User Panel
Posted: 10/24/2014 9:58:01 PM EDT
Hell of a desperate battle that by the grace of God we won.
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OP, I believe it was "Taffy 3", not "Laffy 3". But you are correct, men among men.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf
"considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history " |
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Taffy 3 was the squadron of CVEs, DDs, and DEs.
USS Laffey was "The Ship that Would Not Die" |
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"This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.” was actually said by Captain Ernest E. Evans, commanding the USS Johnston.
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Fortunately the Japanese screwed up almost as bad as we did in that battle or it is highly likely our soldiers on Leyte would have been marooned like they were on Guadalcanal a few years earlier. Except with the addition of sustained and heavy battleship gunfire from the Yamato and other heavy ships. When Halsey took Ozawa's bait and took the heavy carriers and ships north there should have been no way the Japanese could have lost that battle. Fortunately determined, brave and resourceful Americans won the battle and turned back a much larger force, primarily by bluff.
In my opinion this was the birth of the modern US Navy which can carry a war to anywhere on the globe and win it. |
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fixed it. sorry. always get teh 2 mixed up. coincidentally, Laffey's CO was my grandfather's CO on the USS Aaron Ward II
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Quoted:
Fortunately the Japanese screwed up almost as bad as we did in that battle or it is highly likely our soldiers on Leyte would have been marooned like they were on Guadalcanal a few years earlier. Except with the addition of sustained and heavy battleship gunfire from the Yamato and other heavy ships. When Halsey took Ozawa's bait and took the heavy carriers and ships north there should have been no way the Japanese could have lost that battle. Fortunately determined, brave and resourceful Americans won the battle and turned back a much larger force, primarily by bluff American veracity and courage. In my opinion this was the birth of the modern US Navy which can carry a war to anywhere on the globe and win it. View Quote FIFY our little destroyers and destroyer escorts hit them so hard and fast that the Japanese thought they were facing battleships and cruisers. yes they screwed up, but it was the aggressiveness of the American attack that caused them to panic, break formation, and ultimately, retreat. |
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I will remember their sacrifice.
It never fails to get me choked up reading stories like this. The sacrificing of onesself so others may live, or in some cases, simply to inflict the most damage upon the enemy prior to succombing to your own wounds. |
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Don't forget that The Battle of Surigao Strait was the same day - the day the battleships sunk at Pearl Harbor in 1941 got to strike back. And conduct the last BB vs BB battle in history.
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Damn it! I was so close.
Going just off the thread title I had to dig deep into molding, dusty rememberings. I placed Taffy 3 in the Surigao Straights. Right battle, wrong enguagement. |
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Linking never works well from my potato but if you haven't read it, pick up Last Stand of the Tincan Sailors by Hornfischer.
Covers the battle from start to finish and more. Damn good book. |
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It's an amazing series of events. The Japanese had an overwhelming advantage but the tenacity and courage of the American defense put them back on their heels. Battleships and heavy cruisers got their asses handed to them by destroyers who closed to knife fighting range and used their superior fire control to rake the superstructure with 5" guns. Some of the Japanese ships took hundreds of 5" hits, and it turned out the Japanese weren't all that good at damage control.
Personally I think by that point in the war the Japanese were already beaten psychologically and had no fight left in them. That is not to take anything away from the American heroics of that day but if the Japanese had pressed the attack with their historic fanaticism the battle would likely have had a much different outcome;they retreated almost at the very point where the American naval defenses were exhausted. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Just the day before Commander Dave McCampbell shot down 9 Japanese aircraft, winning the Medal of Honor. Link.
The citation: "An inspiring leader, fighting boldly in the face of terrific odds, Cmdr. McCampbell led his fighter planes against a force of 80 Japanese carrier-based aircraft bearing down on our fleet on 19 June 1944. Striking fiercely in valiant defense of our surface force, he personally destroyed seven hostile planes during this single engagement during which the outnumbering attack force was utterly routed and virtually annihilated.
"During a major fleet engagement with the enemy on 24 October, Commander McCampbell, assisted by but one plane, intercepted and daringly attacked a formation of 60 hostile land-based craft approaching our forces. Fighting desperately but with superb skill against such overwhelming airpower, he shot down nine Japanese planes and, completely disorganizing the enemy group, forced the remainder to abandon the attack before a single aircraft could reach the fleet." View Quote The Japanese really pissed on a hornet's nest when they fucked with the 40s era USN. |
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Linking never works well from my potato but if you haven't read it, pick up Last Stand of the Tincan Sailors by Hornfischer. Covers the battle from start to finish and more. Damn good book. View Quote My dad knew he had an Uncle go down with the Johnston. After reading Hornfischers book he found out he had an older brother he knew nothing about on board the Johnston as well. |
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My dad knew he had an Uncle go down with the Johnston. After reading Hornfischers book he found out he had an older brother he knew nothing about on board the Johnston as well. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Linking never works well from my potato but if you haven't read it, pick up Last Stand of the Tincan Sailors by Hornfischer. Covers the battle from start to finish and more. Damn good book. My dad knew he had an Uncle go down with the Johnston. After reading Hornfischers book he found out he had an older brother he knew nothing about on board the Johnston as well. I rate the USS Johnston right up there with the USS Constitution. both ships and their crews did amazing things and are the embodiment of the American spirit |
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Can't believe they haven't made a major movie about that event.
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TURKEY TROTS TO WATER GG FROM CINCPAC ACTION COM THIRD FLEET INFO COMINCH CTF SEVENTY-SEVEN X WHERE IS RPT WHERE IS TASK FORCE THIRTY FOUR RR THE WORLD WONDERS
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Linking never works well from my potato but if you haven't read it, pick up Last Stand of the Tincan Sailors by Hornfischer. Covers the battle from start to finish and more. Damn good book. View Quote Posting to second this. FANTASTIC read. One that will make you DAMN proud of the Americans who fought like men possessed that day. In the book "Humble Heros", it is mentioned that MacArthur had to be ushered off the CL Nashville, so she could rush off to help a group of CEs, DDs, and DEs, who were fighting off a superior Japanese force. She couldn't get there in time and I often think it's a damn shame they didnt. If they were impressed with Taffy 3, the Nashville would have put the fear of God in the Japanese. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Can't believe they haven't made a major movie about that event. View Quote There were plans, but they fell through. There was also an independent film project, but it seems to have failed as well. Too bad, because it has the makings of a fantastic movie. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Ooops thats right. Capt Evans of the USS Johnston. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Capt Johnston was a bad mo-fo! Capt. Ernest E. Evans. Ooops thats right. Capt Evans of the USS Johnston. FAR better :) Evans' XO said that he got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, once he realized what was happening, because he KNEW what Evans would do. A moment later, the order was given to come about and charge the Japanese. Evans was forced to retreat in an earlier engagement and the experience left a bad taste in his mouth. He vowed to never retreat again. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Just one more bit of information regarding Capt. Evans;
The day JOHNSTON was commissioned, CDR Evans made a speech to the crew, "This is going to be a fighting ship. I intend to go in harm's way, and anyone who doesn't want to go along had better get off right now." View Quote That man was not fucking around. *ETA* LINK |
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Just a heads-up:
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors is currently $1.99 in Kindle format. I have it in hardcopy, but bought it on Kindle, too. Nice to be able to search for text and take the book with me most anywhere. |
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Fortunately the Japanese screwed up almost as bad as we did in that battle or it is highly likely our soldiers on Leyte would have been marooned like they were on Guadalcanal a few years earlier. Except with the addition of sustained and heavy battleship gunfire from the Yamato and other heavy ships. When Halsey took Ozawa's bait and took the heavy carriers and ships north there should have been no way the Japanese could have lost that battle. Fortunately determined, brave and resourceful Americans won the battle and turned back a much larger force, primarily by bluff. In my opinion this was the birth of the modern US Navy which can carry a war to anywhere on the globe and win it. View Quote Kurita not only used bad tactics in the battle but seems to have lost his nerve at the end. He could have destroyed Taffy 3 well before it got to the latter point had he not done the former. Oldendorf apparently was steaming his battle line towards Leyte Gulf to defend it in case Kurita succeeded. I wonder how a surface action between his battle line and Kurita's would have turned out under the circumstances. |
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FIFY our little destroyers and destroyer escorts hit them so hard and fast that the Japanese thought they were facing battleships and cruisers. yes they screwed up, but it was the aggressiveness of the American attack that caused them to panic, break formation, and ultimately, retreat. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Fortunately the Japanese screwed up almost as bad as we did in that battle or it is highly likely our soldiers on Leyte would have been marooned like they were on Guadalcanal a few years earlier. Except with the addition of sustained and heavy battleship gunfire from the Yamato and other heavy ships. When Halsey took Ozawa's bait and took the heavy carriers and ships north there should have been no way the Japanese could have lost that battle. Fortunately determined, brave and resourceful Americans won the battle and turned back a much larger force, primarily by bluff American veracity and courage. In my opinion this was the birth of the modern US Navy which can carry a war to anywhere on the globe and win it. FIFY our little destroyers and destroyer escorts hit them so hard and fast that the Japanese thought they were facing battleships and cruisers. yes they screwed up, but it was the aggressiveness of the American attack that caused them to panic, break formation, and ultimately, retreat. They weren't in formation, which was part of the problem for the Japs. Kurita ordered a general attack rather than forming a battle line and using his destroyers in the classic manner. The attack, as a result, was rather disorganized. |
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Can't believe they haven't made a major movie about that event. View Quote I think a mini-series covering the whole Battle of Leyte Gulf would be in order. One challenge would be to do it without making it look too cheesy with all of the CGI that could be involved with such a project. It shouldn't look like a cartoon. |
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Quoted: Just one more bit of information regarding Capt. Evans; That man was not fucking around. *ETA* LINK View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Just one more bit of information regarding Capt. Evans; The day JOHNSTON was commissioned, CDR Evans made a speech to the crew, "This is going to be a fighting ship. I intend to go in harm's way, and anyone who doesn't want to go along had better get off right now." That man was not fucking around. *ETA* LINK He was paraphrasing John Paul Jones. A hell of a code for a naval officer to live by. "I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's way." |
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