Operation_Avalanche_naval_order_of_battle

Operation Avalanche naval order of battle

Operation Avalanche naval order of battle

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Operation Avalanche was the codename for the combined US and British landings on the southwest coast of Italy on 9 September 1943 as part of the Allied effort in the Mediterranean Theater during World War II. The forces landed consisted of the US Fifth Army under Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark. The Fifth Army was made up of the British X Corps, which landed south of the town of Salerno, and the US VI Corps, which landed at the town of Paestum.

Landing Plans for Salerno and Paestum

The landings were carried out by combined forces of the US Navy and Royal Navy.

Naval losses: 2 destroyers, 1 minesweeper, 1 tug, 1 hospital ship

Order of battle

Vice Adm. H. Kent Hewitt, USN
Vice Adm. Hewitt's flagship, USS Ancon (AGC-4)

Western Naval Task Force (Task Force 80)

Vice Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, USN[1]

Embarking US Fifth Army (Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark, USA)
  1 amphibious force flagship: USS Ancon
  2 anti-aircraft/fighter director ships: HMS Ulster Queen, HMS Palomares
  1 submarine: HMS Shakespeare

Northern Landing Force (Task Force 85)

Commodore G.N. Oliver, RN

Embarking British X Corps (Lt. Gen. Richard McCreery, BA)
Combat vessels
  4 light cruisers: HMS Mauritius, HMS Uganda, HMS Orion, HMS Delhi
  1 monitor: HMS Roberts
18 destroyers: 17 British, 1 Greek
Amphibious assault vessels
  2 amphibious force flagships: HMS Hilary, USS Biscayne
13 transports and LSIs
90 LSTs: 45 American, 45 British
84 LCTs: 24 American, 60 British (5 sunk)
96 LCI(L)s: 48 American, 48 British
Auxiliaries
  7 minesweepers
  4 tugs (1 sunk by air attack 13 September)
23 subchasers/wooden hull
27 minecraft
32 motor launches
13 trawlers

Southern Landing Force (Task Force 81)

Rear Adm. John L. Hall, Jr., USN

Rear Adm. John L. Hall, Jr., USN
USS Revenge, a World War II-era Auk class minesweeper
World War II-era US PT boat in 1945
Embarking US VI Corps (Maj. Gen. Ernest J. Dawley, USA)
Fire Support Group (TG 81.5)
Rear Admiral Lyal A. Davidson
  4 light cruisers: USS Philadelphia, USS Savannah, USS Boise, USS Brooklyn
  1 monitor: HMS Abercrombie
  4 destroyers (1 sunk by submarine 12 October)
Screen (TG 81.6)
Capt. Charles Wellborn
12 destroyers (1 sunk by torpedo boat 10 September)
Transport Group (TG 81.2)
Capt. C.D. Edgar
19 transports: 14 American, 5 British
  3 LSTs: all British
  6 scout boats
Landing Craft Group (TG 81.3)
Capt. F.M. Adams
27 LSTs: 18 American, 9 British
32 LCIs: 26 American, 6 British
  6 LCTs: all American
Control Group (TG 81.7)
Cmdr. R.D. Lowther, USNR
  8 subchasers (steel hull), 4 LCSs
TG 81.8 – Minesweeper Group
Cmdr. A.H. Richards
  9 minesweepers (1 sunk by submarine 25 September)
12 motor minesweepers
TG 81.9 – Salvage Group
Lt. V.C. Kyllberg
  2 tugs
TG 80.2 – Picket Group
Lt. Cmdr. S.M. Barnes
16 PTs
TG 80.3 – Diversion Group
Capt. C.L. Andrews
  1 destroyer: USS Knight
  7 torpedo boats: 7 British MTBs, 1 American PT
  4 subchasers (wooden hull)
  6 Motor Launches
10 air/sea rescue craft

Support Carrier Force (Task Force 88)

Rear Adm. Sir Philip L. Vian, RN
Fairey Barracudas landing on HMS Formidable in 1944

Rear Admiral Sir Philip L. Vian, RN

  1 light carrier: HMS Unicorn
  4 escort carriers: HMS Battler, HMS Attacker, HMS Hunter, HMS Stalker
  3 light cruisers: HMS Euryalus, HMS Scylla, HMS Charybdis
  9 destroyers: 7 British, 2 Polish

Covering forces

2 fleet carriers (Rear Admiral Clement Moody, RN)
HMS Illustrious
28 Grumman Martlet fighters
10 Supermarine Seafire fighters
12 Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers
HMS Formidable
28 Grumman Martlet fighters
  5 Supermarine Seafire fighters
12 Fairey Albacore torpedo bombers[lower-alpha 1]
Force "H" (Vice Admiral Sir Algernon Willis, RN)
  4 battleships: HMS Nelson, HMS Rodney, HMS Warspite, HMS Valiant
Screen
20 destroyers: 16 British, 1 Polish, 2 Dutch, 1 French
Auxiliaries
  3 hospital ships: HMHS Newfoundland (sunk by air attack 13 September), HMHS Leinster, HMHS Somersetshire

Notes

  1. Biplanes

References

  1. [1]
    Morison, pp. 391-394

Sources

  • Morison, Samuel Eliot (1954). Sicily – Salerno – Anzio, January 1943–June 1944. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. IX. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 0-7858-1310-1.
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