
He reported that Sergeant Hinton showed courage of a very high order. He stood in an exposed position directing the fire of the after guns in face of repeated dive bomber attacks. It had been largely due to Sergeant Hinton’s skilful direction and the example he set that the ship survived six days and nights of bombing before she was hit and put out of action.
Sergeant Hinton was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) while the ships Master – Captain John Humphrey RFA and the Chief Engineer Officer William Brown DSC RFA were both appointed as Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
The ship did not re-enter service until 1946 after she had been fitted with the engines from RFA Denbydale which had been totally disabled at Gibraltar after an Italian Frogman attack in September, 1941