If nothing else, Morris should be able to control the location that the Germans would meet resistance and dismount from their trucks and halftracks. That was where Major Jenkins should register Argonne’s guns.
Sheppard knew he faced a moral dilemma. His Marines were badly outnumbered and he had a weapon in his magazines that would equalize the odds. However, he had been directly ordered to not use it over enemy held territory. He could save his men’s lives but at the cost of untold numbers of allied airmen in the future.
His high capacity shells all had point detonating instantaneous fuses. That meant as soon as they hit anything they were supposed to explode. If that fuse failed, they all had auxiliary detonating fuses in the bases of the projectiles which should then set off the main charge. It sounded great in theory. The reality was that the shell would still move slightly beyond whatever it hit before exploding. If it hit the ground, the shell was slightly buried when it exploded. It was that slightly subsurface position that shielded troops from the deadly shrapnel if they were prone or dug in. To reach those troops the shell had to explode before it hit the ground. That was the advantage of his radar fuses.
The ability of those fuses to be set off by passing near the target was what also made them so deadly to aircraft.
Sheppard knew that 20 percent of the radar fuses would fail to function. One percent of the auxiliary detonating fuses would also fail. That meant that if Sheppard shot one thousand of the radar fused projectiles at the Germans ashore, two hundred would rely on the auxiliary fuse and of those statistically, two could be recovered intact by the enemy and analyzed. If duplicated, German radar fuses might mean the end of the Army Air Corps’s plans for daylight precision bombardment. How many of his Marines’ lives was the chance of that happening worth?
Sheppard went to the 21MC. “Guns, Captain. Gunnery officer, come to the conning station.”
Chuck Williamson would probably suspect what was on his Captain’s mind. He should have the same concern. Perhaps it was because he had more sleep than Sheppard; perhaps it was only because he was more junior; but he might approach the problem without a preconceived answer. His solution might not require compromising the radar fuses.
As soon as Chuck arrived, Sheppard stated. “I’ve decided to use the special anti-aircraft common fuses in support of the Marines.”
“Captain, I have to strongly object.”
“Commander Williamson, I understand your objection. I have carefully considered the problem and see no alternative to protect the Marines.”
“Captain, if you will hear me out, before you order me to comply, I think I have an alternative.” Chuck also knew the risks of the radar fuses being compromised this early in the war. He knew the direct orders to not use them over land, but he had to convince the Captain of this alternative.
“Very well, Commander, let’s hear it.”
Commander Williamson and Sheppard went to the quartermaster’s chart table. Sensing that a major decision was going to be debated, Admiral Hamblen and Commander Halverson joined the two officers. “Captain, Morris thinks he knows the German plans. They intend to approach along these two roads (pointing to the chart). They will dismount when they meet resistance. If we move to this position (3.5 miles south southwest of Pointe de Deffend), we can fire along their front. If I use the 5-inch with timed fuses and full charges, the shallow trajectory and random variation in detonation times will spread the bursts over the heads of the German troops. I can also control the height of the bursts for best effect, which I can’t do with the radar fuses.”
Sheppard was intrigued, but his Gunnery Officer had overlooked one key item. “Chuck, unlike where we are now, those waters could be mined! We can’t risk Argonne’s speed if we are going to avoid submarines on the way back.”
Ollie Halverson joined in saying, “Captain, if anyone knows the location of mines in this area, it will be the fishermen of Le Brusc, and all we have to do to avoid mined areas is ask them.”
Sheppard was pleased. It might work. He went to the microphone for the Spotter radio. “Cub, this is Panther, send volunteer fisherman on next launch to identify German mined areas.”
Major Jenkins, like any good Marine may not have understood everything that was on his Captain’s mind, but he knew how to obey an order. With Émile’s help the volunteer was quickly located and sent on the gig since it was faster.
Oberleutnant zur See Lothar Reitemeyer of the Schnellboote S-54 was the closest to getting his engines reassembled. The commanding officer of Batterie de la Verne had reported the destruction of S-49 and S-52. It was not a surprise, when the orders came down from the Port Captain to get underway as soon as possible and engage the enemy ship. No one had any idea yet as to the identification of the ship or its type other than it was obviously large to have so many guns.
Lothar deduced that a direct high speed approach was hopeless. He would have to rely on stealth if he was to get within torpedo range of this ship. The water close in to the cliffs at Pointe du Rascas was deep enough for him to use the cliffs and land to shield his approach. The draft of his Schnellboot was less than the depth of the mine fields in the area. That was not a concern.
From there he could proceed to Pointe de Marégau, then to Cape Sicié. He would be out of sight of his enemy until he rounded the Cape. If he stayed close to the cliffs, he would be hard to spot until he cleared Île du Grand-Gaou. He should be within range of a high speed torpedo shot before he would be seen. He was certain it was the best plan, but he still did not know what his target was.
Doc Cruz used his usual maximum speed to get the fisherman to Argonne, as the Major had ordered, “on the double.” He landed the gig alongside a 50 foot utility launch that was just finishing making up the lifting bridle. Cruz told that coxswain to, “Get this man to the Captain ASAP (as soon as possible),” as the French fisherman nimbly jumped to the launch.
The moment the launch rested on its cradle the fisherman was the first to disembark. Ted Grabowski had been briefed by his JA talker on the fisherman’s purpose and immediately sent him on to the conning station led by a member of the hanger repair party.
It took almost five minutes for him to arrive, breathless, but eager to help. Ollie Halverson greeted him in fluent French. As they both worked at the chart, the Frenchman was able to draw in the areas that the Germans had mined so far. He also showed where they had told the fishermen not to go in the future, indicating intent to mine those areas also. The information was priceless.
Sheppard could see that as long as Argonne stayed west of Île de Bendor, he had complete freedom of action. Sheppard knew enough French to thank the man. He then directed Ollie to ask if there was anything he wished for his help. The answer surprised them all. He wanted to go to England to fight the Boches. That was one request, that Sheppard with a nod from Admiral Hamblen was pleased to grant.
A few quick instructions to the Conning Officer and notification to the launches to stand clear sent Argonne on her way to the location requested by Chuck Williamson. In fact Sheppard could move even closer to the roads to get the flattest possible trajectories for his 5»/54s.
Commandant César had stationed some of his men on the slope leading up to the ‘six fours’ fort with one of the Marine radios. It was their report of vehicles approaching from the north that gave Sheppard the initial indication of the German panzer battalion. He went to the spotter network and passed. “Cub, this is Panther, Panther will fire as Cub directs.” Sheppard had been debating with himself the wisdom of allowing Turret III to fire even with reduced charges. If nothing else the 18-inch guns shooting that close to the comings and goings of the launches would panic the French civilians.
There was another consideration in the safety of the four Kingfishers perched on his catapults. The blast from his after turret would damage them, leaving Argonne with only half of her aircraft for whatever else Hamblen had in store.
He ordered, “Guns, do not use Turret III.”
He turned to his JA talker, “All stations have anti-aircraft gun crews forward of the superstructure lay below.” That would protect them from the blast if he had to fire to seaward. It was good to keep his mind occupied.
Major Walther Buhlers was leading his mechanized infantry company down the coast road. Expecting trouble he rode in the lead Sdkfz 251 halftrack. Armored against small arms fire, he knew the Maquis did not have anything heavier than 9mm Sten guns and old rifles. His men would make short work of them firing from behind the armor of his halftracks.
He was tired of writing the occasional letter to next of kin when the Maquis ambushed one of his men. They were all veterans of the fighting in Poland and France. Now he would have a chance to exact a measure of revenge.
“Stay alert,” he told his men, but more importantly himself, those partisans knew this area far better than he.
Sheppard knew Major Jenkins was waiting for the Germans when they broke into the clear along the beach just before town. “Panther, this is Cub, fire for effect on point one.”
Chuck Williamson and Gerry Archinbald had already set up the correct offsets and assigned the turrets and mounts to directors. Chuck passed, “Fire continuous. Master key. Continuous aim.” The stable element operators deep in Argonne’s bowels closed the master keys.
Argonne’s starboard side erupted in flash and flame followed by billowing clouds of gun smoke.
Sheppard shut his eyes as the salvo warning bells sounded. If he did not, his night vision was going to be destroyed. The 18-inch three gun turrets forward turned night to day with the flash of the burning powder leaving the muzzles. Even with reduced charges the glowing balls of incandescent gases merged and reached the surface of the ocean. The sea boiled where it touched. The shock wave from the muzzles frothed the sea even further until the energy, dissipating as the pressure wave expanded, could no longer cause the spray to lift from the ocean. Just as it did the center guns of the two turrets fired creating a new pressure wave and spray. The bioluminescent plankton made the spreading arcs of the pressure pulses into glowing fans, eerily beautiful, out of place considering the death and destruction the projectiles represented. To a lesser extent the 6-inch and 5-inch guns contributed to the flash but neither had the energy to raise froth on the sea.
The noise was overwhelming. Surprisingly it was the 5»/54s that created the earsplitting blast as they fired. Using full charges their sound was closest to the sudden crack of a shattering tree hit by lightning or the report of a rifle. At the other extreme, the 18»/55s were distant rumbling growls only much louder than any sound of thunder. Their noise was more felt in the chest than heard in the ears. In all cases the whoosh of the shells departing grew fainter as they moved away—heavy for the 18 inch, lighter for the 5-inch and 6-inch. Within seconds the sounds came back echoing off the cliffs at Pointe de Deffend and Pointe des Engraviers. That was when Sheppard opened his eyes to see the dull red glow from the six 18-inch high capacity shells fly away toward the beach.
The 5-inch fired again. Sheppard knew it was useless to try and protect his vision. The vicinity of Argonne was now going to be continuously lit by the muzzle flashes. Some stronger some weaker, but no one on the conning station would have any effective night vision until the shooting stopped.
Major Walther Buhlers on the beach road noticed the brilliant flashes off to his right. He didn’t understand what they were. There were no reports on the army circuits of naval activity in conjunction with the Maquis attack on the SS. He felt a sharp blow as the 256 pounds of TNT from one of Argonne’s 18-inch high capacity shells exploded mostly under the right side of his halftrack. He could not fathom why he was flying. He was above the roof line of the houses in the town, but only for a moment before the Sdkfz 251 halftrack landed upside down killing him and his headquarters element instantly.
“What is happening?” was his last conscious thought.
Morris was pleased with the registering of Argonne’s guns on this spot. The salvo had landed exactly where he wanted. Now it was time to move the impact point. “Panther, this is Cub, left spot one-hundred.”
Gerry Archinbald, in the forward main battery plotting room adjusted his aim point accordingly. The next salvo of 18-inch shells headed for a point farther down the German column. More halftracks tumbled in the air as German soldiers began to abandon their doomed vehicles. Others urged drivers to get off the road and seek safety elsewhere. They could not move fast enough to avoid Morris’s corrections.
Surviving German soldiers took shelter in the shell craters as leutnants and feldwebels (sergeants) tried to reorganize the survivors and see to the wounded. Now the most important thing that Morris needed was the ability to see.
“Panther, this is Cub. Illuminate!”
Chuck Williamson designated mount 5-1-9 to shoot the Mark 43 flares. The star shell computer automatically made the necessary corrections to the 5-inch guns’ elevation. Within twenty-five seconds the twin mount barked. Night turned to day for forty-five seconds as the magnesium flares were ejected over the German positions; slowly descending on the attached parachutes.
The scene of wrecked halftracks and burning trucks showed Morris that he no longer needed the devastation of the heavier guns.
“Panther, this is Cub, check fire eighteen and six-inch. Five-inch load anti-aircraft common.”
Now Argonne would see if the gunnery officer’s solution to Sheppard’s dilemma was as effective.
In the light of the star shells, the anti-aircraft bursts looked like small black clouds even creating a shadow beneath them. It wasn’t the shadow that was important though. For a much wider circle the red hot shrapnel also impacted the ground and the Germans hiding in the shell craters.
Now panic set in and first a few, but then many of the German soldiers tried to scramble out of the shell craters that no longer offered any protection. Most of the Germans who rose, never made it out of their shell craters as more shells burst overhead.
As Morris adjusted the center of the aim point north and south along the strung out German column, the deadly shrapnel took its toll until Major Jenkins passed, “Panther, this is Cub, check fire!” The exploding shells stopped and shortly the flares burned themselves out leaving the scene dark filled only with the screams of the wounded German soldiers and the more prevalent silence of the dead.
“Wolf von Tiger.” Major Günther von Lindenthal tried the radio again, “Wolf von Tiger, kommen!”
No answer! What had happened to his friend, Major Walther Buhlers? More importantly, what had happened to his company of panzer grenadiers?
Major Günther von Lindenthal halted his column on the inland road. He saw the fires and heard the thunderous explosions that lifted some of the halftracks into the air. He may not have been able to see the source of the artillery fire, but he suspected that it was a ship, a big one, offshore. This was obviously not a simple mission to root out some Maquis that had ambushed an SS platoon. To reach the town he needed armor and called for the reserve tank company before he proceeded further.
He grabbed the microphone again, “Katze von Tiger, bitte um Panzer!”
Now to deploy his grenadiers in line of platoons disembarked and wait for the reserves of the tank company to arrive.
Commandant César’s men by the “six fours” fort reported the clanking of the tank treads as Major Max Kühne’s tank company closed on Günther’s position. Riding in the lead PzKw IVD, Max should seek out the commander of the grenadier company in order to discuss what was turning into a difficult tactical problem. That bought Morris what he needed most—time!
Major Jenkins decided that it was unlikely the Germans would try to attack along the coast road again. He redeployed his platoons to concentrate on the inland road; leaving only a squad to cover the coast approach. He also did not expect them to be so stupid as to come at his Marines in a column. This time he would need to deal with dismounted infantry spread all along his front. He asked Commandant César to cover his right f
lank anchoring it in the rough terrain to the east.
The one problem that he knew he had was the lack of anti-tank weapons. The best he had were .50 caliber Browning M2 machine guns. They were capable of defeating the armor on the halftracks but that was it. Argonne’s high capacity shells would have to achieve a direct hit except for the 18-inch ones. Even those would have to get very close to turn over a German Tank.
That was it!
It only took Morris two minutes to describe what he wanted to the Argonne. He could only hope that the Germans were not listening in to the spotter network. In a few minutes the forward main battery turrets split the night with flash and thunder.
Günther von Lindenthal wondered what the ship was shooting at. He had not yet advanced his infantry and Max’s tanks were just coming up to his position. It didn’t take either German company commander long to complete their preparations. Günther and Max just assumed that the enemy was shooting at the remnants of Major Walther Buhler’s mechanized infantry company. If those troops had reorganized and were attacking it would make their job all the easier. That attack should also eliminate any forward observers.
Max had his two platoons of PzKw IIIE tanks in line abreast followed by his third platoon of PzKw IVDs. Each tank platoon was supported by a platoon of dismounted infantry. Major Kühne positioned his command tank between the three platoons in order to control the time and place for committing his reserve, as well as direct concentrations at enemy weaknesses. The job of the dismounted infantry was to prevent enemy ground forces from attacking the tanks with grenades or satchel charges.
Sheppard and the French Rescue Page 18