U.S. Navy Stands Down MSRON 7, Stands Up MESG-1 Det. Guam

MESG-1 boat

Numbers and name change, downgraded from a command to an officer-in-charge, as Navy Establishes MESG-1 Det. Guam:

Maritime Expeditionary Security Squadron (MSRON) 7 was officially disestablished and Maritime Expeditionary Security Group (MESG) 1 Det. Guam was established during a ceremony on U.S. Naval Base Guam, Feb. 3.

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More than 150 Sailors from MSRON-7 will continue their tour under MESG-1 Det. Guam.

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. . . Under Suchyta's lead, MSRON-7 protected 10 special mission ships operating in the East and South China Seas, four logistic ships in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf, 26 aircraft visiting high-threat airfields, and securely guided high-ranking passengers during special missions.  . .

Confused about what this is about? Here's part of a mission statement about MESG's:

c. MSRON Mission: To provide MESG commanders, fleet commanders, and Navy component commanders planning, administration, direction, and training of highly mobile, fully capable, and equipped active and reserve forces to deploy as complete squadrons or task-organized units capable of exercising tactical control of assigned C2, waterborne, and landward security assets in order to provide perimeter defense, surveillance, patrol, escort, and interdiction in ports, harbors, and other militarily significant coastal and inshore areas. Provide critical infrastructure and high value asset protection both on land and at sea. Provide centralized planning, control, coordination, and integration of MESF assets for force protection in support of missions as assigned by combatant commanders. (1) MSRONs have an integral C2 capability resident in their staff structures to ensure the readiness and maintenance of resident command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) capabilities. MSRONs are also capable of providing and maintaining a tactical picture in support of large expeditionary operations, asset protection, and harbor defense/port security in the littoral environment through the use of associated communications and various ground, surface, and subsurface sensors and unmanned/unattended vehicles in the near shore littoral environment. (2) Inherent in each MSRON is a waterborne security capability that is made up of boat detachments (BOATDET). The boat detachment will provide waterborne interdiction and surveillance assets to the security/antiterrorism officer, seaward security officer, or harbor defense commander in expeditionary operations. BOATDETs routinely operate with other MESF assets and other USN, joint, coalition, and host nation forces. BOATDETs may be assigned within the unified and/or allied command structure.

In other words, the old MIUW units, Harbor Defense Units and Inshore Boat Units brought together as part of the active duty force with the additional mission of Naval Armed Guards tossed in as needed.

Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944

In case you were wondering what this day is famous for starting in 1944 try the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944:

On 6 June 1944 the Western Allies landed in northern France, opening the long-awaited "Second Front" against Adolf Hitler's Germany. Though they had been fighting in mainland Italy for some nine months, the Normandy invasion was in a strategically more important region, setting the stage to drive the Germans from France and ultimately destroy the National Socialist regime.

It had been four long years since France had been overrun and the British compelled to leave continental Europe, three since Hitler had attacked the Soviet Union and two and a half since the United States had formally entered the struggle. After an often seemingly hopeless fight, beginning in late 1942 the Germans had been stopped and forced into slow retreat in eastern Europe, defeated in North Africa and confronted in Italy. U.S. and British bombers had visited ruin on the enemy's industrial cities. Allied navies had contained the German submarine threat, making possible an immense buildup of ground, sea and air power in the British Isles.

A story you might not have heard, about how 22 old, mostly useless merchant ships were intentionally sunk to create breakwaters and the role of the " Naval Armed Guards" in that process from here:

Sunken "Block Ships"

The story of how a modern [artificial] port was built at Omaha and Utah beaches has already been revealed. Armed Guards on some 22 merchant ships which were scuttled [deliberately sunk] to make a breakwater played a vital part in this operation. For days they endured the early fury of the German counter-attack and helped give fire protection to the forces ashore from their partly submerged ships. This was a task which required courage and the ability to do without sleep.

Block Ships in Position with Gaps for Ship/Shore Traffic

The 22 block ships were carefully prepared for their assigned operation. The heavy [deck] gun aft was removed and four 20mm [anti-aircraft guns] and a 40mm [anti-aircraft gun] were generally substituted. The ships were stripped of all unnecessary gear. About eight explosive charges were placed in the holds and large openings were cut in the transverse bulkheads. Necessary food supplies and ammunition had to be moved topside, for the decks of some of the ships were to be under water at times.

The men aboard the 13 ships scuttled off Omaha Beach and the 9 ships scuttled off Utah Beach had much the same experiences. Crossing the [English] Channel there were the [enemy] mines and the E-boats [small fast German motor torpedo boats also known as Schnellboote or S-Boats; similar to American PT-boats]. By day German 88mm guns fired at the block ships, and by night enemy bombers came over.

Beachhead from Above with Block Ships in Position

The James Iredell was the lead ship among the block ships and she was scuttled at the appointed position on the afternoon of June 7, 1944. At 2030 German artillery fire became so heavy that the Armed Guards on this ship and on the Baialaide and the Galveston were evacuated. But they returned to their ships on the morning of June 8. The Armed Guards of the Baialaide remained at their guns until June 17. At high tide the main deck of the ship was six feet under water. The Armed Guards on the James Iredell and the Galveston recorded air attacks every night until June 15, when they were relieved. On the George W. Childs, which was scuttled on June 8, the Armed Guards had narrowly missed being hit by artillery fire as they lay off the beach on the night of June 7. Mines and E-boats had been encountered while crossing the Channel. There were three or four air attacks at night and one bomb landed 50 yards from the Childs. She was credited with two assists [in shooting down enemy aircraft]. She established a kind of open house for visiting firemen by furnishing food and quarters to countless numbers of troops and small boat crews. One of her Armed Guards was wounded by a shell fragment. Not until June 17 did the Armed Guards leave the ship.

The Courageous reported E-boat attacks en route to Omaha Beach, artillery fire upon arrival on June 7, and air attacks every night from June 7 to 12. On June 9 her Armed Guards hit a [German] plane which in turn dropped a bomb so close that the decks were sprayed with fragments. The plane crashed. The Potter was forced to seaward on the night of June 7 by [German] 88mm [artillery] fire, but was scuttled the next day. Many shell fragments landed on her decks and one Armed Guard was wounded. Her crew was relieved on June 13. Several bombs landed close to the James W. Marshall. Her Armed Guard officer remained on board until June 22 in connection with the command of all Armed Guards on the scuttled ships. But Army personnel took over the gunnery duties on the Marshall on June 13. The Wilscox had a narrow miss on June 11. Her Armed Guards were also evacuated on June 13. The Armed Guards on the Audacious remained aboard until June 18. The Armed Guards on the Olambala reported some 32 air attacks to June 16, but only one merchant seaman was wounded before the merchant crew was removed. Fragments from 88mm guns which were scoring near misses hit the decks of the Artemus Ward on June 7. One Armed Guard was wounded on June 9. Bombs narrowly missed on June 10 and 11, and shell fragments hit on the latter date. Part of the gun crew was removed on June 19. Because of a storm from June 19 to 22 [this was the great storm which wrecked the artificial "mulberry" harbors at the Normandy beachheads], the ship cracked. The last Armed Guards were not removed until June 22. The West Grama fired about 19 times and scored one assist on June 9. One Armed Guard on this vessel was wounded while at Omaha Beach. A bomb landed close to the ship on June 14. Her Armed Guards left the ship on June 18. She was credited with two assists [in shooting down German aircraft]. Flight Command reported 30 to 35 alerts prior to June 15.

At Utah Beach the George S. Wasson went through 32 raids from June 7 to 14. The David O. Saylor was forced to withdraw from Utah Beach because of heavy artillery fire which was straddling her on June 7. She was also forced to withdraw once on June 8 but was successfully scuttled in the afternoon. Her Armed Guards left on June 13. The West Nohno helped shoot down several enemy planes on June 10. Her Armed Guards left on June 18. The Benjamin Contee Armed Guards withdrew from the ship on June 14 after 32 raids. Artillery narrowly missed the Matt W. Ransom at Utah Beach. Her Armed Guards reported many alerts and indicated that from 8 to 10 rounds of [German] artillery fire were observed each day to June 15. They left two days later. The Vitruvius reported that six planes were shot down by her fire and by the shore batteries on June 10. She was narrowly missed by bombs on the night of June 11. The Armed Guards on the Victory Sword brought down six planes on the night of June 10. The West Cheswald claimed one plane destroyed. Her Armed Guards were not removed until June 19. The West Honaker was damaged by two skip bombs on June 8 and part of the merchant crew and the Armed Guards abandoned ship. Not until June 10 was she scuttled about 400 yards from the beach. Her Armed Guards left on June 14. The Armed Guard crews from the block ships were returned to the United States on the Queen Elizabeth. There was no loss of life among the Armed Guards taking part in this dangerous operation.

The Commander of United States Naval Forces in Europe highly commended the Armed Guard personnel for their participation in placing the block ships and defending the ships until relieved by Army personnel.

You want lessons in courage? D-Day at Normandy is just one example.


See "Ghost Ships of Normandy for more information on the "block ships." Block ships are an old military idea. Old merchant ships were not alone in being sunk as "block ships" - several old warships were also used. See here:

• HMS Centurion, old battleship sunk as a blockship in "Gooseberry" breakwater
• Courbet, Free Naval French Forces, old battleship sunk as a blockship in "Gooseberry" breakwater
• HMS Durban (light cruiser used as a blockship in "Gooseberry" breakwater)
• HNMLS Sumatra (Dutch, decommissioned due to crew shortages and losing her guns to HNMLS Flores and Soemba, used as blockship in"Gooseberry" breakwater)

The ships to be sunk were known as "corn cobs" and the breakwaters they created were known as "Gooseberries." Other components of the artificial harbors were "Mulberries." See here:

"Corn cobs" were block ships that crossed the channel either under their own steam or that were towed and then scuttled to create sheltered water at the five landing beaches.. Once in position the "Corn Cobs" created "Gooseberries". The ships used for each beach were:
Utah Beach (Gooseberry 1): Benjamin Contee, David O. Saylor, George S. Wasson, Matt W. Ransom,[7] West Cheswald, West Honaker, West Nohno, Willis A. Slater, Victory Sword and Vitruvius.

Omaha Beach (Gooseberry 2): Artemas Ward,[7] Audacious, Baialoide, HMS Centurion, Courageous, Flight-Command, Galveston, George W. Childs, James W. Marshall, James Iredell,[7] Olambala, Potter, West Grama and Wilscox.

Gold Beach (Gooseberry 3): Alynbank, Alghios Spyridon, Elswick Park, Flowergate, Giorgios P., Ingman, Innerton, Lynghaug, Modlin, Njegos, Parkhaven, Parklaan, Saltersgate, Sirehei, Vinlake and Winha.

Juno Beach (Gooseberry 4): Belgique, Bendoran, Empire Bunting, Empire Flamingo, Empire Moorhen, Empire Waterhen, Formigny, Manchester Spinner, Mariposa, Panos and Vera Radcliffe.

Sword Beach (Gooseberry 5): Becheville, Courbet, Dover Hill, HMS Durban, Empire Defiance, Empire Tamar, Empire Tana, Forbin and HNLMS Sumatra.

"Gooseberry"
The sheltered waters created by the Corn Cob block ships. Two of the "Gooseberries[8]" grew into "Mulberries", the artificial harbours.

You might gather that there was a great deal more involved in Normandy D-Day operations than sending landing craft ashore.

Take time to remember all those who took part in the French shore beginning of the liberation of Europe from the Nazis.

From Navy Art Gallery showing the Omaha beach just before the storm that wrecked much of the logistics structure - but also shows the Gooseberries in line offshore

Also from the Navy Art Gallery, Storm on "Gooseberry" by Dwight C. Shepler, Watercolor, June, 21 1944:

There, with decks awash in the roaring sea, the sunken block ships of the great harbor of "Mulberry" successfully rode out the storm. The part of the breakwater formed by the line of sunken ships was called "Gooseberry." Though they worked about on the bottom, the ships held their place throughout the unseasonal blow of June 19-22, 1944. At the height of the gale's fury, gunners stationed on a sunken merchantman sought safety on the fo'c'sle of the H.M.S. Centurion, an old British battlewagon which was the western bastion of Gooseberry.

Top photos from the Naval Historical Center. Photos of "block ships" from "Ghost Ships of Normandy, photo source unknown (but I am ready to learn and give proper credit).

UPDATE: Interesting read from the Navy Department Library:  Miracle Harbor:

AMERICAN and British officers planning the D-Day details in England were up against a tremendous problem. It was all very well to land troops on the beaches of Normandy, but once there they had to be kept supplied with immense quantities of ammunition, food, and weapons. How were these supplies to keep flowing without a harbor?

There was a limit to what landing craft could do. The rough Channel seas and the tide that rises and falls twenty feet meant that stuff put down on the flat Normandy beaches would be swamped by the tide before it could all be moved onto dry land. And the idea of starting off the invasion by capturing one of the heavily defended French ports was out of the question. It would take too long.

The story goes that one of the officers engaged in the planning remarked casually to one of his colleagues, not intending to be taken seriously, "Well, I suppose we'll have to take our harbors with us." This remark, it is reported, started the experts on a train of thought that ended at the point where the ramps of the prefabricated ports touched the Normandy shore.

Happy Birthday to the Naval Armed Guard

Dec 2 is the anniversary of the first Naval Armed Guards reporting for duty to a merchant ship to act as a counterbalance to the submarines of World War II:

The first Naval armed guard detachment (seven men under a coxswain) of World War II reports to liberty ship SS Dunboyne.

Their purpose was well set out in Antisubmarine Warfare ONI Publication No. 9:

The submarine had no value as a war machine until the invention of the periscope. By the use of the periscope, partial invisibility was obtained in delivering the attack, thus giving the submarine the power of "ambush," or of making the surprise attack. The surprise attack is the reason for the submarine's existence, for without it, the submarine degenerates into slow moving torpedo boat with all its limitations.

Thus, to combat the submarine, if we prevent it from delivering this surprise, we destroy its effectiveness. In the protection of merchantmen, it should be our aim to prevent the surprise, for it is known that if the submarine once located, by maneuvering, we have a fair chance of escaping the danger of being torpedoed.

By arming merchantmen, we keep the submarine submerged, thus confining it to low speeds of small radius and preventing it from using its guns as a surface vessel.

Though the publication dates from WWI, the idea was revived for the second World War.

Much more about these Navy gunners who served on merchant hull here. And a complete Navy history here titled: Office of Naval Operations History of the Naval Armed Guard Afloat
World War II from which pages comes a tale of the first sinking of a German surface ship in a surface action. When the Germans used surface raider ships disguised as merchant men to attack Allied shipping:

The Stephen Hopkins fought one of the most gallant actions in World War II against two German raiders on September 27 about midway between Capetown and Rio de Janeiro. The vessel was proceeding on a northwesterly course at about 0935. The weather was hazy. From the north two armed raiders appeared on her starboard bow. The larger, a 7,000 ton motor ship, was a mother ship and apparently unarmed forward. The smaller, a 4,000 ton motor ship was heavily armed probably with six 5.9" guns. She was probably No. 23. The Hopkins had a 4" gun aft, two 37 mm guns forward, four .50 cal. and two .30 cal. machine guns.

Upon sighting the raiders, the Hopkins turned away to port. The larger raider immediately drew ahead. At about 1,000 yards the smaller raider opened salvo fire. Throughout the action the larger raider strafed the decks of the Hopkins with machine gun fire. Ensign Kenneth M. Willett, USNR came out on deck as the first shell struck. He was seriously wounded immediately in the stomach by shrapnel from the bursting shell. Nevertheless he continued to direct the firing of the 4" gun at the heavier armed raider until the magazine blew up. Most of the 35 projectiles struck the raider along the water line. The Cadet fired the five remaining four inch shells at the other raider. Meanwhile the machine guns from the Hopkins were sweeping the decks of the raiders and the second mate was directing the fire of the two 37 mm guns forward at the larger ship until his shell handlers were killed and the gun platform wrecked. At the end of 20 minutes the Stephen Hopkins was done for and the order was given to abandon ship. When last seen the Armed Guard officer was covered with blood but was helping cut loose the life rafts. For his action he was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. The remaining Armed Guards were commended by the Secretary of the Navy. Only five, all wounded, survived the sinking. In addition the destroyer escort No. 354 was named for Ensign Willett. The Stephen Hopkins was awarded the Gallant Ship Citation by the War Shipping Administration.

More here, including the identity of the "Cadet" from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy who did his duty:

On 18 September, the Stephen Hopkins (Paul Buck, Captain) sailed from Cape Town, South Africa, to Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana. Several days out of Cape Town, the radio operator received a message warning of German raiders. On the morning of the 27th a lookout spotted two ships in the haze flying signal flags. They were in reality the 5,000-ton raider Stier and the 7,800-ton Tannenfels. Both immediately began firing on the Liberty ship, and what ensued was one of the most remarkable surface engagements of the war. Captain Buck immediately turned the Hopkins stern to the raiders. The armed guards manned the four-inch stern gun to defend the ship. The gun crew fired as rapidly as possible on the smaller raider. Fire from the Stier killed the gun crew one by one and volunteers replaced those who had fallen. At the same time, the Tannenfels remained at a distance, raking the Hopkins with machine gun fire that was returned by the Hopkins. The Stier had a fire control system that enabled her to fire salvos and hit the Liberty ship repeatedly. One shell hit one of the main boilers, reducing the speed of the Stephen Hopkins to one knot. Shells struck the Hopkins near the waterline, and incendiary shells eventually set fire to the main deckhouse as the ship slowly sank. The Stier, however, had paid for attacking the Stephen Hopkins. The Hopkins crew had repeatedly struck the smaller raider, now in flames and in a sinking condition. After about twenty minutes of fierce firing, the master sounded the ship’s whistle to abandon ship. In one last act of defiance, Cadet Midshipman Edwin O’Hara fired the last five remaining shells from the four-inch gun, and all struck the Stier. A salvo aimed at the gun killed O’Hara after he had fired the last round. The able-bodied men helped place the wounded in the only undamaged lifeboat. This boat searched for two hours picking up survivors. The ship’s complement originally consisted of eight officers, thirty-three men, and fifteen armed guards but only nineteen men cleared the ship. Only fifteen of these men survived – gunners, one officer and nine men. After a thirty-one day trip they made landfall at a small fishing village on the coast of Brazil.

And a note about a modern version of the Armed Guard here. It should also be remembered that the Naval Armed Guard also served in World War I.