Yanks in black gang cheer as Nazis shell destroyer
U.S. Navy survivor camp, England (UP) –
Three members of a “black gang” below decks in the destroyer USS Glennon cheered while German shells pounded their sinking ship off the Normandy beaches.
They had not heard an order to “abandon ship” and thought the explosions were from their own guns returning the German fire.
They were rescued at the last moment by LtCdr. John D. Bulkeley, Pacific hero, who raced his PT boat through choppy waters under heavy German fire and took them off the sinking ship.
Petty Officers William Venable, 42, of Mayodan, North Carolina; Francis Dauber, 33, of Elizabeth, New Jersey; and John Valkenberg, 22, of Paterson, New Jersey, were below when an explosion damaged the Glennon in the early morning darkness.
The Glennon broke at the stern and propellers and settled into sand so firmly she could not be pulled off by tugs.
German shore batteries spotted the crippled destroyer at dawn and began sending 155mm shells across her decks.
Orders ship abandoned
Cdr. Cal Johnson of Baltimore, Maryland, ordered the ship abandoned except for a skeleton crew which was instructed to repel German raiders if they tried to board the ship. When the German barrage increased and all hope of saving the ship was abandoned, Cdr. Johnson ordered all hands off the vessel.
Down in the engine room, Petty Officers Venable, Dauber and Valkenberg, sweating to keep up steam and put out a fire in the aft section, did not hear the order.
“Give ‘em hell, boys,” shouted PO Venable above the roar of what he thought was his own ship returning the fire.
Finds ship deserted
Aboard a rescue ship, Cdr. Johnson discovered three of his men missing. Meanwhile, the “black gang” had discovered its plight when PO Valkenberg went to the galley for coffee and found the ship deserted and “all hell popping.”
The ship was barely afloat when Cdr. Bulkeley reached it. The missing “black gang” was standing calmly on deck.
Cdr. Johnson again gave the order to “abandon ship” and the three clambered down a ladder to the PT.