The Writer of this Diary which was contributed by Jack Zoulek is unknown:

Story of the Seagoing Tug - USS Arikara ATF98

    The Seagoing Tug, USS Arikara ATF98, named in memorial of the Arikara tribe of Indians, was launched in Charleston, SC, in June 1943 and commissioned on January 5, 1944 at Charleston Navy Yard.  Built for long range towing operations, the Arikara's record of miles steamed and her participation in major amphibious battle engagements, is for an equal period of time, presumably unparalleled by any vessel of the same type.

    In sixteen months the ship has traveled 50,000 miles, was in the first assault waves on "D" day of the three major invasions of the years 1944-45 at Normandy, Southern Frances and Okinawa Shima and has successfully completed twenty-eight major seagoing tours.  This is a personal story of the ship and her travels.  The blood and gore that we have seen we are trying to forget -- the lives and ships we have saved we know will be remembered.

    Her first movement order was executed on January 15, 1944 when we left Charleston for the Naval Operating Base in Norfolk, VA.  Less than 20% of her crew and officers had ever been to sea before.  There was a great deal of enthusiasm among the crew and under the direction of Commander Operational Training, Atlantic Fleet, we began our shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay.  The crew and ship underwent intensive maneuvers, gunnery practice and training at General drills.  Her first  inspection was given by Captain Henry Hartley,USN,following the shakedown period and a commendation was received from Admiral D. E. Berry on the fine qualities of the ship and crew.

    On February 5th the Arikara took command of a Task Unit and left Norfolk for New York via the Inland Passage as an escort for three small landing craft.  Upon delivery of the landing craft to New York we proceeded to Casco Bay, Portland, ME, to engage in towing targets for firing practice conducted by vessels of our battle fleet.

    On March 3rd orders came to proceed to New York at best speed via the cape cod canal and to prepare for a secret mission.  Arriving at New York we found many Navy and War Shipping Administration tugs getting ready for the same job.  When all the Commanding Officers were briefed at the Third Naval District Headquarters, it was learned that the Navy was delivering barges to General Eisenhower for the invasion of Europe and that the the greatest convoy of tugs and tows ever to cross the North Atlantic was about to get underway.  This eventful trip was months later and it aroused considerable interest in Washington.  The Bureau of Ships sent Lieutenant Commander Harry M. Fisko aboard the Arikara as an observer with orders to write a report upon completion of the trip.  On March 25th all the tugs and tows, with a large escort, were underway for a port in the United Kingdom.  Our escorts were kept busy all the way over; numerous submarine contacts were made and upon arrival at Falmouth, England the escort vessels' supply of depth charges was completely exhausted.  However, excepting the loss of one ship in our convoy the operation was a complete success in every respect.  Due to very heavy seas and the nature of our operation it required 26 days to make the crossing.  We delivered our barges to Army service tugs in Falmouth and then reported for duty to Commander of the Twelfth Fleet. 

    On April 24th we left Falmouth to report to the British Tug Fleet at Lea on Solent to assist in towing the military harbor units and placing them along the South coast of England.  Those units were later towed to the Normandy beaches during the invasion.

    While we were anchored in Portsmouth Harbor during the night of April 27th, the City of Portsmouth and the harbor underwent the heaviest air attack ever launched by the Germans.  It was the first opportunity to judge the reaction of the crew under actual battle conditions.  We spent most of the night at General Quarters, standing by our guns.  Hundreds of rounds of ammunition were expended by our crew.  The Arikara took three near misses by bombs, one so close off our fantail that the concussion sent many of our men sprawling on the deck, knocked out circuit breakers and gauges in the motor room and gave us all a pretty good shaking up.  The coolness of the crew and the manner in which they went about their duties during their first battle experience was amazing.  Few realized the extent of the damage that had been done until daylight broke over the city and harbor the following morning.  Many nearby buildings were reduced to ruins, fires were still smoldering and several ships in the harbor had been damaged during the attack.

    The month of May we spent towing 6000 ton Phoenix barge units from London to their anchorages along the Southern English coast.  This required ten trips through the straits of Dover, which were timed to be made during dark hours to avoid shelling by enemy shore batteries on the French coast.  Many of these operations were conducted alone and without an escort.  During those trips great fires could be seen at short distances during the enemy's persistent shelling and bombing of Dover.  Added to the hazard of cross fire by British and enemy shore batteries were the dreaded German "E" boats which were operating constantly in that area.  There were few times during these nights that the crew was not at General Quarters ready for sneak attacks by the "E" boats.  One of the "E" boats most common tricks was to tie up to a navigation buoy so they could not be detected by radar and when we got close aboard, to fire torpedoes into the tugs and units.  On one of our trips a large Dutch tug ahead of us was the victim of one of their attacks.  They also torpedoed the large concrete unit which the tug was towing; the tug sank immediately but very little damage was done to the unit.  Five round trips were made from London with units.  Usually by daybreak we were clear of enemy action and the crew would be out on deck counting the Flying Fortresses, Liberators and Mosquitoes bound across the channel to bomb Europe.  All day long there were continuous flights.  Hundreds and hundreds of bombers went over, escorted by Spitfires, Lightning's and Hurricanes.  The crew also had an excellent chance in between these trips to explore London, becoming as familiar with the underground railway, Piccadilly circus, Leichester Square and the Lions of Trafalgar as though they were Times Square or Columbus Circle.

    On May 27th we were ordered back to Falmouth for a readiness period.  Fire fighting and salvage crews of 2 officers and 18 men reported aboard for duty.  We knew now what that meant:  The invasion of Europe.....but when?  All the Southern English ports were full of landing craft and there were more transports and fighting ships in the area than any of us had ever seen before.  The German harbor guns making a last minute attempt to knock out our landing craft fleet.  On the night May 30th Falmouth received a most terrific bombing.  A gasoline drum with 1,400,000 gallons of aviation gas was hit and burned for two days.  The Arikara and three other tugs of its type were tied up to a dock which was under direct attack.  Three German bombers flew over at housetop level to drop their bombs on the deck and every ship in the harbor opened up on them.  We were very much afraid that we were going to have casualties from the fire of friendly ships which passed through our rigging as the bombers sailed over.  

    Much pre-invasion work and plans had been completed.  We realized now the long awaited invasion of the French coast was only a few days away.  Final last minute precautions were completed at Weymouth, England and at 17:08 on the 5th of June we have our anchor and were underway with Task Force 1224 Assault Force "OMAHA BEACH' to assist in the invasion of France.  At quarters the evening before the Captain had read a letter to the crew from Admiral Kirk, telling of the invasion, the confidence he had in the men and what he expected of us.  The tenseness among the crew had been so great during the few days preceding that few had slept much, the men preferred sitting around the decks and in the mess hall, talking of the big show ahead and trying to visualize what was in store for us.  Just before dusk on the eve of the big day the battleships and cruisers of the American 12th were seen moving up the English Channel, probably from somewhere in the Irish Sea area.  Admiral Kirk, aboard the Cruiser Augusta, sent a message by blinker light to all ships present: "You are now witnessing the Greatest Invasion in all History".  The English Channel literally resembled a solid mass of amphibious landing craft and ships of every type.  In every direction you looked there were seemingly endless columns of ships.

    Once underway much of the tension among the crew was broken.  We moved alongside other ships, when, with our partner, the USS Pinto ATF90 shouts of joy were exchanged with the crews clinging to the decks.  The soldiers on the transports were yelling, pointing and waving in the direction of the French coast.  Our men were busying themselves testing, fitting and re-fitting their helmets, life jackets, flashlight and radium ball attachments and all emergency gear.  The "Biggest Show on Earth" was only a few hours away and all previous incidents and experience were of the forgotten past.

    At 0330 the morning of June 6th we had our first glimpse of the French coast under flares fired by our combat ships.  The bombardment from battleships and cruisers was deafening.  Rocket ships were softening up the beaches for the first wave of rangers.  Bombers overhead were dropping tons of bombs.  The entire area trembled for hours.  At dawn the transports lowered their boats to the water, all loaded with troops.  The Bay of Seine was solid mass of landing craft.  The Arikara's job was to keep the beaches clear of wrecks so that the Mulbury harbor units could be beached without obstruction.  We were not long in getting our first job.  An LCI, one of the first to hit the beach had caught the fire of the German 88s.  We brought her alongside to starboard to see if there was any hope of salvage.  She started to list, but before we could do anything she capsized right alongside of us taking our starboard whale boat out on the way over.  Her crew was rescued and we towed the over-turned hull to a deep area and blew it up.  This LCI had been a hero of North Africa and the last thing we saw on her way over was a painted four leaf clover with the words "Sicily" under it.

    From this point on things moved fast.  Mines, underwater obstacles and German guns were taking a toll of small craft.  We temporarily forgot our job of salvage and became a rescue and repair ship.  At one time we had as many as 6 LCT's tied up alongside, making minor repairs so that they could keep troops and supplies moving into the beaches.

    An LCT loaded with an Army mechanized unit had been disabled and drifted in the tide towards Port En Bessen.  She spent the night adrift between the fire of American destroyers and enemy shore batteries, afraid to flash or signal light for help, lest it be spotted by the enemy.  Her crew was surely a happy lot when the Arikara pulled alongside the next morning at dawn and towed them clear.

    We watched the pre-fabricated harbor built and the first landing craft discharge their cargoes and troops in a few minutes time over the large causeways.  We also watched a severe storm wreck in a few days the work of many months.

    Air raids were nightly occurrences but we never had much time to be bothered with them.  There was too much work to be done.

    Of our many jobs salvaging ships and equipment, we believe the one we were most proud of was the French Destroyer, LA SURPRISE, which had been hit with a mine and was completely out of power.  The French crew was was using hand pumps to keep her afloat.  We made a tow wire fast and started her off for Portsmouth England to dry dock.  We were just 20 miles from the assault beaches when we received a near miss from a mine and commenced taking water in our own main engine room.  The water rose to within 6 inches of the main electric motor before the crew was able to check the leaks and pump the engine room clear.  The destroyer was delivered and two weeks later we saw her back in action again.  Our crew, realizing how essential this type ship was to the salvage and rescue situation on the assault beaches, worked feverishly until repairs on our hull were completed and we were back in the battle area within 24 hours, operating as usual.

    After 28 days on the Normandy beaches the Arikara and our partner the Pinto were ordered back to England to discharge the salvage crew and also fire fighting crew and get ready  to move to North Africa and the Mediterranean.  On departing from the beaches, Rear Admiral John Hall, Jr., commended both tugs highly for their work and recommended their personnel for the Presidential Unit Citation.

    On July 12th we left Plymouth, England in a convoy, escorting 24 rocket ships to Gibraltar and Oran, Algeria.  The trip was a welcome breathing spell.  The weather and sea all the way to Oran were beautiful.  The Rock of Gibraltar, Spanish Morocco and the International Zone of Tangier were new spots to most of the crew and the daylight hours were spent on dock, basking in the sun and sightseeing.

    Arriving in Oran we went into the American harbor of Mers El Kebir and were given 10 days fro overhaul and rehabilitation.  The crew and officers spent most of their time at the beaches, playing baseball and sightseeing and some of them went so far as to have a few beers.  A few of us were fortunate in being able to take a trip to the home of the French Foreign Legion at Siddi Bel Abbis.

    Off to Naples, Italy on August 1st with our partner the Pinto.  Both crews got along so well together that we really like the idea of running around in company like this.  Entering Naples we encountered other beautiful sights:  The Isle  of Capri, Mt. Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples.  Naples itself was a dirty, war torn city but it was new to the crew and they really enjoyed themselves.

    The entire Mediterranean area was bubbling with activity.  Before we left Oran the shoe shine boys there told us that we were going to invade Southern France.  Most of us had the same hunch but it wasn't until we arrived in Naples that orders were received for the Southern France invasion.  Our assignment was the same as that in Normandy--salvage and fire fighting.  Here we parted company with the Pinto.  She was going into the invasion with the transports and the Arikara was escorting the first waves of landing craft.

    We left Naples for Ajaccio, Corsica with a convoy of over 400 landing craft.  The crew felt pretty confident that things were not going to be as tough as Normandy.  It was probably the effect of the beautiful weather, in the Mediterranean as compared with the miserable weather in the English Channel.

    August 14th--the morning before "D" Day, a British destroyer passed close aboard with all hands at attention.  On board were General Eisenhower and Winston Churchill reviewing the forces going into battle.  They sent us a signal by blinker light, wishing all of us good luck.  That same afternoon one of the largest flights of flying Fortresses we had ever witnessed went over towards the French Coast.  Twenty minutes later the entire Mediterranean seemed to tremble.  They had released their bomb loads 66 miles away, softening up the beaches for our landing.

    "D" morning was a thrill many a soldier will never forget.  The landing forces were made up of Free French, American and British.  The French were so happy getting back to their old soil again that they sang the "Marseille" as it was never sung before.  All hands and all the landing craft personnel joined in as they headed for the beaches.  When you realized what it meant to the French getting home after so many years, it brought a lump to your throat.

    The Riviera didn't compare to Normandy as a bitterly contested battleground, although in some sectors there were real sharp engagements.  Our work was not as hard.  A few landing craft had to be pulled clear the first few days.  On "D" Day an LST was hard on the beach and a target for enemy crossfire. 

We were sent in to pull her clear.  Our forces were temporarily abandoning the beach, which was a little too hot, and all the small craft ran clear, grouping around us to follow us into the LST.  We cleared all right but the Germans put about 45 rounds of 88MM shells under our bow.  The LST came clear, though she suffered a few casualties and several shell holes in her superstructure.  We had just cleared the beach when another salvo of about 60 shells hit under our stern.  Some of these nests of German 88MM guns were pretty hard to knock out and it wasn't until late in the day that the rangers were able to get up in the hills and burn them out with flame throwers.

    The ports of Toulon and Marssille were under attack and we had been informed that as soon as the Germans moved out that it would be our job to go in and assist getting dock space ready for liberty ships.  That afternoon we entered Topulon the Germans were just across the hills, on their way out of the other side of town.  Toulon was a ghost port!  The wrecks of the scuttled French fleet lay sunken all over the harbor.  The harbor was full of mines and a few minesweepers that had entered first were moving their way cautiously, sweeping a channel for us.  While we were towing clear one ship that had been hit with a mine, two more mines surfaced just ahead of us and gave us a pretty tough couple of minutes.

    Like most Americans, our boys were always on the alert for souvenirs.  Toulon was probably our best hunting ground.  The Germans had left in such a hurry that most of their equipment was left behind.  Every member of the crew owned a Mauser rifle, a German helmet and parts of Nazi uniforms.  One boy even had a German Admiral's uniform.  We prowled through enemy pill boxes and fortifications.  The whole place was full of mines and booby traps.  One of us threw a rock at a closed door and the entire barracks blew up.

    Marseille was in the same condition as Toulon, full of wrecked ships, strategically placed to block the harbor entrances.  From Marseille we went to Port de Bouc.  Port de Bouc was in fairly good condition.  We met a PT Sq1uadron whose crews told us some great stories of chasing German "E" boats into some Spanish port.

    Some of our Minesweepers and larger craft had been disabled by underwater explosions.  Our next job was towing disabled ships from the French coast down through the Straits of Bonifacio, separating Corsica and Sardinia, to the Navy Repair Base at Palermo, Sicily.  We lay over in Palermo 5 days on one of these trips for a little recreation for the crew.  In Sicily one of our seaman had a sister whom he hadn't seen in 17 years and was able to spend a few days with her.  Returning to Toulon from one of these trips the weather was so beautiful and clear we could see the Swiss Alps far in the distance with their snow capped peaks glistening in the sun.

    It was getting around the end of September and our work was well caught up.  We made a trip to Biserte, Tunisia and then back to Naples.  At Naples we were informed that we had just one more job: to take an army crane, the Goliath, to Marseille and then proceed to Oran and join a convoy bound for the good old USA.  While waiting at Naples for the tow to be made ready, many of the crew and officers were able to make a sightseeing tour of Rome.  The Red Cross had a beautiful place for the Armed Forces to enjoy themselves.  Many of us who could not visit Rome went to the ruins of Pompeii and a few climbed Mount Vesuvius.

    Homeward bound on October 25th.  To all of us that meant an overhaul period for the ship; some leave to go home and see our family and friends and then probably a trip to the Pacific.  On the way home we took position as a rescue ship in a convoy of fast transports.  On November 8th we arrived in Norfolk Navy Yard.  Each member of the crew received 15 days leave.  Those that lived long distances were given travel time.  The workers in Norfolk Navy Yard stopped work on the ship to watch our first leave party get away.  The boys carried German guns, bayonets, uniforms and all kinds of battle souvenirs and said that on the trains, they were kept busy telling passengers stories of their souvenirs and where they got them.

    In the middle of December we left Norfolk, in command of a Task Unit of three tugs, to tow a large dry dock from Port of Spain, Trinidad to the Panama Canal.  Christmas Eve was spent in Port of Spain, and New Years Eve 1945 at sea en route to Cristobol.  The trip along the coast of South America and through the islands was uneventful.  There were a few beautiful spots such as the mountains Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta in Columbia that made the trip interesting.  January 5th the Arikara, Bannock and ATR77 delivered the dry dock at Cristobol.  The next day the Arikara and Bannock were directed to proceed at best cruising speed directly to Pearl Harbor.

    Another new sight, the Panama Canal and all its wonderful equipment.  Three days were spent in Cristobol for a little recreation for the crew before we left for the Pacific.

    The Bannock and the Arikara made the trip from Panama to Pearl Harbor together, each ship taking the lead on alternate days.   The 4,500 miles of the Pacific made a beautiful trip.  On the evening of January 21st we sighted the Island of Hawaii and the next morning entered Pearl Harbor.  At Pearl Harbor we were given 10 days availability to get the ship into good repair.  Here a combat and fire fighting outfit was assigned to the ship.  This meant more action.  All of us made guesses as to where it would be, including the Kuriles, Formosa, China Coast or the Ryukyus.

    As usual the crew made the rounds, Honolulu, Waikiki Beach and all the places of interest, but somehow we were all glad when the day came to get underway and get this next one under our belt.

    February 4th we left Pearl Harbor with what turned out to be our longest tow job to date, towing pontoon barges which we eventually saw another tug tow into Okinawa.  We were Commodore of a convoy of 4 tugs with tows for Eniwetok and Guam.  Our first stop was Johnston Island, where we fueled some of the tugs.  Then on down through the Gilberts and Marshalls to Eniwetok where we anchored for 7 days.  Finally after 37 days at sea we pulled into Apra Harbgor, Guam to deliver our tow.

    At Guam we were ordered to report to the Fifth Fleet at Ulithi, in the Carolines.  The day we entered Ulithi, Admiral Mark Mitscher and his famous task force 58 were leaving.  None of us knew where he was bound, but we did know wherever it was we were soon to follow.  It gave us all courage to see the display of fighting force.  The ocean was a mass of heavy fighting ships going on a mission to soften up what was to be our next objective.

    Reporting at Ulithi we were ordered to Task Force 51, the Expeditionary landing force to hit Okinawa Shima.  This time we traveled with transports and as soon as we arrived off the assault beaches took our position with the salvage and firefighting ships.  We were now fighting a new enemy that few of the Arikara's crew had actually seen in battle but about whom they had heard some pretty terrible stories.

    A new weapon was being use; the suicide plane.  At Eniwetok, we had seen one of our fighting ladies come in with the flight deck all torn up from suicide action.  At Ulithi we saw the first planes make an actual hit and the results of such action.  Now we were going to face it ourselves.

    On Easter Sunday, 1945, our Easter Parade was putting our men ashore on Okinawa.  That evening we saw three suicidal dives at our ships.  One hit a battleship, one crashed into the side of a transport and the other missed his target and crashed into the sea.  Little damage was done by any of them.

    Right after midnight of April 1, we were dispatched to the USS Dickerson APD21 which had been hit by a suicide plane.  When we arrived at the scene she was burning furiously and had been completely abandoned by the few living survivors.  The sea was pretty rough and it was impossible for the Arikara to get alongside to put a fire fighting crew aboard, so volunteers with fire fighting equipment were put in small boats and sent over to the Dickerson to try to extinguish the fire and make a towing hawser fast so we could tow her into port before she sank.  Our big job then was to put out the fire to keep our position from being given away to the Japs, who still had a number of suicides in the air.  Several Jap planes did pass over, but the fire fighters had the fire almost subdued and we were not detected.  We towed the burning hull into a Japanese port that we had captured.  The next morning the dead were removed from the Dickerson and all material that could be used again was salvaged.  Later she was taken out to sea and sunk by our own guns.  She was one of the old four stack destroyers - a hero of two wars.

    There are two jobs which will always stand out in the minds of the crew members.  The first came as the aftermath of an air and naval duel, which the destroyers USS Hardley and USS Evans, maneuvering, shooting and using all manner of evasive action, fought it out with the suicide planes of the Jap airforce.  The second was a job that evolved around action in which we were directly concerned--sinking of the USS Longshaw SS559, by Japanese shore batteries just off Naha City, Okinawa Shima.

    Both the Hardley and the Evans were eventually hit by suicide planes, but it cost the Japs 145 planes to do the job.  The Hardley herself shot down 19 and between the two ships they destroyed 33 planes.  The remainder were disposed of by the Navy and Marine combat planes.  The Evans was hit by three suicide planes and completely disabled.  She had no power at all and when we arrived on the scene, was sinking fast.

    Although hit the Hardley was able to hold her own temporarily, so our job clearly lay in giving assistance to her more seriously injured fighting mate.  We went alongside the Evans, put five pumps aboard, made our towing hawser fast and started her into port.  The Arikara's salvage crew kept those pumps going continuously while we towed her in from sea to a safe harbor.  They pumped all that day and on through the night until holes could be reached and plugged up with pillows and mattresses.  Our work will be well compensated for, because these ships will live to fight again one of these days and we on the Arikara will remember the dispatch sent to us by the Commanding Officer of the Evans: "Our heartfelt thanks for your quick, tireless and efficient work.  Otherwise we could not have made it".

    We were not as successful with the USS Longshaw.  She had run on a reef during the night while patrolling a very treacherous point off Naha City.  Early next morning the Arikara was dispatched to pull her clear.  The Japs had evidently noted her predicament and brought a mortar out of the hills down on to the beach without attracting the attention of our ships patrolling off shore.  We had been pulling on Longshaw for just a few minutes when the first shell hit off the Longshaw's port side.  Thirty seconds later the Longshaw's forward guns were blazing away at the Japs.  The next four shells from the Jap guns hit their mark, one penetrating the magazine at #2 gun turret, blowing the entire forward half of the ship into the air with a terrific explosion.  The Japs then turned their guns on the Arikara and scored several near misses before we could get clear and turn our guns back on them.  The 3"50 gun crew fired 195 rounds at the shore guns and with assistance of two destroyers that were standing by a short distance off, the enemy guns were silenced.  Radioman James Zikus of the Arikara was on the bridge of the Longshaw with a TBY trans-received, relaying orders for the salvage work.  He stuck by his station even after the Commanding Officer of the Destroyer had given orders to abandon ship.  The explosion that blew the bridge off the ship sent Zikus flying through the air and into the water 100 feet away from the ship.  He is the only survivor of those who were on the bridge at the time.  He was back on his job aboard the Arikara just two days later.

    This is May 1945, just 17 months from the time the Arikara went into commission.  Over 50% of the original crew has been transferred and sent to new ships.  The Commanding and Executive Officers are the only two of the original officers left aboard.  Several of the other officers now have commands of their own.  It doesn't seem to matter how many changes are made and how many new men report aboard there is a spirit of good fellowship which was established by the original crew and which has continued to prevail.  No effort is too great if a man finds he can render assistance to a shipmate.  With this spirit and the wonderful ship and equipment, although the future outlook bodes much to be done, much will be accomplished.

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