World War II at Sea: A Global History by Symonds Craig L

Author:Symonds, Craig L. [Symonds, Craig L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2018-04-01T16:00:00+00:00

meanwhile, along the atlantic coast in French Morocco, the Americans were having a difficult time of it. The British had argued against landing there at all, pointing out that success in Algiers would cut off Morocco in any case. The Americans, however, were leery of sticking their heads into the cul-de-sac of the Mediterranean and had stipulated that at least some of the landings must take place on the Atlantic coast. Roosevelt had personally insisted on it. 13

The invasion convoys for this landing originated not in Britain but on the East Coast of the United States, thirty-eight hundred miles from the target beaches. It was the first transatlantic amphibious assault since Cortés invaded Mexico in 1519. The American convoy, officially dubbed Task Force 34, was under the command of Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, whose easygoing manner and disheveled appearance belied an incisive and analytical mind.

Once all the various elements of the American invasion armada rendezvoused off Norfolk on October 25, the transports and cargo vessels formed up into nine columns with the ships following one another at one-thousand-yard intervals. Like the British, the Americans committed a large escort to the troop transports, including three battleships, seven cruisers, and thirty-eight destroyers, plus the Ranger and the four auxiliary carriers that had been converted from oilers. Altogether, the formation covered some six hundred square miles of ocean. And also like the British, the Americans took an indirect course to the target beaches, feinting southward toward the bulge of Africa before turning northeast to close in on French Morocco from the southwest. As a result of that, and some luck, the convoy was undisturbed by U-boats and arrived off the Moroccan beaches intact and on time. 14

Once there, however, American readiness to conduct a large-scale amphibious landing faced a stern test. Before dawn on November 8, the American transports dropped anchor off Fédala, fifteen miles north of Casablanca, and began hoisting out the Higgins boats. Soon the soldiers were climbing down into them on chain or rope nets thrown over the side. As at Algiers, there was more than a little confusion and delay. It took longer than scheduled to fill the boats, and even after they were on their way, the U.S. Navy coxswains who drove them often headed for the wrong beach. The only coastal reconnaissance the Allies had conducted prior to the landings was to examine the target beaches through submarine periscopes, and the vague maps that resulted failed to give the coxswains a clear understanding of the terrain. 15

The landings themselves were unopposed, which was just as well because the surf at Fédala was heavier than expected. When the men scrambled out of the boats, many were knocked off their feet by the oversized waves, and loaded as they were with heavy gear, some never regained their footing and drowned in water that was only three or four feet deep. The surf also played havoc with the plywood Higgins boats. As at Sidi Ferruch, near Algiers, the big

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