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I congratulate you, sir. It was a jolly good race. —Brig. Gen. J.C. Currie Palermo’s capture eased the burden of supplying Seventh Army from North African ports and also gave the Allies a base from which to support army operations along Sicily’s north coast. To that end, on July 27 the U.S. Navy organized a new task force based at Palermo. Commanded by Rear Adm. Lyal Davidson, Task Force 88 was composed of the cruisers Philadelphia, Savannah, and Boise screened by Cowie, Butler, Shubrick, Hendron, and Glennon. Recalling their mission, Shubrick’s executive officer, and later skipper, J. Victor Smith wrote, “By that time the American Army had captured Palermo by land and was moving along the east coast, from the north coast to the east and they wanted gunfire support. So our job was to escort the Savannah, a cruiser, which was to lend gunfire support and then do what we could with our 5-inch guns, but a 6-inch gun is twice as effective as a 5-inch gun.” Although the task force did not arrive in Palermo until July 30, Stan Barnes’s motor torpedo boat squadron and Task Group 80.2, under the command of Capt. C. Welborn Jr., had been active in the area for some time and had already suffered its first casualty, the 1,500-ton destroyer Mayrant. While on patrol on July 26 ten miles from Palermo, Mayrant was attacked by a trio of Ju88s. Her skipper, Cdr. Edward K. Walker, took evading action; below in the main plotting room, Warrant Officer Fay M. Lightner had the fire-control program set up in twenty seconds and her antiaircraft guns firing. Despite these defensive actions, two undetected enemy bombers managed to pinpoint Mayrant and straddle the destroyer with bombs. Water quickly flooded Mayrant’s fireroom and forward magazine, and she took on a heavy list. Although Commander Walker CHAPTER 9 THE RACE TO MESSINA n-Tomblin 09.qx2 6/30/04 1:13 PM Page 217 was loath to jettison the ready service ammunition, he did order other topside weight thrown overboard and the whaleboat lowered. At 1000 Wainwright and Rhind sent over boats to remove the wounded, and Skill took the crippled destroyer under tow and proceeded at six knots toward Palermo. They were escorted by Rhind and Wainwright, whose furious antiaircraft barrages drove off further enemy air attacks. Rhind’s gunners even downed one of the planes, which crashed into the sea.1 This attack on Mayrant served to remind Allied ships that the Luftwaffe had not been eliminated from the skies over Sicily. In fact, from its first day on duty, and for weeks to come, Task Force 88 was hounded incessantly by enemy aircraft. The first day of action for the new task force, July 31, found Philadelphia steaming east along the coast with Cowie and Henderson to assist American troops fighting at San Stefano di Camastra. Although a counterattack by the Seventy-first Panzer Grenadiers had been repulsed the day before, San Stefano was still a hot spot when the cruiser arrived at 0745 to fire on prearranged targets. Within an hour, however, six-inch enemy shells began dropping close aboard the cruiser. Capt. Paul Hendren increased speed to 28.5 knots and initiated evasive maneuvering, but two minutes later an enemy shell exploded twenty yards from the ship abreast the number 4 five-inch gun, showering the ship with fragments and wounding three sailors. Only when Philadelphia finally opened the range to 19,500 yards did the enemy shells begin to fall short.2 When Philadelphia returned to bombardment duty in the early afternoon , she was was almost hit by a pair of bombs dropped by two FW190s ; she was attacked again at 1404 as she was preparing to recover her spot planes. With the planes bobbing helplessly alongside waiting to be hoisted aboard, Philadelphia was in a vulnerable position, but Captain Hendren ordered full speed ahead and only one of a stick of eight bombs came close to the cruiser. Fortunately the nearest one was a dud that fell harmlessly into the sea ten yards abreast the bridge. Task Force 88’s commander, Rear Admiral Davidson, had requested fighter cover, but by the time Allied fighters arrived, the enemy aircraft had come and gone. When Davidson ordered the task force back to port, Philadelphia increased its speed to thirty knots and returned to Palermo.3 On the night of Philadelphia’s...

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