Tag Archives: Grenada Operation Urgent Fury 1983

Making it Rain, Guam & Caron edition

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Of the 22 U.S. Navy warships and auxiliaries tasked with supporting Operation Urgent Fury– the invasion of Grenada– some 40 years ago this week, two really stand out, the old ‘phib USS Guam (LPH-9) and the newer Sprucan, USS Caron (DD-970).

Guam gets a big nod, of course, because, of the 116 American servicemen wounded in the four-day operation, Guam treated no less than 77 in her cramped hospital suite after they were medivaced to her deck just offshore.

Speaking of which, Guam was also the main launching/refueling point for the helicopters of the 82nd Airborne and 22nd MAU for the operation and logged a whopping 1,214 launchings and landings in Urgent Fury.

Flight deck crewmen hose down a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter upon its landing aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Guam (LPH 9) during Operation Urgent Fury, October 25, 1983. The helicopter’s engine was hit by anti-aircraft fire on the island of Grenada. JO1 Sundberg. DN-SN-85-02069

Flight operations take place aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Guam (LPH 9) off the coast of Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. Visible on the flight deck are two UH-1N Iroquois helicopters, a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, and a CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter. JO1 Sundberg. October 25, 1983. DN-SN-85-02037

But if Guam’s “Grenada Get Away” is largely forgotten, Caron’s is never even mentioned, which is a crying shame.

Commissioned 1 October 1977 at Pascagoula, USS Caron is the only warship ever named for HC3c Wayne Maurice Caron, a MoH recipient who gave his last full measure at age 21 as a corpsman with 3d/7th Marines in Vietnam, mortally wounded while going to save those who needed him.

The destroyer that carried his name lived up to it in Grenada.

As detailed by DANFS:

After embarking Capt. Grant A. Sharp, Commander, DesRon 32, on 19 October 1983, Caron got underway for deployment to the Mediterranean the following day as part of the Independence Battle Group. However, on 21 October, Caron was detached from the battle group and diverted to Grenada at “max speed” in support of Operation Urgent Fury.

As the first U.S. Navy ship to arrive on the scene on 23 October 1983, Caron paused 12 miles off the coast of Grenada to gather intelligence. With the Special Forces amphibious assault on the island already underway, in the early morning hours of 25 October, destroyer Moosbrugger (DD-980) and guided missile frigate Clifton Sprague (FFG-16) joined Caron, and the ships steamed at 25 knots for Point Saline with their arrival planned for daybreak. While advancing toward the island, Caron recovered a small craft with 12 Special Forces troops embarked that had been carried to sea by strong currents. Later in the morning while conducting a search and rescue operation for a downed Bell AH-1T Cobra of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261 near St. George’s Harbor, Caron avoided enemy mortar rounds while operating close to shore.

On the afternoon of the 25th, Caron fired her 5-inch guns towards the site of the communist propaganda station “Radio Free Grenada,” allowing a 12-man Navy Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) team to evade enemy forces surrounding their position there. That night, as fighting continued to rage on the island, Caron responded to a visual signal from shore and rescued ten of the SEALs who had escaped from the radio transmitter site, two of whom had suffered serious injuries. While Caron’s medical staff treated the wounded men, the destroyer directed Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawks to the beach to rescue the two remaining SEALs from the team. The following evening, the ship also saved 11 U.S. Army Rangers whose helicopter had crashed.

Caron remained on the scene at Grenada through 2 November 1983. During this time, she continued to patrol within range of hostile gunfire, ready to provide naval gunfire support for land and amphibious troops. All told, Caron’s search and rescue efforts saved 41 soldiers and sailors. “Caron demonstrated in a wartime environment what our forces are capable of,” Capt. Sharp remarked, “and the readiness that ‘Can-Do’ Caron is known for.” For her actions in the Grenadian conflict, Caron received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

Artwork: “USS Caron Neutralizes Radio Free Grenada – Beausejour Bay”. by Mike Leahy, via the Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy Combat Art Center, Washington Navy Yard. U.S. Navy photo by the Navy Audiovisual Center.DN-SC-85-07100.

She would keep her guns blistered in the coming weeks.

Escorting Guam and the 22nd MAU from Grenada to Lebanon, she would be called for NGFS ashore on 8 February 1984, plastering enemy positions with 450 5-inch shells, then follow up on another fire call on 25-26 February, firing 141.

Keep in mind that Spruance-class tin cans only had enough room for about 1,200 rounds of assorted 5-inch in their magazines, if they were fully loaded.

Caron later received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for her service off Lebanon.

As for retirement, Guam decommissioned on 25 August 1998 after 33 years of service and was disposed of in a SINKEX three years later while Caron, decommissioned on 15 October 2001 after just 24 years, would likewise be deep-sixed at the hands of the same Navy she once served so well.

Urgent Fury at 40: The Guns of Grenada

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Without diving too much into the background, the Caribbean Island nation of Grenada had its elected government overthrown by a Marxist-Communist coup in 1979 and suspended the constitution. In just a couple of years, Grenada was hosting nearly 700 Cuban engineers who were building a giant airstrip– though long enough to host Soviet bombers– while smaller groups of Soviets, Libyan, North Korean, East German, and Bulgarians had taken up residence. Meanwhile, the local Grenadian military was greatly expanded and armed with Warsaw Pact weaponry.

Things came to a head in October 1983 when the Prime Minister, Maurice Bishop, was overthrown by a military junta and executed. The military council instituted a national “shoot on sight” curfew.

With 600 American medical students attending classes on the island caught in the middle of the crisis, and Grenada’s neighbors asking for U.S. assistance, the Reagan administration mounted Operation Urgent Fury to invade the island with “D-day” set for Oct. 25, 1983, some 40 years ago this week.

The American units tasked with the operation included the reinforced 2nd Battalion/8th Marines of the 22d Marine Amphibious Unit, the ready brigade of the 82d Airborne Division, and two Ranger battalions. A small force of Navy SEALs performed beach reconnaissance for the Marines and took control of the island’s radio station. Meanwhile, the Navy supplied 22 ships including an aircraft carrier and an amphibious assault group. The Americans were joined by some 350 peacekeepers drawn from six assorted allied Caribbean nations.

While it may seem like the operation would be a cakewalk, planning for the invasion estimated that the combined Cuban engineer battalion and the Grenadian People’s Revolutionary Army, when fully mobilized, were equivalent to 10 infantry battalions backed by armored vehicles while just four light American battalions– the Rangers, Marines, and one battalion of paratroopers– would be able to land on Oct. 25, the first day, meaning they expected to be outnumbered.

It wasn’t until Oct. 28, when the Americans and the Eastern Caribbean Peace Force counted seven (ish) battalions on the ground by which time the Cubans and PRA had laid down their arms.

Three battalions of paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division– the “All Americans” of 2/325th Inf, 2/505th Inf, and 1/508th Inf–would land in Grenada, although by helicopter and airlift, not via parachute. As a rapid deployment force, they were equipped with lots of new gear including the Army’s new M81 woodland camouflage BDUniforms and Kevlar PASGT helmets and vests. They were typically armed with M-16A1s, M-60 machine guns, and M-21 sniper rifles. (All photos: National Archives)

The Rangers of the 1st and 2nd battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, accompanied by 35 Delta Force operators, would conduct a combat parachute jump at Point Salines, Grenada, to capture the island’s airport. They were more distinctive from the other American forces on the island due to their old-school OG-107 olive drab fatigues and M1 steel pot helmets, whenever they weren’t wearing patrol caps.

The Marines of the 22nd MAU typically wore the older ERDL style of leaf camouflage uniform with M1 helmets. As you can see, the Corps had more of a shoestring budget with the radio operator in the center having a sling made from a length of rope. Also, you gotta love the ciggy in the hand of the radio operator to the left and the double pistol magazine pouches on the Marine to the right. Across the board, American forces used the M1911 as a sidearm as the Beretta M9 would not be adopted until 1985.

More in my column at Guns.com.