U.S. and British planes had destroyed bridges, roads and railways and German shipping along the Mediterranean Sea from France to Italy. The Allies controlled the air in the daylight so the Germans had to turn to supplying their forces in Italy by sea at night.
PT Boats intercepted them from bases in Bastia on the island of Corsica and later from Livorno, Italy. Every night a German convoy of 8-15 barges would depart for Italy.
Allan Purdy, of Columbia, Missouri, former professor and administrator of the University of Missouri was commanding officer of the PT-305 Joe Brannon boarded it in December 1944. Joe had a 35 mm camera and shot more than 100 photos of the PT operations.
Allan Purdy was one of several commanding officers the PT-305 had. Enlisted men rotated as well. PT-305 had several nicknames, including "Half Hitch," "Barfly" and the already mentioned "Sudden Jerk."
During its service, the boat was credited with sinking two German barges.
--GreGen
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The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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