Battle of Leyte Gulf

battle_name=Battle of Leyte Gulf

Battle off Samar

Kurita passed through San Bernardino Strait at 03:00 on 25 October 1944 and steamed south along the coast of Samar.

Related Topics:
San Bernardino Strait - 25 October - 1944 - Samar

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To stop them were three groups of the Seventh Fleet commanded by Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, each with six escort carriers, and seven or eight destroyers and/or destroyer escorts.

Related Topics:
Thomas Kinkaid - Escort carrier

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Admiral Thomas Sprague's Task Unit 77.4.1 ("Taffy 1") consisted of

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Sangamon,

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Suwannee,

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Chenango,

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Santee,

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Saginaw Bay, and

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Petrof Bay.

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Admiral Felix Stump's Task Unit 77.4.2 ("Taffy 2") consisted of

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Natoma Bay,

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Manila Bay,

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Marcus Island,

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Kadashan Bay,

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Savo Island, and

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Ommaney Bay.

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Admiral Clifton Sprague's Task Unit 77.4.3 ("Taffy 3") consisted of

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Fanshaw Bay,

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St Lo,

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White Plains,

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Kalinin Bay,

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Kitkun Bay, and

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Gambier Bay.

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Each escort carrier carried about 30 planes, making more than 500 planes in all. Escort carriers were slow and lightly armoured and stood little chance in an encounter with a battleship.

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A mix-up in communications led Kinkaid to believe that Willis A. Lee's Task Force 34 of battleships was guarding the San Bernardino Strait to the north and that there would be no danger from that direction. But Lee had gone with Halsey in pursuit of Ozawa. The Japanese came upon Taffy 3 at 06:45, taking the Americans completely by surprise. Kurita mistook the escort carriers for fleet carriers and thought that he had the whole of the American Third Fleet under the 18 inch (457 mm) guns of his battleships.

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Sprague directed his carriers to turn and flee towards a squall to the east, hoping that bad visibility would reduce the accuracy of Japanese gunfire, and sent his destroyers in to distract the Japanese battleships and buy time. The destroyers attacked the Japanese line with suicidal determination, drawing fire and scattering the Japanese formations as ships turned to avoid torpedoes. Yamato found herself between two torpedoes on parallel courses and for ten minutes she headed away from the action, unable to turn back for fear of being hit. The American destroyers Hoel and Johnston, and destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts were sunk and four others were damaged, but they had bought enough time for Sprague to get his planes into the air. There was no time to reload with armour-piercing bombs, so the planes attacked with whatever they happened to have on board, (in some cases with depth charges). Sprague turned and fled south, with shells falling around his carriers. Gambier Bay, bringing up the rear, was sunk, and most of the others were hit and damaged.

Related Topics:
''Hoel'' - ''Johnston'' - ''Samuel B. Roberts''

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It seemed impossible for Taffy 3 to escape total destruction, but at 09:20 Kurita turned and retreated north. The destroyer attacks had broken up his formations, he had lost tactical control, and the heavy cruisers (Chokai, Suzuya, Chikuma) had been sunk by concentrated sea and air attack. Signals from Ozawa had disabused him of the notion that he was attacking the whole of the 3rd Fleet, which meant that the longer he continued to engage, the more likely it was that he would suffer devasting air strikes from Halsey's carriers. He retreated north and then west through the San Bernardino Strait under continuous air attack. Nagato, Haruna and Kongo were severely damaged. He had begun the battle with five battleships; when he returned to Japan, only Yamato was combat-worthy.

Related Topics:
''Chokai'' - ''Suzuya'' - ''Chikuma''

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