U.S. Coast Guard Amphibious Operations
Coast Guard in the European and Pacific Theatres of Operation
Apr 12, 2009 Michael G Walling
When they were twenty years old, Brooklyn native John Ryan and his best friend decided to sign up with the Coast Guard. The line was blocks long when they arrived. John waited several hours before he decided to give up; he would later enter the Army Air Force. His friend stayed in line. When the war ended, John came home from Europe and went across the street to look up his buddy. The fellow’s mother told him that her son was lying injured in a Navy hospital in San Diego. John was incredulous. “Injured? I thought he was in the Coast Guard!” John’s buddy had been driving a landing craft at Okinawa when it hit a mine. He was in a steel enclosure, chin high, and when the boat was hit, the upper lip of the enclosure caught him under the chin and shattered his jaw.
Landing Craft Operations
Maneuvering small boats on and off beaches through heavy surf was not something the Navy practiced and Coast Guard Surfmen were called upon to teach this skill to the growing number of landing craft crews. Men whose great grandfathers had put out through storm whipped breakers to save others now turned to the task of landing soldiers and Marines on bullet swept beaches.
Coast Guard on D-Day
Coast Guardsmen were a major part of every invasion from Guadalcanal to North Africa, Tarawa, Biak, Cape Gloucester, the Philippines, Sicily, Italy, Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. They manned attack transports, cargo ships, Army freighters, LSTs, LCIs, LCVPs, and served as Beach Masters and Beach Parties.
Many Coast Guard-manned vessels participated in multiple landings and several participated in both the ETO and Pacific campaigns. Coast Guard personnel were instrumental in establishing Amphibious training facilities and doctrine for the Navy and Army as well as serving as key members on the planning staffs in all 150 invasions staged during WWII. They also served on ships assigned to the British and ANZAC amphibious forces. Many of men took part in several landings, their chances of survival diminishing with every one.
At Tarawa the Beach Party was Coast Guard. After surviving that devastating assault, they went on to two invasions in the Marshall Islands. The first flag raised on Iwo Jima came from a Coast Guard-manned LST. Landing craft crews from the USS Bayfield put men ashore at Utah Beach then went to Southern France, Iwo Jima, and, finally, Okinawa.
Growth of the Coast Guard in WW II
When the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 the Coast Guard was composed of only 327 vessels. By the time Japan surrender on August 5, 1945 it manned 1,444 vessels and 7,960 small boats. During the war, twenty-eight Coast Guard-manned ships were lost and 1,038 Coast Guardsmen died overseas.
Guardians
What they did has often been overlooked by history because they served as part of the U.S. Navy during the war. Coast Guardsmen brought a unique perspective to the war, shaped by the Coast Guard’s long tradition of protecting men and ships from harm. When necessary they became proficient hunters, but remained at heart, guardians.
LCVPs HEading for the Beach
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LST 881
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