Subs Beset Convoy

THU 7 DEC 1944
Pacific
TG 78.3 (Rear Admiral Arthur W. Struble) lands Army troops (77th Infantry) on the eastern shore of Ormoc Bay after bombardment by destroyers and LCI(R)s. Within three hours of the first soldiers' going ashore, however, enemy air attacks begin. Kamikazes damage destroyers Mahan (DD-364), 10°50'N, 124°30'E, and Lamson (DD-367), 10°28'N, 124°41'E; Mahan is scuttled by destroyer Walke (DD-723); destroyer Flusser (DD-368) and rescue tug ATR-31 extinguish Lamson's fires and she is towed to Leyte Gulf. Other suiciders damage high speed transports Ward (APD-16), 10°51'N, 124°33'E, and Liddle (APD-60) 10°57'N, 124°35'E; Ward is scuttled by destroyer O'Brien (DD-725). Still other kamikazes damage tank landing ship LST-737, sink medium landing ship LSM-318 and damage (by near-misses) LSM-18 and LSM-19.

U.S. freighter Antoine Saugraine, damaged on 5 December by Japanese aerial torpedo off Leyte, is torpedoed again during enemy air attack upon shipping at that place, and sunk.

Japanese planes bomb U.S. airfield on Saipan.

Seaplane tender (destroyer) Gillis (AVD-12) is accidentally rammed and damaged by U.S. merchant tanker Gulf Star 40 miles off Makapu Point, Oahu.

Submarines Razorback (SS-394), Segundo (SS-398) and Trepang (SS-412) continue their attacks on Japanese convoy beset the day before. West of Dalupiri Island, Razorback sinks army cargo ship Kanjo Maru (damaged the day before by Segundo), 18°57'N, 120°58'E. Cargo ship Yasukuni Maru, runs aground, written off as a total loss, as the consequence of damage inflicted by Navy carrier-based planes and Segundo the day before; Trepang sinks transport No.31 Banshu Maru north of Luzon, 18°54'N, 120°49'E. Army cargo ships Jinyo Maru and Fukuyo Maru sink as the result of damage inflicted by Trepang the previous day, 18°59'N, 121°05'E.

Opposing the 8th phase of the TA Operation, USAAF fighter-bombers (5th Air Force) and USMC F4Us (VMF 211, VMF 218, and VMF 313) attack Japanese shipping in San Isidro Bay, Leyte, sinking fast transport T.11 and army cargo ships Akagisan Maru, No.5 Shinsei Maru, Hakuba Maru, and Nichiyo Maru; and damaging escort destroyers Ume and Sugi, 11°25'N, 124°20'E.