Battle Off Samar

WED 25 OCT 1944
Unites States and Great Britain resume diplomatic relations with Italy.

Pacific
Battle for Leyte Gulf continues as TG 77.2 (Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf), augmented by TG 77.3 (Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey) and TG 70.1 (39 motor torpedo boats) execute the classic maneuver of "crossing the tee" of the Japanese "Southern Force" (Vice Admiral Nishimura Shoji and Vice Admiral Shima Kiyohide) in the Battle of Surigao Strait. TG 70.1 begins the action against the Japanese ships. PT-137 torpedoes light cruiser Abukuma, but PT-493 is sunk by enemy secondary battery gunfire, 10°15'N, 125°23'E. DESRON 54 (Captain Jesse G.Coward) then attacks; McDermut (DD-677) sinks destroyer Yamagumo, 10°25'N, 125°20'E, and damages destroyers Asagumo and Michisio. Subsequently, light cruiser Denver (CL-58) sinks Asagumo at entrance of Surigao Strait, 10°04'N, 125°21'E. DESRON 24 (Captain Kenmore M. McManes) enters the fray and Hutchins (DD-476) (McManes's flagship) sinks Michisio, 10°25'N, 123°25'E; DESRON 56 (Captain Roland M. Smoot) attacks; Albert W. Grant (DD-649) is damaged by both friendly and Japanese gunfire at this phase of the battle, 10°27'N, 125°25'E. Two Australian warships take part in this fleet action--heavy cruiser HMAS Shropshire (in TG 77.3) and destroyer HMAS Arunta (in DESRON 24)--that see the destruction of battleships Fuso and Yamashiro, 10°25'N, 125°20'E. Heavy cruiser Mogami and destroyer Shigure are damaged.

Meanwhile, the "Center Force" (Vice Admiral Kurita Takeo), which includes four battleships and five heavy cruisers, having passed into the Philippine Sea during the night, surprises TG 77.4 (Rear Admiral Thomas L.Sprague) off Samar. Kurita's force wreaks havoc on the six escort carriers, three destroyers, and four destroyer escorts of TU 77.4.3 (northernmost carrier force) (Rear Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague). In this battle, which becomes a precipitate flight in the face of an overwhelming enemy force, Kurita's ships inflict severe damage but emerge bloodied by the Homeric efforts of the "small boys" (destroyers and destroyer escorts) and planes from the escort carriers that compel Kurita to retire, inexplicably, without destroying the CVEs and their consorts in detail. In the Battle off Samar, Japanese surface gunfire sinks destroyers Hoel, 11°46'N, 126°33'E; Johnston*, 11°46'N, 126°09'E; and destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413), 11°40'N, 126°20'E; and damages destroyer Heermann (DD-523), 11°40'N, 126°15'E; and destroyer escort Dennis (DE-405), 11°40'N, 126°20'E. Johnston damages heavy cruiser Kumano.

Japanese surface gunfire (either battleship Haruna or Kongo) straddles escort carrier White Plains (CVE-66), 11°40'N, 126°20'E, St.Lo (CVE-63), and Kitkun Bay (CVE- 71) but scores no direct hits. Heavy cruisers Chikuma, Haguro, and Chokai; light cruiser Noshiro; and a destroyer sink escort carrier Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 11°31'N, 126°12'E. Japanse surface gunfire also damages Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) and Kalinin Bay (CVE-68), 11°40'N, 126°20'E; the latter claims one hit on a Japanese heavy cruiser with her single 5-inch gun. Navy carrier-based aircraft damage battleships Kongo (from near-misses) and Yamato and heavy cruisers Chikuma, Chokai, and Suzuya.

Subsequently, Japanese planes attack escort carriers of TU 77.4.1 (Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague). Suwannee (CVE-27) is damaged by kamikazes, 09°45'N, 126°42'E, and Santee (CVE-29) by suicide plane and Japanese submarine I-56, 09°45'N, 126°20'E. Kamikazes near-miss Sangamon, 09°45'N, 126°42'E, and Petrof Bay (CVE-80). Destroyer escort Richard M. Rowell is damaged by strafing, 10°05'N, 127°10'E.

Following its ordeal off Samar, TU 77.4.3 (Rear Admiral Clifton A.F. Sprague) comes under Japanese air attack. Kamikazes sink St.Lo, 11°13'N, 126°05'E, and damage Kalinin Bay and Kitkun Bay, 11°10'N, 126°20'E. At the same time, in the Battle off Cape Engano, carrier aircraft from the Third Fleet (Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) strike the Japanese "Northern Force" (Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo). Planes from carriers Essex and Lexington sink carrier Zuikaku 220 nautical miles east-northeast of Cape Engano, 19°20'N, 125°51'E, and carrier Chitose 235 nautical miles east of Cape Engano, 19°20'N, 125°20'E; carrier Chiyoda, damaged by planes from carriers Lexington and Franklin and small carrier Langley, is sunk by heavy cruisers New Orleans and Wichita and light cruisers Santa Fe and Mobile (CL-63) 260 nautical miles southeast of Cape Engano, 18°37'N, 126°45'E. Carrier Zuiho is sunk by planes from Essex, Franklin, Lexington, Enterprise, and small carrier San Jacinto east-northeast of Cape Engano, 19°20'N, 125°51'E.

U.S. aircraft, during the Battle for Leyte Gulf, damage Japanese battleships Yamato and Nagato and heavy cruiser Myoko in San Jose Strait; battleship Haruna, east of Samar; light cruiser Yahagi off Leyte; destroyer Kiyoshimo off Leyte. Heavy cruiser Chikuma, damaged by carrier-based aircraft (TU 77.4.2) off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Nowaki, 11°22'N, 126°16'E; heavy cruiser Suzuya, damaged by carrier- based aircraft off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Okinami, 11°50'N, 126°25'E; heavy cruiser Chokai, damaged by carrier-based aircraft (TU 77.4.2) off Samar, is scuttled by destroyer Fujinami, 11°26'N, 126°15'E; heavy cruiser Mogami, damaged by heavy cruisers Minneapolis, Portland (CA-33), Louisville (CA-28), light cruisers Columbia (CL-56) and Denver, and collision with heavy cruiser Nachi, south of Bohol Island, P.I., is scuttled by destroyer Akebono, 09°40'N, 124°50'E; light cruiser Tama is sunk by aircraft from Essex and Lexington and submarine Jallao (SS-368), east of Luzon Strait, 21°23'N, 127°19'E; destroyer Hatsuzuki is sunk by the gunfire of four heavy cruisers and twelve destroyers east north-east of Cape Engano, 20°24'N, 126°20'E.

Japanese air attacks continue against shipping off Leyte: U.S. freighter Adoniram Judson is attacked by Japanese planes off Tacloban; Armed Guard gunners claim splashing six. One bomb explodes close aboard, causing fragmentation damage and wounding two of the embarked stevedores. There are no casualties to the ship's company: 43 merchant seamen and 28 Armed Guards.

Freighter John W. Foster anchored in San Pedro Bay, is strafed; 7 of the 27-man Armed Guard, three of 170 embarked troops, and one officer, are wounded.

Submarine Halibut (SS-232) sinks Japanese destroyer Akizuki east-northeast of Cape Engaño, 20°29'N, 126°36'E.

Submarine Nautilus (SS-168) lands men and supplies on east coast of Luzon.

Submarine Seal (SS-183) sinks Japanese transport Hakuyo Maru, north of Urup, Kurils, 50°18'N, 150°50'E.

Submarine Sterlet (SS-392) sinks Japanese merchant tanker Jinei Maru south of Yaku Jima, 30°15'N, 129°45'E.

Fleet tanker Matsumoto Maru sinks as the result of damage inflicted by submarine Tang (SS-306) in Formosa Strait the day before, 25°07'N, 119°45'E.

British submarine HMS Tantivy sinks Japanese motor sail ship No.47 Tachibana Maru in Flores Sea.

Navy F4Us sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 62 north of Palaus.

Other Japanese casualties include auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 52 sunk at Palau, 07°30'N, 134°40'E; and merchant tanker Shoho Maru sunk by USAAF aircraft in South China Sea, 11°18'N, 114°50'E.

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*The Johnston (DD-557) (or perhaps the Hoel) has been located.

US WWII Shipwreck Discovered in the
Philippine Sea is the Deepest Ever Found

Personal Note: "Trader Tex", in the U.P. item above, & his wife were good friends w/ my parental units when Tex & my father (also a Navy vet from Texas) were G.I. Bill students at the University of Southern California in the late '40s/early '50s. And my mother & I stayed w/ the Waldrops in Houston for several months in 1970 & '71 after we returned from France. So you can imagine my surprise when, a yr. or two ago, I read these passages in The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour. (Check it out here.) Had no idea about "Tex", who was known to his intimates as "Monk". Let's just say he was ideal pilot height.