Plans for an amphibious landing behind enemy lines had been in the works for weeks, and shortly before he departed for England, Eisenhower had directed Alexander to carry out those plans. The Alban Hills--the remnants of a long-dead volcano and the last natural barrier south of Rome--lay just 15 miles from Anzio. Highways 6 and 7 straddled the hills and led to Rome's southern outskirts. Given the good beaches and flat terrain around Anzio, Alexander's staff saw no reason why the Allies should not be able to quickly capture Rome.
Allied planners saw the Anzio operation as offering two chances to end the Gustav Line stalemate: if Generalfeldmarschall Albrecht Kesselring, commander of Army Group C, pulled troops out of the Gustav Line to deal with the threat to his rear, then the Allied forces facing the line would be more easily able to break through and roll the German forces up the peninsula. Should the Germans fail to use Gustav Line units to counter the Anzio move, then the Anzio forces likely would be able to break out of the beachhead, capture Rome, and cut off a German retreat to the north.
Of course, this latter scenario presupposed that the Wehrmacht was stretched to the limit in Italy and on other fronts and that no more manpower was available. At the very least, the planners felt, the Anzio operation would tie up a large enemy force in Italy--where it could not assist Hitler's other beleaguered armies on the crumbling Eastern Front or the beaches of Normandy when the invasion of France finally began.
Enemy Coastal Defences
Alexander envisioned the Allies hitting the beach with a small, mobile force, overcoming the German defenses, which were believed to be less than formidable, and then driving on and securing the Alban Hills. This force would link up with the main force advancing from the south, and all would then head for Rome. But less optimistic staff members saw an advance on Rome as presenting a slender salient that could easily be destroyed.
The immediate problem was finding enough ships to make, supply and reinforce the landing. The Allies in Italy were under pressure to release as many ships and landing craft as possible in preparation for a twin amphibious assault on France--Operation Overlord in the north and Operation Anvil (later named Dragoon) in the south.
Besides the shortage of shipping, a few other practical considerations began to weigh upon Allied optimism. For one, if the main Allied force was to get bogged down on the Gustav Line, it would not be close enough to help support the Anzio landings. Secondly, should the Allies suffer heavy losses on the Bernhardt and Gustav lines, they might be too depleted and exhausted to be of any value, even if they made it to the Alban Hills.
Finally, the calendar worked against the planners; on December 18, Operation Shingle was reluctantly abandoned. There simply was not enough time to work out the thousands of details necessary before January 15, 1944, when the landing craft had to be released to Overlord.
A Destroyed Mussolini Canal Bridge
Subsequently, however, with Churchill putting pressure on the British chiefs of staff to break the stalemate in Italy, Operation Shingle was hurriedly moved to the front burner. But the landing craft problem remained--there were only enough LSTs to transport one division, and two divisions were considered essential for a successful landing. After conferring with his Italy commanders on Christmas, Churchill cabled Roosevelt for permission to retain the LSTs in Italy until February 5. Roosevelt concurred, with the stipulation that Shingle must not hinder preparations for Overlord or Anvil.
As plans evolved, a second division was added to the amphibious force; the number of LSTs rose, but not appreciably, and Clark was faced with the prospect of having to land the troops without the requisite number of vehicles. Some of the troops would have to be ferried in after the initial landings. Furthermore, he would have to do all his seaborne resupply and reinforcement within two days of the initial landings, as the LSTs were his for only an additional 48 hours. Shingle was set for the early hours of January 20, 1944.
Enemy Shellfire Hitting the Beaches
With the amphibious portion of the plan more or less set, Clark turned his attention to the situation in the south, where it was imperative that the main Allied armies break through the Gustav Line quickly in order to prevent the isolated Anzio forces from being cut off, chewed up or pushed back into the sea.
Augmenting the American Fifth Army at the Gustav Line were the British X Corps and the French Expeditionary Corps (the latter made up of the 2nd Moroccan and 3rd Algerian divisions), which were assigned to capture the flanks of the Liri Valley, thereby allowing U.S. II Corps to plunge, it was hoped, through the gap in the middle. In reality, the attack did not go as scripted.
On January 17, the British X Corps crossed the Garigliano with two divisions against von Senger's XIV Panzer Corps, but the Brits were too exhausted by the effort to exploit their gains. The attack, however, convinced Kesselring to bolster the Gustav Line defenses, and thus he moved his major reserves, the 29th and 90th Panzergrenadier divisions, south from Rome.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes' U.S. II Corps was preparing to cross the swiftly flowing Rapido in the vicinity of Sant'Angelo, a German strongpoint. Major General Fred Walker's U.S. 36th Division was picked for the task, to be followed by elements of the 1st Armored Division. Major General Charles Ryder's 34th Division would engage the enemy at Cassino to prevent a counterattack from the north. The flat approaches to the river afforded no cover or concealment, however, and many men viewed trying to cross a river obstacle under direct enemy observation as suicidal.
An Air Attack on Cisterna
On January 20, the understrength 36th, which had suffered heavy losses in December on the Bernhardt Line and had not been brought up to full strength, set out to cross the Rapido against all odds. Waiting for them was the 15th Panzergrenadier Division, one of the Germans' toughest units.
The Americans were hammered by artillery fire before, during, and after they reached the crossing site. The crossing itself was a disaster, with only a handful of brave men able to reach the far bank. The next morning the Germans blasted the American penetration with small arms, artillery and tank fire, nearly annihilating the beleaguered infantrymen. While delay followed delay, the men on the far bank were cut to pieces. On January 22, what few men remained on the far side were withdrawn. The first attempt to cross the Rapido had failed.
The First Overpass Above Anzio
Clark now faced an agonizing decision. Should he cancel Shingle or proceed? His staff officers had told him that in order for Shingle to succeed, it was essential that his main force be within 30 miles of Anzio before the amphibious operation was launched. If the operation could not take place by January 25, it would have to be canceled and the landing craft shipped off to England; nothing must interfere with plans for Overlord. In spite of the uncertainties, Clark chose to proceed.
In addition, Lucas' mission was, at best, vague. Just prior to his departure for Anzio on January 20, he was informed by Brig. Gen. Donald Brann, Fifth Army G-3, that his mission was not to take the Alban Hills but, rather, to seize and secure the Anzio beachhead. He was told, however, that he was free to move to the hills if conditions warranted. A planned airborne assault on the Anzio-Albano road north of Anzio by the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion was scrapped, giving Lucas a further impression that nothing more than securing the beachhead was required of him and his forces.
Early on January 21, Lucas' convoy of five cruisers, 24 destroyers and more than 300 support ships, including 238 landing craft of all types, left Naples Harbor and steamed northward. Aboard the ships were some 40,000 American and British troops, along with more than 5,000 vehicles.
Arriving at their destination early the next day, the Allies expected everything except what actually happened: Shingle took the Germans totally by surprise. Only token resistance was offered, and this was quickly eliminated by naval gunfire.
Advancing Towards the Mussolini Canal
North of Anzio, the British 1st Division landed and moved two miles inland without facing any substantial resistance.
The Rangers captured Anzio's port, and the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion occupied Nettuno with hardly a shot fired.
The 3rd Division's landing was virtually unopposed, and by midmorning Truscott's men found themselves three miles inland, awaiting a German counterattack that failed to materialize.
By midnight on the 22nd, some 36,000 men, 3,200 vehicles and a vast store of supplies had reached or pushed beyond the beachhead. Casualties had been incredibly light; only 13 killed and 97 wounded--mostly from strafing German aircraft. More than 200 Germans had been taken prisoner. It was all going too well to be believed.
Tanks Take Momentary Cover
Kesselring learned of the landings at about 3 a.m. and quickly began marshaling all available units and creating new ones. At 5 a.m., he ordered the 4th Parachute Division, along with replacement units of the Hermann Göering Division, to take up blocking positions across the roads that led from Anzio to the Alban Hills. He then requested that OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) send whatever additional units it could spare from southern France, Yugoslavia and southern Germany. Later that morning, Kesselring ordered Generaloberst Eberhard von Mackensen, commander of the Fourteenth Army in northern Italy, and General Heinrich von Vietinghoff, Tenth Army commander in charge of the Gustav Line forces, to send units to him. Within hours, elements of five divisions were rushing toward Anzio.
By nightfall on the 22nd, German units were establishing their defensive lines around the Allied forces at Anzio, which Kesselring had expected to be moving with breakneck speed toward the Alban Hills. But instead of dashing inland, Lucas chose to build up his supplies and forces.
Anzio Annie
By now, the Anzio beachhead was some 10 miles deep. The 3rd Division was approaching Cisterna on Highway 7, where the strength of Kesselring's forces was concentrated, and the British 1st Division had taken Aprilia, a model Fascist farm settlement called "The Factory" by the troops.
General Clark was urging but not demanding that Lucas begin more aggressive offensive operations. But bad weather and two heavy German air raids were upsetting operations, and Lucas was reluctant to become too adventuresome. While Lucas' lack of initiative was becoming worrisome to Clark and Alexander, Churchill was livid. He thundered, "I had hoped we were hurling a wildcat into the shore, but all we got was a stranded whale."
Engineers Clearing Demolition Charges at Anzio
Truscott, stopped at Cisterna by the Hermann Göering and 26th Panzergrenadier divisions, decided to use Darby's three lightly armed Ranger battalions to spearhead the 3rd Division's assault on the town on January 30. The Rangers' attack was a shambles. Ambushed by German tanks and heavy artillery as they approached the town, the Rangers were pinned down and torn to pieces.
Vexed that little had been accomplished in the week since the landings, Alexander urged Clark to concentrate his efforts on full-scale attacks to capture Cisterna and Campoleone, followed by a rapid advance on Velletri, seven miles north of Cisterna.
Each Building Became a Fortress
But Clark estimated that Kesselring's reinforcements were too strong for any quick thrust to be successful. Much of this belief stemmed from intelligence reports that indicated more German units in the Anzio area than were actually present, the result of fragments of larger units that had been hurriedly thrown into the line (if a battalion or regiment of a division were present, G-2 officers assumed the entire division was on line). And, so, on February 1, 1944, Lucas' attack petered out. What Clark did not know and could not appreciate was the fact that VI Corps' assault had come very close to succeeding. The Germans had suffered some 5,500 casualties--about the same as the Allies', but the numbers of troops actually present slightly favored the Allies.
Fearing a German counterattack, Clark and Alexander directed Lucas to establish defensive positions. Reinforcements arrived on February 2--the 1st Special Service Force and the British 56th Division--and the Allies dug in behind hastily laid minefields and barbed wire, allowing the Germans to go over onto the offensive.
On the drizzly morning of February 4, Mackensen's Fourteenth Army began to roll, with infantry and armor slamming into British positions near Campoleone and driving them back. By nightfall, after much dogged fighting, the British lines stiffened, and they retook their lost positions. But Lucas, feeling the British salient was vulnerable, ordered the Tommies to withdraw during the night to a more defensible line, and Clark ordered him to hold until offensive actions seemed warranted.
The Germans sensed their opportunity. At 9 a.m. on February 7, Mackensen launched another attack, this time to dislodge the British troops holding Aprilia. Only a heroic, Waterloo-like stand, along with artillery and naval gunfire from three cruisers, kept the German 715th Division from taking the shattered town. The stand was in vain, however; two days later, in another all-out assault, German troops succeeded in capturing Aprilia.
Additional Sources: www.ibiblio.org
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on July 25:
0975 Thietmar bishop of Merseburg, German chronicler
1109 Afonso I, the Conqueror, king of Portugal (1143-85)
1575 Christoph Scheiner Germany, astronomer
1775 Anna Symmes Harrison 1st lady
1795 James Barry, female disguised as a man, surgeon general (British army)
1822 Schuyler Hamilton, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1903
1824 Richard James Oglesby, Union (Union volunteers), died in 1899
1840 Flora Adams Darling founded Daughters of American Revolution
1848 Arthur Earl Balfour (C), British PM (1902-05) (Balfour Declaration)
1884 Davidson Black Canada, doctor of anatomy (identified Peking Man)
1894 Walter Brennan Swampscott Mass, actor (My Darling Clementine, Real McCoys)
1902 Eric Hoffer longshoreman/author (True Believer)
1907 Jack Gilford NYC, actor (Save the Tiger, Cocoon, Arthur 2)
1924 Estelle Getty NYC, actress (Sophia Petrillo-Golden Girls)
1924 Frank Church (Sen-D-Id) (Weakened the CIA)
1925 Jerry Paris SF Calif, director/actor (Jerry-Dick Van Dyke Show)
1927 Midge Decter St Paul Minn,Evil right-wing ideologue writer (An Old Wife's Tale, Rumsfeld...)
1930 Maureen Forrester Montreal Canada, contralto (Ressurection Symphony)
1932 Paul J Weitz Erie Pennsylvania, astronaut (Skylab 2, STS 6)
1935 Adnan Khashoggi, billionaire arms dealer
1943 Jim McCarty rocker (The Yardbirds-For Your Love)
1948 Steve Goodman Chicago, singer/songwriter (Somebody Elses Trouble)
1954 Walter "Sweetness" Payton NFL running back (Chicago Bears)
1957 Daniel W Bursch, Bristol PA, Lt Cmdr USN/Astronaut (STS 51, 68, 77)
1957 Roger Clinton, singer, President Clinton's half-brother
1967 Matt LeBlanc, actor (Joey Tribbiani-Friends)
1975 Jay R Ferguson Jr Dallas Tx, actor (Taylor Newton-Evening Shade)
1978 Caroline Nicole Brigman, Miss South Carolina Teen USA (1997)
1978 Louise Brown Oldham England, world's 1st `test tube baby'
2003 Logan, AKA Texas Termite, world famous heart throb, monarch of all he surveys.
"Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again." ~Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Deaths which occurred on July 25:
0306 Gaius Flavius V Constantius, under-emperor of Rome 297-306, dies
1492 Innocent VII, [Giovanni B Cibo], Italian Pope (1484-92), dies
1570 Ivan Viskovati, chancellor of Russia, executed
1580 Baltazar Alvarez, Spanish jesuit/writer, dies at 47
1616 Andreas Libavius German alchemist, dies
1834 Samuel Taylor Coleridge, British poet, dies at 61
1864 Clement Hoffman Stevens, Us banker/inventor/Confederate brig-gen, dies at 42
1934 Engelbert Dollfuss Austrian chancellor assassinated by nazis
1944 Lesley J McNair, US lt-general, killed by US bomb at St-Lo
1958 Harry Warner, US movie pionier (Warner Bros), dies at 81
1959 Dr Isaac Halevi Herzog chief rabbi of Israel (1936-59), dies at 71
1966 Montgomery Clift, movie actor (From Here to Eternity), dies
1986 Vincente Minnelli movie director, dies in LA at 76
1987 Malcolm Baldrige Secretary of Commerce, dies of internal injuries
1995 Charlie Rich, country singer (Lonely Weekends), dies at 62
1997 Ben Hogan, golfer (Masters, Brit Open, US Open-1953), dies at 84
1997 Dora Maar, Picasso model/companion, dies at 89
2003 John Schlesinger (b.1926), film director, died. ("Midnight Cowboy" (1969)
GWOT Casualties
Iraq
A Good Day
Afghanistan
A Good Day
http://icasualties.org/oif/ Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
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Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://www.taps.org/ (subtle hint SEND MONEY)
On this day...
0326 Emperor Constantine refuses to carry out traditional pagan sacrifices.
0841 Battle at Fontenay: Louis and Charles beat their brother Lotharius I
1261 Byzantium Emperor Michael VIII recaptures Constantinople
1360 Jews are expelled from Breslau Silesia
1394 Charles VI of France issues a decree for the general expulsion of Jews from France.
1587 Hideyoshi bans Christianity in Japan and orders all Christians to leave.
1593 France's Protestant King Henri IV converts to Roman Catholic
1670 Jews are expelled from Vienna Austria
1689 France declares war on England
1729 North Carolina becomes royal colony
1759 British capture Fort Niagara from French (7 Years' War)
1775 Maryland issues currency depicting George III trampling Magna Carta
1799 French-Egyptian forces under Napolean I beat Turks at Battle of Abukir
1814 Battle of Niagara Falls (Lundy's Lane); Americans defeat British
1814 George Stephenson introduced the 1st steam locomotive
1832 1st railroad accident in US, Granite Railway, Quincy, Mass-1 dies
1835 Ibrahim Pasha's army attacks Jewish settlers of Hebron Palestine
1850 Gold discovered in Oregon (Rogue River)
1860 1st US intercollegiate billard match (Harvard vs Yales)
1861 The Crittenden Resolution, calling for the American Civil War to be fought to preserve the Union and not for slavery, is passed by Congress.
1861 Skirmish at Fort Fillmore, NM Terr - Rebels attack Union troops
1863 Skirmish at Barbee's Crossroads, Virginia
1866 US Grant named 1st general of Army
1868 US Congress forms Wyoming Territory (Dakota, Utah and Idaho)
1871 Carrousel patented by Wilhelm Schneider, Davenport, Iowa
1898 1st US troops land & occupy Puerto Rice, at Guanica Bay
1909 French aviator Louis Bleriot flew across the English Channel in a monoplane, traveling from Calais to Dover in 37 minutes.
1912 Comoros proclaimed a French colonies
1913 Carl Weilman strikes out 6 times in a 15 inning game
1918 Annette Adams sworn in as 1st woman district attorney of US, Calif
1918 Race riot in Chester Pennsylvania (3 blacks & 2 whites killed)
1930 Phila Athletics triple steal in the 1st & 4th innings vs Cleveland
1939 NY Yankee Atley Donald sets AL rookie record with 12 consecutive win
1940 John Sigmund begins swimming for 89 hrs 46 mins in the Mississippi River
1943 1st warship named for a Black person, SS Leonard Roy Harmon, launched
1943 Benito Mussolini dismissed as premier of Italy during WW II
1944 1st jet fighter used in combat (Messerschmitt 262)
1946 1st bikini is shown at a Paris fashion show
1946 US detonates underwater A-bomb at Bikini (5th atomic explosion)
1947 US Air Force, Navy & War Dept form US Dept of Defense
1947 US Deptartment of the Army created
1949 St Louis Cardinal Stan Musial hits for the cycle beating Bkln 14-1
1950 Goethe Link Observatory discovers asteroids #1799 Koussevitzky, #1822 Waterman & #2842
1952 Commonwealth of Puerto Rico created (Constitution Day)
1953 Truce signed between North Korea & United Nations forces.
1956 Italian liner Andrea Doria sank after colliding with the Stockholm
1957 Monarchy in Tunisa abolished in favor of a republic
1958 "Sensational" Sherri Martel wins wrestling's WWF woman's title
1961 Maris hits home runs 37, 38, 39 & 40 in a double header
1963 US, Russia & England sign nuclear test ban treaty
1964 Beatles' "Hard Day's Night", album goes #1 & stays #1 for 14 weeks
1964 Race riot in Rochester NY
1965 Folk-rock begins, Dylan uses electricity at Newport Folk Festival (He's booed)
1966 Supremes release "You Can't Hurry Love"
1966 Yankee manager Casey Stengel elected to Hall of Fame
1968 Pope Paul VI encyclical On the regulation of birth
1969 Edward Kennedy pleads guilty to leaving scene of an accident a week after the Chappaquiddick car accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne
1972 US health officials concede blacks were used as guinea pigs in 40 year syphillis experiment
1973 USSR launches Mars 5
1974 T Smirnova discovers asteroid #2345 Fucik
1975 "A Chorus Line," longest-running Broadway show (6,137), premiers
1978 Bob Lemon replaces Billy Martin as Yankee manager
1978 Cin Red Pete Rose sets NL record hitting in 38 consecutive games
1978 The first test-tube baby, Louis Brown, is born in Oldham, England.
1981 Voyager 2 encounters Saturn
1983 1st nonhuman primate (baboon) conceived in a lab dish, San Antonio
1983 Washington Public Power Supply System defaulted $2.25 billion
1984 Cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became 1st woman to walk in space
1985 Spokeswoman for Rock Hudson confirms he had AIDS
1986 Sikhs extremist kill 16 hindus in Muhktsar India
1986 Former Navy radioman Jerry Whitworth was convicted of selling U.S. military secrets to the Soviets through the John Walker spy ring. The government called it the most damaging espionage since World War II.
1987 Sherri Martel beats Fabulous Moolah for WWF Woman's Championship Belt
1987 USSR launches Kosmos 1870, 15-ton Earth-study satellite
1990 Nadezhda Ryashkina of USSR sets 10K walk woman's record (41:56.23)
1990 Roseanne Barr sings the National Anthem at San Diego Padre game(booed)
1990 US Ambassador tells Iraq, US won't take sides in Iraq-Kuwait dispute (WRONG!)
1991 A deadline for Iraq to provide full details of its weapons of mass destruction passed, with U.S. officials indicating military action was not imminent.
1992 25th Olympic Summer games opens in Barcelona, Spain
1992 Army refuses to overturn 127 year old conviction against Dr Samuel Mudd (Lincoln plot)
1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein signed a declaration at the White House ending their countries' 46-year-old formal state of war.
1995 Radovan Karadzic and Gen’l. Ratko Mladic and 22 other Serbs are indicted for genocide by the UN War Crimes Hague Tribunal
1997 Carroll O'Connor found not guilty of slandering Harry Perzigian
1997 Vincent "The Chin" Gigante found guilty of racketeering in NYC
1997 Rituximab, a drug designed to treat B-cell lymphoma ok'd by FDA
1999 Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France
2000 Texas Gov. George W. Bush selected Dick Cheney to be his running mate. (Halibuton! Halibuton! Halibuton! Halibuton! Halibuton! Did you know Dick Cheney ran Halibuton? That's right, now Halibuton runs the countryThis has been confirmed to me by the 2 CFR agents that live under my bed.)
2000 In Zimbabwe at least 230 white farmers quit working along with some businessmen in Karoi to protest the breakdown in law and order
2002 Encouraged by a tinny tapping sound coming up from the depths, rescuers in Somerset, Pa., brought in a huge drill in a race to save nine coal miners trapped 240 feet underground by a flooded shaft
2004 Lance Armstrong (32) becomes the 1st 6-time winner of the 2,107-mile Tour de France
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Ancient Rome : Furrinalia
Costa Rica : Annexation of Guanacaste Day/Anexi¢n de Guanacaste
Luiza Puerto Rico : Fiest of Santiago Ap¢stal
Netherlands : Independence Day
Puerto Rico : Constitution Day (1952)
Tunisia : Republic Day (1957)
Virgin Islands : Hurricane Supplication Day
Christmas In July.
Threading the Needle Day
National Eye Exam Month
Religious Observances
RC, Luth, Ang, Cong : Feast of St James the Elder, apostle
RC : Commemoration of St Christopher, patron of travelers
Religious History
0325 The Council of Nicea closed. Regarded as the first 'ecumenical council,' its 300attending bishops drafted the Nicene Creed and fixed the formula for Easter Sunday.
1741 English revivalist George Whitefield wrote in a letter: 'Your extremity shall beGod's opportunity.'
1845 Canadian-born Catholic missionary Fran‡ois Blanchet was consecrated bishop of thePacific Northwest. He devoted 45 years to planting churches, and is remembered today as the'Apostle of Oregon.'
1899 Birth of Stuart K. Hine. While an English missionary to the Ukraine, Hine pennedthe English words to an oft-sung Swedish hymn, known today as 'How Great Thou Art.'
1968 Pope Paul VI published the encyclical 'Humanae Vitae.' It restated the Catholicposition on the family, and condemned all artificial methods of birth control.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
ROBERTS PROMISES STRICTER CONTROLS ON FOUR-YEAR-OLD SON
Child’s Rampage Through D.C. Prompts Nominee’s Conservative Stance
John G. Roberts, President Bush’s nominee for the United States Supreme Court, said today that if confirmed to the nation’s highest court he would support stricter controls on his four-year-old son, Jack, two days after the mischievous tyke led the police on a terrifying high-speed chase through Washington, D.C.
The first hint of trouble involving the younger Mr. Roberts came during the president’s introduction of his nominee to the press on Tuesday, when four-year-old Jack wandered about the stage at the White House, attempting to break free from his mother.
But matters took a decided turn for the worse moments after the press event, when Jack somehow eluded the security detail and commandeered a Secret Service vehicle parked outside the White House.
The irrepressible four-year-old then led the Washington, D.C. police on a high-speed chase which ended at a Toys ‘R’ Us in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was finally subdued.
At a press conference following young Mr. Roberts’ rampage, Judge Roberts revealed his conservative bent, telling reporters, “According to my reading of the constitution, the framers would have approved putting a shorter leash on my son, and that spirit will inform my decisions going forward.”
But at the White House, insiders worried that young Jack Roberts could prove to be more of a headache to the president than he is worth.
Thought for the day :
"The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything."
Eric Hoffer
Today's classic warship, USS Anzio (CVE-57) (ex-Coral Sea)
Casablanca class escort aircraft carrier
Displacement. 9,570 t.
Lenght. 512'3"
Beam. 65'2" (waterline)
Exterme width. 108' 1"
Draft. 20'
Speed. 19.3 k.
Complement. 860
Armament. 1 5", 16 40-mm., 20 20-mm., 27 aircraft
Auxiliary aircraft carrier ACV-57 was laid down on 12 December 1942 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Wash. under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1094); named ALIKULA BAY on 22 January 1943; renamed CORAL SEA on 3 April 1943; launched on 1 May 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Frank J. Fletcher, wife of Vice Admiral Fletcher; redesignated CVE-57 on 15 July 1943; and commissioned at Astoria, Oreg., on 27 August 1943, Capt. Herbert W. Taylor in command.
On 24 September, CORAL SEA got underway for shakedown in Puget Sound. She arrived at San Diego, Calif., on 8 October to load aircraft and hold flight operations off the California coast. The carrier sailed for Hawaii on 25 October and, upon arrival at Pearl Harbor, joined sister ship LISCOME BAY (CVE-56) for exercises off Oahu. On 10 November, CORAL SEA steamed southwest to join the American forces about to invade the Gilbert Islands. She launched strikes on Makin Island from 20 through 28 November. When Tarawa had been captured, CORAL SEA headed for Pearl Harbor and arrived there on 5 December. She paused to embark passengers and load aircraft for transport to the United States and departed on 8 December. The carrier arrived at Alameda, Calif., on 14 December to take on new planes. She put to sea on 22 December and steamed back to Hawaii. On 28 December, CORAL SEA anchored at Pearl Harbor and began preparations for the impending assault on Kwajalein.
The escort carrier was underway on 3 January 1944 for a series of exercises in Hawaiian waters. After final fitting out, she sailed on 22 January in Task Group (TG) 52.9 and arrived in the vicinity of Kwajalein on 31 January, two days after planes of the Fast Carrier Task Force began pounding airfields on the atoll. CORAL SEA provided direct and indirect air support for the amphibious landings. On 24 February, the ship set course for Eniwetok, but was recalled to Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 3 March.
After a brief respite, CORAL SEA got underway again on 11 March and proceeded to the Solomon Islands. She anchored at Tulagi on 21 March, topped off with fuel, and loaded stores. Sailing again on 30 March, the escort carrier headed for Emirau Island. From 1 to 11 April she launched planes in support of forces occupying Emirau and returned to Port Purvis on 15 April.
The next day, CORAL SEA left Tulagi to assist in the reconquest of New Guinea. On the 19th, she joined TG 78.2, which was formed to support Allied footholds at Hollandia and Aitape. Her planes joined in strikes on the 22d of April, and, on 26 April, the escort carrier sailed to Seeadler Harbor for replenishment and on 7 May, headed for Espiritu Santo for availability.
Her repair period completed, the ship got underway on 8 June for Kwajalein, the staging point for the invasion of the Marianas. The American forces sortied on 10 June, and CORAL SEA helped to provide air support for landings by the 2d Marine Division on Saipan. She endured numerous Japanese air attacks during the next few days but received only minor damage. The carrier had moved south to Guam on 17 June to begin softening-up operations against that island but returned to Saipan the next day to assist the bogged-down American forces. CORAL SEA and her escorts retired to Eniwetok on 28 June but returned to Saipan on 4 July. Her planes made further air strikes before she put into Eniwetok on 15 July for repairs to her engines. Ultimately, CORAL SEA was ordered back to the United States for a much needed overhaul, and the carrier sailed on 23 July. Two days later, she paused at Kwajalein to unload most of her aircraft and ammunition and then continued via Pearl Harbor for the naval base at San Diego. CORAL SEA received word that her name had been changed to ANZIO as of 15 September.
ANZIO held sea trials off the California coast and was ready to sail for the western Pacific on 16 September and entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for a tender availability. On 8 October, the carrier began a series of training exercises; and, on the 16th, she set out for Eniwetok. There, ANZIO joined a hunter/killer group and carried out an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) mission while she was en route to Ulithi. ON 4 November, she was ordered to assist RENO (CL-96) which had been torpedoed in the Philippine Sea. When ANZIO was relieved by EXTRACTOR (ARS-15), she resumed her ASW patrols and worked at that task through mid-February 1945, when she steamed to Iwo Jima.
ANZIO resumed combat support operations on 16 February. Three days later, she launched a strike to the north on Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands. From 19 February through 4 March, ANZIO followed a schedule of launching her first flight just before sunset and recovering her last just before dawn. During these nocturnal operations, she completed 106 sorties without a single accident. ANZIO departed the Iwo Jima area on 8 March and entered San Pedro Bay at Leyte on 12 March. After 10 days of upkeep, she sailed to join the invasion of Okinawa. After providing air cover for an Okinawa-bound amphibious group, the escort carrier joined other forces in the vicinity of Kerama Retto in seizing that island group to provide an advanced base for the Fleet. The Okinawa attack began on 1 April, and ANZIO remained on line until she retired to Ulithi on 30 April for repairs to her rudder bearings. On 21 May, the carrier resumed ASW operations in the Okinawa area. This role ended 17 June, when ANZIO sailed to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, for upkeep.
ANZIO left the Philippines on 6 July to begin what proved to be her last stint of combat duty. She joined TG 30.8 and positioned herself about 600 miles east of Tokyo. ANZIO made ASW patrols in support of Admiral Halsey's attacks on the Japanese home islands. She received word of the Japanese capitulation on 15 August and sailed for Guam on 19 August. After refitting and training new flight crews, the escort carrier headed for Okinawa. From that point, she was to provide air cover and ASW patrol services for transports carrying occupation troops to Korea. On 8 September, ANZIO anchored at Jinsen, Korea, whence she provided air support for the landings of the occupation force. The escort carrier left Korea on 13 September and returned to Okinawa. On 19 September, she broke her homeward-bound pennant, became a member of a "Magic- Carpet" group, and reached San Francisco on 30 September.
While at San Francisco, ANZIO was modified to provide maximum passenger accommodations. The carrier made two trips to the western Pacific and back, one to Pearl Harbor and one to Shanghai, China, to shuttle American troops home. ANZIO arrived at Seattle, Wash., on 23 December and ended the year at that port.
On 18 January 1946, ANZIO sailed for Norfolk, Va. She paused at San Francisco then continued southward to transit the Panama Canal before finally reaching the east coast. ANZIO was placed out of commission on 5 August 1946 and became a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet berthed at Norfolk. The ship was redesignated CVHE-57 on 15 June 1955. ANZIO was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959 and sold to the Master Metals Co. on 24 November 1959.
ANZIO received six battle stars for service in World War II.
