Figure 1: USS
Glennon (DD-620), date and place
unknown. US Navy photograph. Click on
photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS Glennon (DD-620), date and place unknown. The ship in the center background is probably the battleship USS Nevada (BB-36) which would place the photograph in the period just prior to D-Day, 6 June 1944. Courtesy of Fred Weiss and Bill Fessenden. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Glennon (DD-620) in the foreground with another unidentified destroyer in a convoy bound for France. Photograph taken from US Destroyer Operations in World War II by Theodore Roscoe. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS
Glennon (DD-620) on 22 October 1942
at the New York Navy Yard, New York. Courtesy
Ed Zajkowski . Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Glennon (DD-620) on 19 October 1943, place unknown. Photograph from the collection of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, Vallejo, California. Courtesy of Darryl Baker. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: USS Glennon (DD-620), at right, after her stern was blown off by a mine off Normandy on 8 June 1944. USS Rich (DE-695), a US PT boat, a British motor launch, and an American Auk class minesweeper are standing by. Rich soon hit another mine, which also destroyed her stern, and was then sunk by a third mine. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after
US Navy Rear Admiral James H. Glennon (1857-1940), the 1,620-ton USS Glennon (DD-620) was a Gleaves class destroyer and was built by
the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Kearny, New Jersey, and was
commissioned on 8 October 1942. The ship was approximately 348 feet long and 36
feet wide, had a top speed of 35 knots, and had a crew of 270 officers and men.
Glennon was armed with four 5-inch
guns, two 40-mm guns, five 20-mm guns, 10 21-inch torpedo tubes, and depth
charges.
After completing
her shakedown cruise off the coast of New England, Glennon was assigned to escort and protect convoys carrying men and
supplies for the invasion of Italy. From 9 to 15 July 1943, Glennon participated in the invasion of
Sicily. She eventually returned to the United States and steamed into New York
harbor on 3 December 1943. The destroyer then made two round-trip convoy escort
voyages to England and one to Gibraltar. Glennon
arrived in New York from Gibraltar on 22 April 1944 and left on 5 May with a
convoy that arrived at Belfast, Ireland, on 14 May. The ship then joined the
giant naval armada that was gathering for the Allied invasion of Normandy,
France.
Glennon was assigned to “Assault Force U” of
the Western Naval Task Force for the invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. The
destroyer arrived in the Baie de la Seine, France, on D-Day and after
patrolling the area for German submarines and motor torpedo boats, was ordered
to join the other warships providing gunfire support for the Allied troops on
shore.
The next day,
on 7 June, Glennon steamed off “Utah”
beach at Normandy and fired 430 5-inch shells at enemy shore positions in
support of Allied ground troops moving toward Quineville, France. On 8 June,
the ship, which was under the command of Commander Clifford A. Johnson, was
moving along the Normandy coast for
another gunfire support mission when at 0830 hours Glennon’s stern struck a mine. The blast destroyed most of the
ship’s stern and the minesweepers USS Staff
(AM-114) and USS Threat (AM-124) arrived
on the scene to sweep the area for additional mines. The destroyer escort USS Rich
(DE-695) also arrived a few minutes later to assist Glennon, but suddenly Rich hit three mines which exploded
within a few minutes of each other. These catastrophic blasts blew off a
50-foot section of Rich’s stern. Rich sank 15 minutes after striking the
mines.
The
minesweeper Staff discovered that she
could not tow Glennon, whose fantail
seemed to be firmly anchored to the ocean bottom by her starboard propeller. Most
of Glennon’s crew was moved on board Staff and those remaining on the
destroyer lightened her stern by pumping fuel forward and jettisoning depth
charges and topside equipment. On 9 June, additional salvage equipment was
gathered on some nearby ships that came to assist Glennon. Approximately 60 officers and men also re-boarded Glennon to assist in the salvage
operation.
But on the
following morning of 10 June, just as Commander Johnson was preparing to resume
salvage efforts on board his ship, a German artillery battery on shore near
Quineville spotted Glennon and began
firing cannon shells at her. A salvo soon hit Glennon amidships and cut off all power. After being hit yet again,
Commander Johnson ordered “Abandon Ship” and the remainder of the crew was
taken off in a landing craft. The battered hulk of USS Glennon remained afloat until 2145 hours on 10 June 1944, at which
point she rolled over and sank. During this whole ordeal, the ship lost 25
crewmen killed and 38 wounded. Glennon
was awarded two battle stars for her service during World War II.
