Did the U.S. Navy participate at all in the European, Mediterranean, African, and Middle Eastern theaters during WW2?

Posted 7 May 2017.  

The short answer is: “Of course.”  

The longer answer will have you losing focus pretty quickly, as the sub-topics are huge and easily the vortex of many hours spent and tabs open.   However, one of the more interesting and relatively obscure American Naval officers participated in several salvage jobs in Africa during the Second World War. Edward Ellsberg proved insanely capable in clearing the Eritrean port of Massawa in 1942 after the fickle Italians sank several ships, smashed the port equipment, and generally created enough mayhem prior to surrendering the the British. Between April and November 1942, he had not only managed to restore the deep-water port into respectable service, but managed labor/pay issues with the locals, repaired damaged warships, and generally proved that professed “experts” were anything but, when it came to opinion and action. Later, he was involved in similar exploits in the North African port of Oran, and – after recuperating in the U.S. – was involved in the Phoenix breakwaters and Mulberry Harbors critical in the logistics efforts following Operation Torch.

Fittingly, the majority of the efforts in the Middle East during the Second World War were primarily a British problem – after all, they sort of got us into the mess we all are very familiar with due to the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. Without falling for my own trap and losing this post in a vast wasteland of sand, I would venture to say that, beyond Libya and Egypt, there was little involvement due to the necessity for U.S. forces shifting their attention and efforts northward to Italy.