Exercise Grand Slam
Exercise Grand Slam | |
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Part of Robert B. Carney, USN , Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH) | |
Outcome | Exercise successfully executed. |
Exercise Grand Slam was an early major naval exercise of the newly formed
Background
In January 1950, the
Command structure
The overall exercise commander for Grand Slam was Admiral
- Allied Air Force South (AIRSOUTH) - Major General David M. Schlatter, USAF
- Maurizio Lazzaro De Castiglioni, Italian Army
- Allied Naval Forces South (NAVSOUTH) - Vice Admiral John H. Cassady, USN
Operational history
The exercise took place in the Mediterranean Sea between 25 February and 16 March 1952.
The main force was centered around the aircraft carriers
Allied warships escorted three convoys of supply ships which were subjected to repeated simulated air and submarine attacks.[3] One convoy that departed Malta experienced air attacks every four hours and submarine attacks every five hours during its entire six days at sea. Opposition forces against this particular convoy included the French naval task force, land-based strike aircraft, and carrier-based aircraft from the Midway.[3] All three convoys arrived at their respective destinations although with numerous ships declared damaged or sunk by the simulated enemy attacks.[3]
Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations were also executed by the allied navies during Operation Grand Slam. However, a French submarine successfully penetrated the destroyer screen protecting the American-French carrier task force and successfully sank a target within that formation. That French submarine was subsequently declared to be heavily crippled by ASW forces.[3] Finally, a surface force consisting of eight cruisers and ten destroyers carried out a shore bombardment off the Sardinian coast.[3]
Carrier aviation units
Carrier Air Group Six embarked on USS Midway (CVB-41):
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Carrier Air Group Eight embarked on USS Tarawa (CV-40):
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14th Carrier Air Group embarked on HMS Theseus (R64):[11]
Conclusion
The overall exercise commander, Admiral Carney summarized the accomplishments of Exercise Grand Slam by stating: "We have demonstrated that the senior commanders of all four powers can successfully take charge of a mixed task force and handle it effectively as a working unit."[3] Exercise Grand Slam did receive comparatively little contemporary media coverage.[2] The U.S. Navy's All Hands magazine noted that Grand Slam was "an exercise which will probably prove typical of future NATO naval exercises."[3]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b McAuliffe, Lt. Col. Jerome (Jerry) J. "The USAF In France 1950 - 1967". Friends Journal. 24 (4). Air Force Museum Foundation.
It is published here with permission of the author
- ^ a b "N.A.T.O. FLEET MANOEUVRES video newsreel film". British Pathé. Pathé Films online. March 17, 1952. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
- ^ U.S. Navy. September 1952. pp. 31–35. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2004-11-15. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
- ^ Lord Ismay. "Chapter 3 - The Pace Quickens". NATO the first five years 1949-1954. NATO. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ "Chapter 4 - The Pace Quickens". NATO the first five years 1949-1954. NATO. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- JSTOR 20030065.
- ^ Dr. Gregory W. Pedlow (2009). "The Evolution of NATO's Command Structure, 1951-2009" (PDF). Allied Command Operation (ACO). NATO. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-01. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
- ^ "Chapter 7 - The Military Structure". NATO the first five years 1949-1954. NATO. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
- ^ "Alshain". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 2010-07-31.
- ^ OCLC 220326913. PCN 19000318200.
- ^ "HMS Theseus". After Korea!. 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-27.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- N.A.T.O. FLEET MANOEUVRES video newsreel film Archived 2011-06-11 at the Wayback Machine - Pathé Films online