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Naval History and Heritage Command

National Museum of the U.S. Navy

Naples, Italy

Following the landing at Salerno, Italy, Allied troops captured Naples, Italy on October 1, 1943, which was left in very poor conditions by retreating Germans.   From the destruction of food factories, to polluting the water supply, to the burning of the city's archives, the Neapolitans quickly needed to rebuild the city.  The U.S. Navy and Royal Navy aided the citizens and helped salvage the city, though German U-boats plagued their progress by attacking Allied shipping.   For the Battle of Anzio, the Allies utilized the capital for construction of landing craft and for ferries, ships, and supplies to support the multi-month beachhead invasion.  

Image:  80-G-54374:  Naples, Italy.  Mount Vesuvius in the background, November 1943.  Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.