Wreck of USS Glennon (DD-620)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, destroyer (ship), United States Navy

Laid down in March 1942 and the Federal Kearny Yard and commissioned into US Navy service in October of the same year, USS Glennon was the 44th member of the Gleaves Class of Destroyers and after shakedown and crew training joined the US Atlantic Fleet in the fight against the Axis in Europe.

Assigned primarily to convoy escort work, the Glennon and her crew operated off the US & Canadian coast through early 1943 before crossing the Atlantic screening troop and supply ships bound for the Allied Invasion of Sicily. Providing both gunfire support and anti-submarine screening during the landings at Licata and Gela in July 1943, the Glennon withdrew from Italian waters with empty troopships to Oran where she continued her convoy escort operations along the North African coast through the end of 1943.

Returning to New York in December 1943, the Glennon underwent a refit and upgrade period at the New York Navy yard before commencing transatlantic convoy escort work from the US to the UK. After completing two round trips to the British Isles during the notoriously bad North Atlantic Winter, Glennon stood out of New York for Gibraltar in April escorting a fast tanker convoy bound for the Mediterranean, arriving at the British port on the 22nd. Expecting to be assigned to another convoy, Glennon and her crew instead received orders to sail for Belfast with a Naval Task Group, part of the Allied build-up for the upcoming Invasion of France. Arriving in Northern Ireland on May 14th, the Glennon began intensive training maneuvers in preparation for her role in 'Operation Overlord', and by June 1st she and her crew were anchored in Plymouth roads with the other ships of Assault Force "U", awaiting orders to sail for the beaches of Normandy.

Screening the Capital ships of the Force "U" bombardment force across the English Channel during the night of June 5th, the Glennon arrived off Normandy before dawn on June 6th, 1944 and took up her position off Baie de la Seine to guard for German E-Boats, Submarines or other surface craft which could pose a threat to the Battleships, Cruisers and Destroyers that began shelling German positions at first light. As the invasion progressed throughout the day, it became clear that no German surface craft were operating in the area so Glennon closed on the Utah Beachhead and began on-call fire support for US and Allied troops fighting to advance inland. Continuing this work through the night of June 6th and into June 7th, Glennon sent over a thousand 5-inch shells onto German positions, 430 of which severely battered the area around Quinéville and facilitated the capture of the town.

Moving Northwest to a new fire support position off the Îles Saint-Marcouf on the morning of June 8th, the Glennon was rocked by a German mine which was set off beneath her Port Stern at 0830hrs. The force of the underwater blast all but ripped the aft most section of the Glennon forward of her #3 5-inch mount off the ship, but a ribbon of hull plating remained firmly attached to the Stern as it quickly flooded and sank, taking most of the men stationed therein with it to the bottom and dragging Glennon lower into the water. Having lost both her propellers Glennon went dead in the water as her crew effected enough damage control to keep the bow section of the ship afloat, and within moments two Minesweepers were onscene and the Destroyer Escort USS Rich (DE-695) had taken up a screening position on the Glennon to protect the rescue and salvage effort. The Minesweeper USS Staff (AM-114) had no sooner put a line aboard the Glennon and began to tow the wounded Destroyer away from the shoreline than the USS Rich was rocked by three near-simultaneous blasts from German mines and sank in three pieces within fifteen minutes. All of the assembled ships and the destruction of the Rich attracted the attention of German shore batteries, and within minutes the entire formation was under increasingly accurate fire, prompting the salvage operation to be called off and the Glennon to be abandoned.

Remaining defiantly afloat through the day and into the night of June 8th, the Glennon was re-boarded by a volunteer crew under the cover of darkness and a concerted attempt was made to separate the ship from her sunken Stern section, which was firmly wedged into rocks on the bottom and preventing the Glennon from being towed out of the range of German artillery. Efforts by the 60-man crew continued through the night and into the morning of June 9th, when the increased activity around the Glennon again prompted German batteries to start shelling the immobile vessel, hitting her several times with 8-inch and 6-inch rounds amidships which cut all power onboard. With the ship now powerless and beginning to flood, Glennon's Captain ordered her abandoned once again shortly after 0700hrs on June 9th. Under periodic fire throughout June 9th and into June 10th, the Glennon settled lower and lower into the water before she finally succumbed to her wounds and sank at this location at 2145hrs on June 10th, 1944, having lost 25 of her crew.

For her actions during the Second World War, USS Glennon received two Battle Stars.

www.navsource.org/archives/05/620.htm