The Gale that Wrecked Mulberry A cutting through bulkheads to faci litate Overaperiodofninedays,MulberryA wasassembledoffOmahaBeach. rap id flooding , and in stalling ballast to The staff of Mulberry A, under the command of Capt. A. Dayton Clark, bring the sh ip 's draft down to exactly 19 fought exhaustion and the elements to complete the giant puzzle of feet fore-and- aft. The Navy type gun s "Pheonixes," "Whales," "Lobnitz pierheads " and "Gooseberries " that constituted the ship 's defensive ar- well ahead of deadline. It was a stunning achievement that allowed for mament were removed and replaced by an average ofover8,500 tons ofcargo to pour ashore daily between June army sty le anti-aircraft weapons. 16and18. Then, on 20 June, there blew up the strongest summer gale known in While their ships were being readied for the invasion , the maritime commis- the English Channel for forty years. Mulberry A staff looked on in horror sion crews were taken under full military for two days while wind, waves and vessels that dragged their anchor control by the Supreme Headquarters pounded against the installation and took the lives ofmany engineers and AJ lied Exped itionary Forces. The Naval boat operators. Jn the end, Mulberry A looked like a complete wreck. Armed Guards went ashore with their Using extraordinary resourcefulness, the officers and men responguns and were replaced by Army gun- sible repaired Mulberry A so that on June 23 the tonnage landed rose to ners. Their merchant seamen were asked 10,000 tons, and on the 26th to 14,500 tons. Deputy Commander of Mulberry A, Alfred B. Stanford, USNR, to volunteer for an undisclosed mission and, upon doing so, were told that they wrote a stirring and dramatic account of the planning and building of were now subject to military authority Mulberry entitled Force Mulberry.from which the following excerpts and that they would be confined to their are taken. ships until it was time to sail. They were given no exact information about where Tugs manipulate the huge structures that comprise Mulb erry A . they wou ld be going or what they wou ld be doing. They were told that, prior to departure , all non-essential personnel would be taken off, leaving on ly enough The blockship Centurion awash. men for three steaming watches and meal service. Th is was high ly unusual treatment, even for wartime , but the men took it in stride with little thought of the legal and jurisdictional implications of what they would undergo. After approximately a month of enforced idleness, the sixteen origina l blockships, now codenamed "Co rncobs," got underway proceeding separately to their assembly areas carry ing their reduced merchant crews, Army gunners and Navy Seabees who wou ld supervi se the positioning of the ships and detonate the scuttling charges. On D-Day they began their fina l run to Omaha Beach in a special convoy. During this phase,oneoftheirnumber, West Honaker, was dive-bombed by a German aircraft. A lthough no damage was others went to Gooseberry II off St. thecriticaJ moment her two assigned Almy done , her master, Charles R. Stevens, Laurent. Although this phase of the op- tugs cut loose and bolted. The Contee then ordered most of her crew into the boats eration was an overall success, a few became unmanageable and drifted close inshore. Her Seabees blew her charges to be picked up by escorts . With onl y problems were encountered. twelve men left to steam the vessel, he The area was still far from secure, and she sank out of position, enduring brought her to anchor off the beachhead with active minefields and well directed heavy shellfire in the process. M il itary where she endured a day of intermittent artillery fire a constant hazard. The crew secrecy and lack of psychological prepashe llfire until all ofhercompatriotscould of the James Iredell was completely unration were the apparent cause of these be assembled and scuttling commenced. nerved when the ship was straddled by two incidents . All of June 7 (D-Day+l) was taken shells from shore batteries, and demanded The remaining ships were sunk acup with collecting the "Corncobs", asto be taken off just as she began to move cording to plan and, together with ships signing Army or Navy tugs to assist toward her assigned position in Goose- from the British contingent, successthem, and determining exact!y where to berry II. The men were removed under fu ll y formed the American Gooseberplace the two Omaha Beach breakwa- fire and the Seabees steamed the ship into ries I and II. Meanwhile, in the space ters , designated "Gooseberry I" and position with a hastily assembled pickup between the two lines of ships , the Mul"Gooseberry II." Finally, on June 8 the crew. The Benjamin Contee also came berry Phoenixes were being positioned ships began to move into position , some under fue as she headed for her station in and sunk , and construction on the going to Gooseberry IoffVierville while Gooseberry I. Her crew stood fast, but at "Whale" floating pierhead and cause-
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SEA HISTORY 69, SPRING 1994