In fact there is no mention of any of the taffy 3 ships or their captains except ernest e. On the morning of 23 october 1944, american submarines detected and attacked units of the japanese fleet coming in from the south china sea toward the. If not value is provided, then the default taffy version will be displayed, along with the framework variable that needs to be set to override it. The carriers of taffy 3 turned south and retreated through the shellfire. I have to say this is how a battle book should be written. While the yamato was arguably the match or even superior to of the most powerful u. Taffy 3 might not have survived if kuritas ships had not been under air attack during the entire samar engagement. What other stands against great odds occurred during the war. The japanese sought to converge three naval forces on leyte gulf, and successfully diverted.
The battle off samar taffy iii at leyte gulf robert jon cox on. The api version to display on the default documention. If ever a battle should be turned into a major motion picture the battle of taffy 3 should be at the front of the line. The ship is widely known for her bold action in the battle off samar. Cant think of anything more, maybe the war at sea, if you like shows battle 360 is a fun if a bit fudging of the details. Labanan sa may samar was the centermost action of the battle of leyte gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the philippine sea off samar island, in the philippines on october 25, 1944. Some folks criticized the style, but i found it was exceptional. While the johnston and other ships were ultimately lost, yamato again the most powerful battleship at the time and the northern fleet turned tail allowing for most of taffy 3 to escape unharmed and protect the landing troops at leyte. At the outset of the engagement she laid protective smoke in the rear of the escort carriers with the smaller des. This book probably would have benefited from an editor that would have reigned the author in a bit.
Battle 360, also written as battle 360, is an american documentary television series that. Carried dud aircraft from the cves for transfer ashore. The battle of leyte gulf, also called the battles for leyte gulf, and formerly known as the. She and her sister ship, musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing 72,800 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm 18. Yamato saw action in the surface engagement on october 25th against the escort carriers and destroyers of taffy3 during the battle off samar. Only instances during wwii, to my knowledge, for which quantitative and qualitative inferior us forces faced overwhelming enemy odds and snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat. Today, on oct 25th 1944, the naval battle off samar philipines was fought. We will be doing last minute repairs, ballasting ships in the float tank, eating pizza and beverages, and commissioning the taffy 3 fleet. Taffy 3s few destroyers and slower destroyer escorts possessed neither the. Episode 9 of battle 360 dealt with the battle of leyte gulf. In this episode, there were no survivors of the taffy 3 interviewed. A main selection of the book ofthemonth club and the military book club, the book tells the story of the remarkable twoandahalfhour sea battle fought on october 25, 1944, in which rear admiral clifton a.
No man is an island jeffrey hunter, barbara perez february 16, 2020. Sprague s task unit, known as taffy 3 7th fleet s task unit 77. After three long years, general douglas macarthur had returned. On january 26, 1945, audie murphy found himself surrounded. The heroics are of such an epic nature that they stand out even now, 70 plus years later. How to lose a war at sea, not a ww2 book per say but tons of fun naval commentary. Patton 360 pawnography picked off prehistoric megastorms the presidents project blue book reel to real rome. At 0730, three 14 in 360 mm shells from the battleship kongo, at a range of 7. The task force was full of ships that performed very heroically that day, but johnston led the charge immediately begins dropping smoke to cover the escort. Taffy 3 which only included six small carriers, three destroyers and four destroyer escorts immediately turned east to confront the overwhelming force. Stay up to date on all of your favorite history shows at. We plan on setting up our models in a secured room at the hotel at 5pm.
However, the americans would still have enjoyed the benefit of better radar, and had not been battered by air attacks all day. Im not a ww2 naval expert by any means, but lets examine a few key facts about the johnston during that action fletcherclass destroyer with 5inch guns and ten torpedoes goes stampeding ahead of the rest of taffy 3. Battle off samar military wiki fandom military wikia. The battle off samar the saga of taffy 3 october, 1944.
As the only major action in the larger battle where the americans were largely unprepared against the opposing forces, it has been cited by. The last stand of the tin can sailors tells the story of the battle of leyte gulf, focusing mainly on kuritas engagement with taffy 3. Third fleet units, including the fast carrier task forces, provided the outer line of defense for the operation. This world war ii clash followed the allied landing at the philippine island of leyte in october 1944. Also, the japanese action reports available were translated and contributed greatly to the text. The battle off samar was the centermost action of the battle of leyte gulf, one of the. You have somewhat described the battle off samar island, part of the larger battle of leyte gulf in the late oct 1944. The battle of leyte gulf the defenders of taffy 3 youtube. It was the only major action in the larger battle in which the americans were largely unprepared.
Hornfischers book, which i read several years back, was about the battle off. An amazing book, last stand of the tin can sailors, that i can not recommend highly enough. The united states begins a massive invasion of the philippines and the japanese will stop at nothing to destroy. It is based in large part on action reports of the american ships that fought in the battle that were recently declassified in 2012. The nonfiction book the last stand of the tin can sailors. Taffy 3 was one of the three units of rear admiral thomas l. Her guns helped sink the escort carrier uss gambier bay but was forced away from the action by torpedo attacks from the valiant destroyers of taffy3. However, given that battle 360 was focused on uss enterprise, the only survivors who recounted the battle were enterprise sailors and airmen. By far the battle off samar in which taffy 3 takes place is one of the more controversial ones as well the most heroic with a destroyer escort taking on heavy cruisers and battleships.
Yamato, great harmony was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the imperial japanese navy ijn shortly before world war ii. Legendary ww2 battle between an american and japanese ace. Heermann was the only surviving destroyer of taffy iii. The centre force lost three cruisers as a result of the attacks of the aircraft of task unit 77. This book tells the story of the naval battle of leyte gulf.
A totally out numbered and out gunned us task force did the impossible and held off and defeated the ijn. Returned with replacement aircraft after the battle. The small tincan destroyer, armed with nothing larger than 5inch 127 mm guns and torpedoes, would lead the attack of a. At about 0700, yamato opened fire at a range of 17 nmi 20 mi. It was a desparate battle that the americans had no hope of winning but the japanese admiral kurita somehow was unnerved enough to back off. She was the first navy ship named after lieutenant john v. At about the same time, others in taffy 3 had picked up targets from surface radar and japanese radio traffic. Battle 360 episode 9 battle of leyte gulf duration.
It is based in large part on action reports of the american ships that fought in the battle that. Uss johnston dd 557 was a world war iiera fletcherclass destroyer in the service of the united states navy. In the mid 80s, a bunch of the us congress said exactly what you did. A shipmate of vracius soon gave the highly onesided battle its nickname, the great marianas turkey shoot, after wistfully exclaiming, it was just like an oldtime turkey shoot. Kongo and haruna, in particular, would have fared badly in direct combat against u. A japanese surface force of battleships and cruisers, battered earlier in the larger battle and thought to have been in retreat, instead turned around unobserved and encountered the northernmost of the three groups, task unit 77. A number of small destroyers held off a powerful japanese fleet that on paper should have blown them off the map. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months new customers receive 15% off your. We have taffy from great companies like taffy town. Spragues task unit, known as taffy 3 7th fleets task unit 77. Battle of leyte gulf, october 2326, 1944, decisive air and sea battle of world war ii that crippled the japanese combined fleet, permitted u. Labanan sa look ng leyte is considered to have been the largest naval battle of world war ii and is, by some criteria, a contender for the title largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved.
I just finished reading the battle off samar taffy iii at leyte gulf which was written by a nephew of a survivor of the great battle. On this day, 75 years ago, taffy 3 fought kuritas forces. A fifth ship from taffy 3, the escort carrier uss st. Taffy 3 spotted the antiaircraft fire and soon came under attack but the commander of the japanese fleet couldnt find those damned little silhouettes of the escort carriers in the identification book, so he guessed them to be the main carrier fleet and decided to eliminate them first, forming an antiaircraft formation but this forced them.
Battle of leyte gulf wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. The battle off samar was the centermost action of the battle of leyte gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the philippine sea off samar island, in the. Home fri ceremony fri display sat run jack bacastow veterans history project. They were also scared by the introduction of the soviet kirovclass battlecruisers and thought that reactivating the iowaclass battleships would be a good counter. The great marianas turkey shoot united states navy. United states forces, including most of the third and seventh fleets, arrived in leyte gulf to begin the longawaited invasion of the philippine islands. The lookouts of taffy 3 spotted the antiaircraft fire to the north.
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